State v. Jones
| Decision Date | 04 May 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 2838.,2838. |
| Citation | 500 S.E.2d 499,331 S.C. 228 |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
| Parties | The STATE, Respondent, v. Lorenzo Labell JONES and Melvin Patrick Riles, Appellants. |
Frederick A. Hoefer, II and Kevin M. Barth, of Harwell, Ballenger, DeBerry, Barth & Hoefer, Florence, for appellants.
Attorney General Charles Molony Condon, Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Senior Assistant Attorney General Harold M. Coombs, Jr., all of Office of the Attorney General, Columbia; and Solicitor Dudley Saleeby, Jr., Florence, for respondent.
This appeal presents the question of whether a police officer may tender a knowingly false affidavit to procure a search warrant, orally substituting truthful information to the issuing magistrate in order to establish probable cause. Lorenzo Labell Jones and Melvin Patrick Riles (Appellants) were convicted of trafficking in cocaine after a jury trial in which evidence was admitted which had been seized as a result of a search based on a warrant procured in this manner. They appeal the denial of their motion to suppress the evidence. We reverse.1
Police officer Mike Freeman obtained information from a confidential informant that cocaine had been stored at Appellants' home in the past and a new shipment had just arrived. Based on this information, he prepared an affidavit and obtained a search warrant to search the home from the local magistrate. Police then searched Appellants' home where cocaine and other items were seized.
The affidavit read:
Over the past three weeks an agent of the Florence Combined Drug Unit has observed a quanity [sic] of cocaine being stored on the premises. That agent has been responsible for the seizure of illicit drugs and the arrest of illicit drug violators in the past. Information given by this agent has been corroborated by surveillance agents pertaining to this case.
(emphasis added).
At the suppression hearing, Freeman acknowledged he intentionally used the word "agent" in place of "confidential informant" in order to mislead the targeted Appellants when the warrant was served. When Freeman presented the affidavit, he told the magistrate he used the term "agent" in place of "confidential informant." The magistrate confirmed Freeman informed him of the use of "agent" instead of "confidential informant." However, the magistrate was still confused, indicating he thought the "agent" referred to in the affidavit was an undercover police officer.
The trial court denied Appellants' motion to suppress, ruling the magistrate had a substantial basis for concluding probable cause existed. The trial court found that the intentional falsity was cured when Freeman told the magistrate that he was using "agent" instead of "confidential informant."
Did the trial court err by denying Appellants' motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to the search warrant for lack of probable cause?
Appellants contend the trial court erred by refusing to suppress the evidence seized pursuant to the search warrant. They argue the magistrate had an insufficient basis for concluding probable cause existed due to the knowing and intentionally false use of "agent" instead of "confidential informant" in the affidavit. We agree.
The standard of review in an appeal challenging a search warrant for lack of probable cause is well established. "The task of a court reviewing a decision to issue a search warrant is simply to decide whether the issuing magistrate had a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed." State v. Clifton, 302 S.C. 431, 433, 396 S.E.2d 831, 832 (Ct.App. 1990) (citing Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983)), cert. dismissed, 305 S.C. 85, 406 S.E.2d 337 (1991). "In deciding whether to issue a search warrant, the task of the magistrate is to make a practical, common sense decision whether, under the totality of the circumstances set forth in the affidavit, including the veracity of the person supplying the information and the basis of his or her knowledge, there is a fair probability that evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place." Id. State v. Smith, 301 S.C. 371, 373, 392 S.E.2d 182, 183 (1990).
However, where false information is contained within the supporting affidavit, special consideration must be given. In Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978), the United States Supreme Court held:
[W]here the defendant makes a substantial preliminary showing that a false statement knowingly and intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth, was included by the affiant in the warrant affidavit, and if the allegedly false statement is necessary to the finding of probable cause, the Fourth Amendment requires that a hearing be held at the defendant's request. In the event that at that hearing the allegation of perjury or reckless disregard is established by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence, and, with the affidavit's false material set to one side, the affidavit's remaining content is insufficient to establish probable cause, the search warrant must be voided and the fruits of the search excluded to the same extent as if probable cause was lacking on the face of the affidavit.
Id. at 155-56, 98 S.Ct. at 2676.
The facts of this case require application of the Franks test. Freeman admitted that the source of the information contained in the affidavit was a confidential informant. He also admitted knowingly and intentionally describing the informant as an "agent" instead of "confidential informant," intending it to mislead the reader to conclude the "agent" was a police officer and not an informant. The falsity of the term is undeniably established by the third and final sentence in the affidavit, which employs the same word to connote police officers. The clear implication from the affidavit is that Freeman received the information regarding the storage of cocaine at Appellants' home from a law enforcement officer.
The false statement is necessary to the finding of probable cause because it bears directly on the veracity of the person supplying the information, which is a crucial element of probable cause in the totality of the circumstances. See, e.g., State v. Johnson, 302 S.C. 243, 395 S.E.2d 167 (1990)
. It is self-evident that a magistrate must have truthful information in order to evaluate the veracity of the informant. Furthermore, the...
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State v. Jones
...L.L.P., for respondents. PLEICONES, Justice: We granted certiorari to review the Court of Appeals' holding in State v. Jones, 331 S.C. 228, 500 S.E.2d 499 (Ct.App.1998) that probable cause did not exist to issue a search warrant when the affidavit contained a false statement. We ISSUE Did t......
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