Court Opinion

ID: 9566535
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:40:42.384119+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:38:22.141471
License: Public Domain

STRINGER, Justice
(dissenting).
A neutral -magistrate, is entitled-to broad deference in our review of a probable cause determination and “the resolution of doubtful or marginal eases should be ‘largely determined by the preference to be accorded warrants.’ ” State v. Wiley, 366 N.W.2d 265, 268 (Minn.1985) (quoting Massachusetts v. Upton, 466 U.S. 727, 734, 104 S.Ct. 2085, 2089, 80 L.Ed.2d 721 (1984). The magistrate must consider the totality of the circumstances. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). I believe that the search warrant was adequately supported given the information relied upon and the circumstances of the large scale investigation. I therefore dissent.
Here the judge had multiple indicia of criminal conduct: Souto was a known drug user and a drug purchaser; the police intercepted a package containing drugs addressed to Souto; the package was mailed from Carmichael, California — near Sacramento, a city from which Heinrich was known to have received drugs; a series of telephone calls took place between Souto and Heinrich, a known drug dealer; and “information received from Federal, State and local law enforcement officers and a number of Confidential Reliable Informants [indicated that Souto was] involved in the possession and/or distribution of methamphetamine, and/or marijuana on a wide scale.”
Because the target of the warrant was evidence of drug dealing such as customer lists, paraphernalia, or money — not just drugs, which tend to have a more temporary existence — the circumstances set forth in the affidavit are not fatally stale. It is also significant that this warrant was part of a county-wide investigation that had been underway for several months, implicating numerous people with varying levels of involvement in drug trafficking. Further, the complexity, breadth and nature of the larger drug investigation would suggest that delays may have been necessary to effectuate the timing of the various investigatory activities and arrests made in the scope of the broader investigation. I would conclude that the nexus between Souto and her home was sufficient in this context.
Given the totality of the circumstances, I do not believe that the trial court erred in issuing the search warrant.