Court Opinion

ID: 9522909
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:33:35.872584+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:04:16.477481
License: Public Domain

NEAL, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent for the following reasons. Although it is not difficult to arrive at the conclusions of probable cause reached by the judge issuing the warrant based upon evidence of a clandestine, barricaded greenhouse operation growing leafy plants in a remote and nearly inaccessible area, I do not rest my dissent thereon, but upon the applicability of the exclusionary rule, which is not dealt with by the majority. The rules surrounding search and seizure and arrest, and the admissibility or exclusion of evidence obtained thereby, generated over the years by various courts of appellate jurisdiction have become so intricate, so tedious and so incomprehensible that no learned judge or lawyer can make an extemporaneous recital of them. Moreover, the courts and judges cannot even agree among themselves as to the correctness of the rules; decisions are made by deeply divided courts after months of study, reflection, and scrutiny of mountainous research collected by platoons of clerks. Yet, only cursorily trained police officers are expected by us to instantly effect total recall of these rules, analyze them, and apply them while pursuing a fleeing felon down an alley in the middle of the night. Such expectations have met with justifiable criticism in the attacks made on the exclusionary rule. Since state court rules have been fabricated in light of and parallel the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, two recent decisions of that court must be examined, United States v. Leon, (1984) — U.S. -, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 and Massachusetts v. Sheppard, (1984) — U.S. -, 104 S.Ct. 3424, 82 L.Ed.2d 737.
In Leon, the court squarely found the issue to be the applicability of the exclusionary rule, and stated the issue as follows:
“Whether the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule should be modified so as not to bar the use in the prosecution’s casein-chief of evidence obtained by officers acting in reasonable reliance on a search warrant issued by a detached and neutral magistrate but ultimately found to be unsupported by probable cause.”
The court answered the issue in the affirmative.
Justice White, -writing the majority opinion, began his analysis by reiterating that the exclusionary rule acts as a “judicially created remedy designed to safeguard Fourth Amendment rights generally through its deterrent effect, rather than a personal constitutional right of the person aggrieved”. Id. 104 S.Ct. at 3412, citing United States v. Calandra, (1974) 414 U.S. 338, 94 S.Ct. 613, 38 L.Ed.2d 561. The majority then reminded us that the “substantial social costs”, such as disrespect for the law, exacted by the exclusionary rule for vindication of Fourth Amendment rights have long been a matter of concern. Id.
Section 11(B) of the opinion is a review of recent Supreme Court decisions which have whittled down the scope of the exclusionary rule. See generally, Stone v. Powell, (1976) 428 U.S. 465, 96 S.Ct. 3037, 49 L.Ed.2d 1067 (a state prisoner who has *909been afforded a full and fair opportunity to litigate a Fourth Amendment claim may not obtain federal habeas relief on the ground that unlawfully obtained evidence had been introduced at his trial); United States v. Calandra, supra, (court declined to allow grand jury witnesses to refuse to answer questions based on evidence from an unlawful search or seizure); Rakas v. Illinois, (1978) 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (standing to invoke exclusionary rule limited to victim of police misconduct); Oregon v. Hass, (1975) 420 U.S. 714, 95 S.Ct. 1215, 43 L.Ed.2d 570 (evidence obtained in violation of Fourth Amendment may be used to impeach defendant’s direct testimony). The majority acknowledged that, as of yet, it has not recognized a good faith exception to the exclusionary rule; however, it suggested that the balancing approach used in the above decisions is equally useful in the most recent modifications. Id. 104 S.Ct. at 3416.
In Part III, Justice White examined the deterrent effect of the exclusionary rule. He stated “[t]o the extent that proponents of exclusion rely on its behavioral effects on judges and magistrates in these areas, their reliance is misplaced”. Id. At any rate, the majority concluded, the purpose of the exclusionary rule is to punish police conduct, not punish the errors of judges and magistrates.
Having determined that the deterrent effect of the exclusionary rule applies to police misconduct, Justice White then moved to the deduction that the rule “cannot be expected, and should not be applied, to deter reasonable law enforcement activity”. Id. 104 S.Ct. at 3419 (emphasis added). Quoting from Stone v. Powell, supra, he concluded:
“In short, where the officer’s conduct is objectively reasonable,
‘excluding the evidence will not further the ends of the exclusionary rule in any appreciable way; for it is painfully apparent that ... the officer is acting as a reasonable officer would and should act under the circumstances. Excluding the evidence can in no way affect his future conduct unless it is to make him less willing to do his duty.’
Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S., at 539-540 [96 S.Ct. at 3073-3074].”
Cited in Leon, supra, 104 S.Ct. at 3420.
The above logic is particularly true, rioted the majority, when a police officer acting with objective good faith has obtained a search warrant from a judge or magistrate and acted within its scope. Id. It is up to the magistrate to determine whether the warrant is technically sufficient; the police officer should not be penalized for the magistrate’s mistake.
The conclusion of the majority opinion is the court’s response to the dissent’s “parading of the horribles”: “the good faith exception for searches conducted pursuant to warrants is not intended to signal our unwillingness strictly to enforce the requirements of the Fourth Amendment, and we do not believe it will have this effect”. Id. 104 S.Ct. at 3422.
In Massachusetts v. Sheppard, the Supreme Court applied the rules articulated in Leon to a situation in which police officers seized items pursuant to a warrant subsequently invalidated because of a technical error on the part of the issuing judge. Sheppard, supra, 104 S.Ct. at 3428.
Here, there is no allegation that the officers misrepresented the facts to the magistrate or any other allegation of bad faith. Good faith was demonstrated by applying for a search warrant. When the matter is presented to the court for a presearch determination of legitimacy, the purpose of the Fourth Amendment is satisfied; that is, to prevent nosy police officers from invading private property out of curiosity. Leon and Sheppard are applicable here.
For these reasons, the cause should be affirmed.