STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
VINCENT HARRIS AND INGA MCGOWAN, APPELLEES
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Florida appeals the suppression of evidence seized pursuant to a search warrant. The trial court suppressed the evidence, finding insufficient probable cause because the informant's reliability was unestablished and police monitoring of a conversation did not corroborate allegations that cocaine was in the house. The appellate court reversed, applying the good faith exception to warrant execution.
The appellate court reversed the suppression orders, holding that it need not determine whether facts before the issuing magistrate provided sufficient indicia of reliability for warrant issuance. Instead, because the warrant was regular on its face and the affidavit was not so lacking in indicia of probable cause that the executing officer could not reasonably rely on it in good faith, the good faith exception applies and the evidence should not have been suppressed.
[1] The good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies when an officer executing a search warrant relies in good faith on the magistrate's probable cause determination…
[2] A search warrant affidavit need not be so lacking in indicia of probable cause that an executing officer cannot reasonably and objectively rely on the magistrate's determ…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It is enough that the search warrant was regular on its face and the affidavit upon which it was based was not so lacking in indicia of probable cause that the officer executing the warrant could not with reasonable objectivity rely in good faith on the magistrate's probable cause determination and on the technical sufficiency of the warrant.”
States the standard for applying the good faith exception—courts need not question probable cause if the warrant is facially regular and the officer could reasonably rely on it.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePolice obtained a search warrant based on an informant's statement. Officers monitored a conversation between the informant and Harris inside Harris's…
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COBB, Judge.
The state appeals orders suppressing evidence seized pursuant to a search warrant. The basis of the suppression orders was the trial court’s determination that probable cause was lacking for the warrant because the informant’s previous reliability was not established and, based on the monitored conversation between the informant and Harris inside the latter’s house, nothing was heard by the police officers that corroborated the informant’s statement that he observed cocaine in the house. The conversation overheard by the officers included a statement by Harris that he did not sell drugs from his house, but would meet the informant on Jackson Street, clearly implying that a sale would transpire there. This led the trial judge to conclude that the evidence was insufficient to establish that the drugs intended to be sold were in the house, rather than some other location, despite the informant’s testimony that Hands was cutting up cocaine on a table during their conversation.
As in State v. Wildes, 468 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985), we find it unnecessary to determine if the facts before the issuing magistrate were sufficient to provide their own indicia of reliability sufficient for the issuance of the search warrant. See also State v. Georgoudiou, 560 So. 2d 1241 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 574 So. 2d 141 (Fla.1990). It is enough that the search warrant was regular on its face and the affidavit upon which it was based was not so lacking in indicia of probable cause that the officer executing the warrant could not with reasonable objectivity rely in good faith on the magistrate’s probable cause determination and on the technical sufficiency of the warrant. Accordingly, we apply the good faith exception enunciated in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984), and reverse the orders suppressing the seized evidence and remand for further proceedings.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
DAUKSCH and GRIFFIN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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State v. Watt, 946 So. 2d 108 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007)…e are not willing to do so. No indication exists in the record that either the police officer or the trial judge was corrupt, dishonest, or acted in bad faith. Accordingly, this case is controlled by the principle we articulated in State v. Harris, 629 So. 2d 983 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993): The warrant was regular on its face and the affidavit upon which it was based was not so lacking in indicia of probable cause that the officer executing the warrant could not with reasonable objectivity rely in good faith on th…
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State v. McGILL, 125 So. 3d 343 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013)…5th DCA 2007) (explaining that good faith exception applied where “the sole debate ... is over the. existence of probable cause” and where there was no indication that affidavit contained misrepresentations or omitted information); State v. Harris, 629 So. 2d 983, 984 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993) (holding that good faith exception applied even though probable cause was lacking in that informant’s reliability was not established and affiant did not corroborate informant’s statement that he observed cocaine in defendan…
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Crain v. State, 914 So. 2d 1015 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)…lacking in indicia of probable cause that the officer executing the warrant could not with reasonable objectivity rely in good faith on the magistrate’s probable cause determination and on the technical sufficiency of the warrant.” State v. Harris, 629 So. 2d 983, 984 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993);" see also State v. Wildes, 468 So. 2d 550, 551 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). Based on the facts and circumstances present in the record before us, a reasonably trained officer would not have known that the affidavit was improper des…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (U.S. 1984)
- State v. Noreen Marie Wildes, 468 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985)
- State v. Georgoudiou, 560 So. 2d 1241 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)