Court Opinion

ID: 9843532
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:40:04.391052+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:48.581391
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE WEBER
specially concurs as follows:
I concur with the majority opinion that the motion to suppress should have been granted and the judgment reversed. I specially concur in order to emphasize that the absence of adequate police investigation caused the reversal.
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that tips 1, 2 and 3 had not been adequately investigated by the police and therefore could not *495properly be considered. I do emphasize that the staleness of these claims is not only because of age of the information, but results primarily from the absence of any prompt corroborating police investigation.
The majority emphasizes the inadequacy of the information contained in tips 4 and 5 which were the crimestoppers’ tips given by an anonymous citizen informant. Such conclusions may tend to indicate that crimestoppers’ tips are not usable. Experience has shown that crimestoppers’ tips frequently afford a basis for arrest and ultimate conviction. The key missing link as to both tips 4 and 5 was the absence of an adequate law enforcement investigation to confirm the truthfulness of the tips. Where crimestoppers’ tips and other similar tips are received, I emphasize the necessity of a prompt and adequate law enforcement investigation.
Unfortunately such investigation was not conducted in the present case. An adequate law enforcement investigation sufficient to demonstrate probable cause would have prevented the dismissal of the conviction of a clearly guilty defendant.
I join in the judgment of reversal in this case.