Court Opinion

ID: 9471120
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:25:22.141047+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:16.620295
License: Public Domain

FLOYD R. GIBSON,
Senior Circuit Judge, concurring in the result.
I agree in the majority’s holding that Young’s Rule 41(e) motion was appealable because it primarily sought the return of documents and was not tied to an existing criminal prosecution. I further agree that the search warrant was an improper general warrant, authorizing a boundless exploratory search. Thus, I would concur in the result reached by the majority, reversing the judgment of the district court. However, I am compelled to write separately because I disagree with the majority’s holding that Agent Frost’s affidavit did not give the magistrate sufficient information from which to find, based upon the “totality of the circumstances,” that probable cause existed. The affidavit provided the magistrate a substantial basis for concluding that a search of Young’s bonding company records would uncover evidence of wrongdoing.
The affidavit here was not based upon information received from paid informants, *503whose credibility is naturally suspect, but from records obtained from the two surety companies through whom Young purportedly acted and from persons interviewed during the course of an FBI investigation. Those interviewed and relied upon included persons who had used Bob Young as their bonding agent and who were victims of the alleged crimes. As noted in United States v. Singer, 687 F.2d 1135, at 1145 n. 19 (8th Cir.1982): “When the source of information is an ordinary cooperative citizen, the proof-of-veracity rules which obtain informant cases are inapplicable, and the information received is presumed reliable. While an ‘informer’ usually expects gain or concession in exchange for information, the ordinary citizen who reports a crime does so because of his concern for society.” And, similarly, when the source is a victim of the crime, his reliability need not be shown by other facts. United States v. Mahler, 442 F.2d 1172, 1174 (9th Cir.1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 993, 92 S.Gt. 541, 30 L.Ed.2d 545 (1971). The distinction between a paid informant and those sources relied upon here is also important in determining the extent of detail required to establish the basis of the source’s knowledge. As stated in Illinois v. Gates, - U.S. -, -, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2329, 76 L.Ed.2d 527, 545 (1983), “if an unquestionably honest citizen comes forward with a report of criminal activity— which if fabricated would subject him to criminal liability — we have found rigorous scrutiny of the basis of knowledge unnecessary.”
Considering the foregoing, I would initially regard as reliable the confidential information that Bob Young received approximately $500.00 in cash and was quoted as having said, “This doesn’t have to be reported.” While conceding that the source of this information was reliable and credible, the majority concludes that there was not a sufficient underlying factual basis given to establish the reliability of this information. In doing so, I believe the majority applies a too-rigid compartmentalization of concepts of “reliability” and “basis of knowledge.” In Gates, at -, 103 S.Ct. at 2329, 76 L.Ed.2d at 545, the court emphasized that under the “totality of circumstances” approach for determining whether a tip establishes probable cause, a deficiency in the basis of knowledge for a tip may be compensated by a stronger showing of the informant’s reliability. Id. For example, if, as in this case, an informant has proven to be an unusually reliable informant in the past, “his failure, in a particular case, to thoroughly set forth the basis of his knowledge surely should not serve as an absolute bar to a finding of probable cause based on his tip.” Id.
Furthermore, although the information here was hearsay, it “is not to be deemed insufficient on that score, so long as a substantial basis for crediting the hearsay is presented.” Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 269, 80 S.Ct. 725, 735, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960). The information here was received from an extremely reliable source and was consistent with the records obtained from the surety companies indicating various bail bonds had been voided without explanation. (Affidavit at pp. 2-3).
I would refrain from speculating, as the majority does (See majority opinion at 500, note 12), that the surety companies’ purported failure to take action against Young indicates that Young could not have been involved in any improper use of the voided bonds. The record does not clearly indicate that the surety companies have failed to pursue the matter. In any event, their purported failure to take action may be attributable to any of a host of reasons, wholly apart from whether they believed Young had done anything improper.
Nor can I agree with the majority that the affidavit gave no reason to believe that there was anything improper about Young’s remark. We must look at the remark in the context of the overall picture. As the affidavit indicates, Young was being investigated for his alleged failure to disclose to the surety companies that he had received cash premiums from various defendants on voided bonds. Pursuant to this investigation, the surety companies’ records were obtained, revealing that various voided bonds were inadequately explained by Young. The unquestionably reliable source who quoted Young’s remark was presumably providing information relevant to this *504investigation. Considered in this context, I believe one could certainly entertain a reason to believe that the remark was made in reference to Young’s suspected criminal activity, particularly since the remark referred to the nonreporting of a cash collection. While it would have been preferable for the affidavit to expressly state that Young’s quoted remark was made in reference to the receipt of cash premiums on voided bonds, I do not believe the deficiency here negates a finding of probable cause. Affidavits are to be interpreted in a common sense, nontechnical manner, with an emphasis on probabilities in particular factual contexts, not hard certainties. Gates, - U.S. at -, 103 S.Ct. at 2328, 76 L.Ed.2d at 544.
Similarly, the majority applies a too rigid standard in determining whether the affidavit provided sufficient detail as to Young’s alleged use of intimidating and threatening tactics to collect additional premiums from clients. The information regarding this allegation obviously came from a victim of the alleged crime, whose reliability need not be shown by other facts. See Mahler, 442 F.2d at 1174. The affidavit identifies the victim as having been involved in civil litigation regarding his landlord in which he was required to post a $750.00 bond with the court. Young was reported to have posted the $750.00 bond and charged the victim-client with “$500.00 cash, a ring and a watch valued at $900.00, plus a bill of sale for a $1,000.00 cash register.” The affidavit then states: “Young kept the collateral and sent his client a bill for an additional $650.00. When the client failed to make payment, Young used intimidating and threatening tactics to collect the funds.... ” Thus, the affidavit tells us that while Young retained $2,400.00 in cash and merchandise in return for posting a $750.00 bond, he still sought an additional $650.00 from the victim-client, using threatening and intimidating tactics. Under these circumstances I do not believe it was fatal that the affidavit failed to detail the nature of the threats or intimidation. Furthermore, given the “barter-like” nature of the transaction between the victim and Young, it would have been extremely difficult to supply corroboration that the property had in fact been turned over to Young. The corroboration for the victim’s claims would best be supplied by a search of Young’s records.
In sum, I conclude that the magistrate gave a common sense interpretation to all of the circumstances set forth in the affidavit, and reasonably concluded that there was a fair probability that evidence of a crime would be found from the search of Young’s bail-bonding records.