Court Opinion

ID: 9746649
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:31:36.042036+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:37:50.943781
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. The affidavit upon which the arrest warrant and search warrant were issued clearly fails to show probable cause that the appellant either committed the robbery or was in possession of instrumentalities or fruits of the crime. To be valid a warrant must be supported by an affidavit *445which states sufficient facts from which the issuing magistrate can reasonably conclude that there is probable cause to arrest or search. Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964); Giordenello v. United States, 357 U.S. 480, 78 S.Ct. 1245, 2 L.Ed.2d 1503 (1958). The allegations in this affidavit are so conclusory and insubstantial that a magistrate could not have assessed independently the probability that the appellant committed the robbery or possessed items related to the offense.
In order for the magistrate to conclude independently that the man in an orange car seen by bystanders at the approximate time and place of the robbery was also probably the perpetrator described by the victims, the magistrate would have to know the descriptions given by the victims and by the bystanders. While the affidavit states the victims’ description of the perpetrator’s physical characteristics and clothing, there is no similarly detailed description given by the bystanders. Indeed, the only detailed description which the bystanders give is of an orange car with Florida license plates which they saw occupied by a “colored male” in the area of the crime at about the time the crime was committed. The description of the car and its presence in the neighborhood, however, are irrelevant to a finding of probable cause because nothing in the affidavit shows the car to be connected with the crime.
Notwithstanding the irrelevancy of the description of the car, probable cause would be established if there were sufficient facts concerning the physical characteristics and clothing of the “colored male” seen in the car so that the magistrate could reasonably conclude that this man and the perpetrator of the crime were the same person. As to the first bystander, however, the affiant merely states that this witness saw a “colored male approximate description as above,” referring to the description given by the victims. The phrase “approximate description as above” is fatal to the warrant. It tells the magistrate only the police officer’s conclusion that the witness’ description was similar to that of the victims. It does not tell the magistrate the witness’ *446actual description, facts which would allow a “neutral and detached” magistrate to form his own independent judgment. Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 14, 68 S.Ct. 367, 369, 92 L.Ed. 436 (1948). As to the second bystander, the affidavit states only that he saw “a colored Female and colored male.”
The only description of the appellant more specific than “colored male” which was given to the magistrate was that allegedly obtained by the police officer from the Florida Motor Vehicle Department’s record describing the owner of the orange car as “a colored male 5'9", 170 lbs. Black hair Brown eyes Date of Birth 4/2/42.” While the race, height and weight characteristics conform to the description given by the victims, this general description alone, because it fits many individuals, is an inadequate factual basis upon which to conclude that there is probable cause. Of course, as indicated above, this might be a different case if the victims had mentioned the car in their report of the robbery, as they did not here, thereby providing a connection between the car, its occupants, and the crime.
The majority’s blithe deference to the “conclusions of the issuing magistrate,” which are founded on inadequate facts and the affiant’s conclusory allegations, ignores the substantive probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment and the protection which the “neutral and detached” magistrate’s determination of probable cause is designed to provide. As stated in Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 449, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 2029, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971) (search warrant issued by law enforcement agent invalid):
“The classic statement of the policy underlying the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment is that of Mr. Justice Jackson, writing for the Court in Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14, 68 S.Ct. 367, 369, 92 L.Ed. 436:
‘The point of the Fourth Amendment, which often is not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection con*447sists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime....”’
I would reverse appellant’s conviction and grant a new trial.