Court Opinion

ID: 9694118
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 17:24:42.152195+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:56.629071
License: Public Domain

DUNN, Justice
(dissenting).
This conviction is being reversed because the majority finds that the affidavits were inadequate to show probable cause for a search warrant. The magistrate who issued the search warrant was likewise disturbed that the .affidavits were not sufficient and only issued the warrant after a searching examination of the affiants under oath. This was not the pro forma issuing of a warrant on the basis of affidavits where the officers requested it. Unfortunately, no record was made of this examination by a lay magistrate who had no reporter available; however, if there had been any question raised as to the ownership of the marijuana plants outside the premises, after examining the affiants, we do know that the police had another witness outside the door prepared to testify that he had seen the defendant tending the plants.*
Do we set this magistrate up as a robot checking affidavits without giving any consideration to the fact that he carefully examined the affiants under oath? If so, we may as well dispense with the magistrate as a buffer between the state and the defendant and permit the police to issue their own warrants on their own affidavits. If no consideration is to be given to anything but the affidavits, the defendant would be as well protected.
The heavy traffic to and from defendant’s home with marijuana plants fluttering in the breeze outside goes a little beyond “innocent activities.” Mrs. Knox testified to as many as six or seven cars per hour with each staying only a few minutes. It is true that college students may gather at an off-campus apartment, but they tend to stay long enough for a little socializing. Giving deference to this careful magistrate who took his duties seriously enough to examine these affiants under oath in addition to all affidavits before issuing the warrant, I would affirm the conviction.

 Regardless of measurements from back doors, these plants were growing next to the alley where the defendant’s living quarters were located.