RAYMOND EUGENE DAVIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that an affidavit for a search warrant relying on an informant's tip was insufficient if it did not state underlying factual information supporting the informant's reliability.
[1] An affidavit supporting a search warrant must provide underlying factual information to support the affiant's conclusion that an informant is reliable.
[2] Affidavits for search warrants relying on informant information must demonstrate the underlying circumstances by which the informant gained knowledge of the facts present…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant was charged with possession of marijuana and moved to suppress evidence obtained via a search warrant. The motion alleged the affidavit supp…
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McCORD, Judge.
Appellant pled nolo contendere to a charge of possession of more than five grams of marijuana reserving his right to appeal the court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence. He appeals the judgment and sentence. We reverse.
The motion to suppress alleges that the affidavit in support of the search warrant was defective because although it alleged that the confidential informant who supplied the information on which the state relied for issuance of the warrant was reliable, there was no underlying factual information stated in the affidavit supporting his reliability. At the hearing, the attorneys for appellant and the state stipulated that the only issue before the court related solely to the allegations contained in the affidavit. The affidavit stated the facts tending to establish the grounds for application for search warrant and the probable cause of the affiant believing such facts to exist as follows:
“Heretofore and within the past ten days an informant known by your affiant to be a reliable person was at the above described premises and physically saw a large quantity of marijuana being kept and used on the above described premises. The informant knows marijuana by sight and knows the smell of marijuana and advised your affiant that marijuana was being kept and used on the premises. Your affiant therefore has reason to believe that marijuana is now being kept and used on the above described premises.” (Emphasis supplied.)
In Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964), and Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969), the United States Supreme Court established a “two-pronged” test for the sufficiency of affidavits for search warrants relying on information obtained from an informant. That test requires first that affiant state how the informer gained his information so that the magistrate can determine if the underlying circumstances justify a conclusion that probable cause for a search exists. Secondly, the magistrate must be provided with the reasons from which the affiant concludes the informant is reliable. The above quoted affidavit does not meet the test. It does not give the magistrate any facts or reasons to support the affiant’s conclusion that the informant was known by him to be a reliable person.
In Spinelli the United States Supreme Court said:
“In Aguilar, a search warrant had issued upon an affidavit of police officers who swore only that they had ‘received reliable information from a credible person and do believe’ that narcotics were being illegally stored on the described premises. While recognizing that the constitutional requirement of probable cause can be satisfied by hearsay information, this Court held the affidavit inadequate for two reasons. First, the application failed to set forth any of the ‘underlying circumstances’ necessary to enable the magistrate independently to judge of the validity of the informant’s conclusion that the narcotics were where he said they were. Second, the affiant-officers did not attempt to support their claim that their informant was ‘ “credible” or his information “reliable.” ’
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Aguilar is relevant at this stage of the inquiry as well because the tests it establishes were designed to implement the long-standing principle that probable cause must be determined by a ‘neutral and detached magistrate,’ and not by ‘the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime.’ Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 14, 68 S.Ct. 367, 369, 92 L.Ed. 436, 440 (1948).
Applying these principles to the present case, we first consider the weight to be given the informer’s tip when it is considered apart from the rest of the affidavit. It is clear that a Commissioner could not credit it without abdicating his constitutional function. Though the affiant swore that his confidant was ‘reliable,’ he offered the magistrate no reason in support of his conclusion.”
Florida courts have recognized certain factors which establish reliability but none of these factors are present in the affidavit in the case sub judice. Reliability may be established by a recital of facts showing why the affiant considers the informant reliable. See State v. Middleton, 302 So. 2d 144 (Fla. 1 DCA 1974), and State v. Niles, 307 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 4 DCA 1975). Reliability may be established by detailed information contained in the affidavit. See Reed v. State, 267 So. 2d 70 (Fla.1972). A statement against penal interest may contribute to reliability. See State v. Jacobs, 320 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 2 DCA 1975), and State v. Patterson, 309 So. 2d 555 (Fla. 2 DCA 1975). Also reliability may be established by corroboration from an independent source. See Findlay v. State, 316 So. 2d 33 (Fla.1975), and State v. Henderson, 318 So. 2d 524 (Fla. 2 DCA 1975).
Reversed and remanded with directions to vacate the order denying appellant’s motion to suppress the evidence and to grant same.
RAWLS, Acting C. J., and SMITH, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (14 total)
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Yesnes v. State, 440 So. 2d 628 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)…bable cause to issue a search warrant under the “two-prong test” of Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964), and Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969), as applied in Davis v. State, 346 So. 2d 141 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). The state, on the other hand, argues that the proper test of the affidavit’s sufficiency [*632] is whether a reasonable person, knowing all the facts the affiant knew, would believe probable cause existed to search defendant’s…
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Barfield v. State, 396 So. 2d 793 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)…he magistrate no reasons in support of his conclusion. As in Spinelli, a magistrate “could not credit it without abdicating his constitutional function ...” that warrants not issue but upon probable cause. Id. To the same effect, see Davis v. State, 346 So. 2d 141 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977); Weisberg v. State,' 348 So. 2d 385 (Fla.2d DCA 1977); Davis v. State, 376 So. 2d 479 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). Clearly, the intrinsic evidence relating to the first disjunctive spur under the veracity prong did not establish the inf…
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M. J. v. State, 399 So. 2d 996 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)…was required for Officer York’s search of the appellant. Such cause was lacking. Before probable cause exists for a search based on an informant’s tip, the reliability of both the informant and his information must be indicated. See Davis v. State, 346 So. 2d 141 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977), cert. den. Fla., 353 So. 2d 679. As to the latter, the police must indicate that either the informant has perceived the fact asserted, or that although his information is hearsay, there is good reason for his believing it. Ander…
Previewing 3 of 14 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108 (U.S. 1964)
- Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410 (U.S. 1969)
- Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10 (U.S. 1948)
- Findlay v. State, 316 So. 2d 33 (Fla. 1975)
- State v. Eligaah Ardalle Jacobs, 320 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975)
- State v. Patterson, 309 So. 2d 555 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975)
- Reed v. State, 267 So. 2d 70 (Fla. 1972)
- Solomon HAM v. State, 302 So. 2d 144 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974)
- State v. Niles, 307 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)
- State v. Henderson, 318 So. 2d 524 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975)