State v. Raveydts

• Decision Date: 22 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. 23154.,23154.
• Citation: 2004 SD 134,691 N.W.2d 290
• Parties: STATE of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Kelli Joy RAVEYDTS, Santana Jean Hansen, and Robert James Nicholson, Defendants and Appellees.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

691 N.W.2d 290

2004 SD 134

STATE of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Kelli Joy RAVEYDTS, Santana Jean Hansen, and Robert James Nicholson, Defendants and Appellees.

No. 23154.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Argued on November 17, 2004.

Decided December 22, 2004.

Lawrence E. Long, Attorney General, Gary Campbell, Assistant Attorney General, Pierre, South Dakota, Attorneys for plaintiff and appellant.

Lynn A. Moran, Custer, South Dakota, Attorney for appellee Raveydts.

Chris M. Beesley, Custer, South Dakota, Attorney for appellee Hansen.

Matthew L. Skinner, Rapid City, South Dakota, Attorney for appellee Nicholson.

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶1.] In this appeal, we confront the question of what amount of independent police corroboration is sufficient, when combined with information received from anonymous informants, to establish probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant. Two anonymous callers detailed to a deputy sheriff what they believed to be drug-dealing activity they saw occurring at their apartment building. They provided license plate numbers of persons coming to the apartment to conduct ostensible drug purchases. The deputy checked the license numbers and verified that several of the plates belonged to known drug users. When this information was presented in an affidavit, a judge issued a warrant to search the premises. After the defendants were charged, on a motion to suppress, the circuit court ruled that the warrant was deficient in probable cause and suppressed all the seized evidence. On intermediate appeal, the State contends that the affidavit supporting the warrant had sufficient probable cause, and, even if it did not, the good faith exception permits the admittance of the seized evidence. Defendants argue that the deputy should have done more to independently corroborate the anonymous tips. Because the affidavit in support of the warrant was based on two separate anonymous calls plentiful in detail about apparent drug related activity at the apartment, and because the deputy corroborated this information by verifying that the license plate numbers of some of the persons allegedly coming to the apartment were known to have been involved in illicit drugs, we reverse, concluding that sufficient probable cause supported the issuance of the search warrant.

Background

[¶2.] On the morning of July 6, 2003, Deputy Sheriff James Biesheuvel of the Custer County Sheriff's Department received two anonymous telephone calls. The first caller reported that he believed illegal drug activity was taking place in an apartment located in the upstairs portion of his apartment building. Throughout the first caller's explanation of what he thought was suspicious, he stated that he believed the occupant's name was "Kelli," that the address to the apartment building was 886 Montgomery Street, that Kelli had a lot of traffic coming in and out of the building at all hours of the day and night, and that visitors to the apartment complex would only stay for a short period of time. The first caller also indicated that Kelli would whistle to foot and vehicle traffic from her window to signal the visitors. On one occasion, the caller observed a blonde female visit Kelli's apartment at 3 o'clock in the morning. The caller later watched the female leave Kelli's apartment with something in her hand that was small and plastic. Lastly, the first caller provided the officer with a list of vehicle license plate numbers of persons who had visited Kelli's apartment complex within the last few days. The caller did not give his name to the deputy.

[¶3.] The second caller telephoned the sheriff's deputy two hours after the first caller. Like the first caller, this person never gave a name or other identifying information. The second caller, too, claimed to have observed a lot of foot and vehicle traffic coming to and from "Kelli Joy Raveydts's" apartment throughout the middle part of the week. The caller recognized one of Raveydts's visitors as a former, and possibly current, drug dealer. Additionally, a similar list of license plate numbers was provided to the deputy. Finally, because of the caller's claimed experience with illicit drugs, the second caller told the deputy that a particular smell coming from Raveydts's apartment had the odor of marijuana.

[¶4.] Using public records, Deputy Biesheuvel was able to identify the owners of the license plate numbers supplied by the callers. Three of the identified car owners had a questionable, if not criminal, history. Two of the vehicle owners were involved in prior drug violations. Specifically, the deputy indicated in his affidavit that one of the three known vehicle owners and prior arrestees had been recently identified through drug debriefs and interviews as being involved in large marijuana sales throughout the Custer area.

[¶5.] Based on this information provided in the affidavit, a circuit judge issued a search warrant. The warrant authorized law enforcement officers to search Raveydts's apartment, anyone located in the apartment, the urine of anyone located in the apartment, and any vehicle located at the apartment building during the search belonging to Raveydts or any visitor. The search was conducted at approximately 6:40 p.m., the same day that Deputy Biesheuvel received the anonymous telephone calls. Upon entering the apartment, officers apprehended Defendant Robert James Nicholson and seized a hypodermic syringe from his pocket. When Defendants Raveydts and Santana Jean Hansen arrived at the apartment in the course of the search, they were also arrested. Numerous items relating to illegal drugs were found and seized in the apartment, including baggies with residue, documents, prescription tablets, a marijuana pipe, snort tubes, a bindle of opium, plastic bongs, and a small tool with residue. Defendants were all charged with drug related offenses based on the result of the search and interviews conducted after their arrests.

[¶6.] Defendants moved to suppress the evidence obtained, alleging that the warrant and supporting affidavit were deficient for lack of probable cause. The circuit court granted defendants' motion to suppress, finding that the search warrant was issued on insufficient information. On intermediate appeal, the State asserts (1) that the trial court erred in suppressing the evidence because the affidavit provided sufficient probable cause to justify the warrant, and (2) if probable cause was lacking, the seized evidence should be admitted under the good faith exception.

Analysis and Decision

[¶7.] We review the sufficiency of a search warrant "by looking at the totality of the circumstances to decide if there was at least a `substantial basis' for the issuing judge's finding of probable cause." State v. Jackson, 2000 SD 113, ¶ 8, 616 N.W.2d 412, 416 (citing Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238-39, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2332, 76 L.Ed.2d 527, 548 (1983) (citations omitted)). In Gates, a pivotal decision in search and seizure law, the United States Supreme Court abandoned formal application of the two-pronged test enunciated 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). Now the inquiry is whether the information provided to the judge was sufficient for a "common sense" decision that there was a "fair probability" the evidence would be found on the person or at the place to be searched. Gates, 462 U.S. at 238, 103 S.Ct. at 2332. "Furthermore, we review the issuing judge's probable cause decision to grant a search warrant independently of the conclusion reached by the suppression hearing court." State v. Boll, 2002 SD 114, ¶ 44, 651 N.W.2d 710, 721 (Konenkamp, J., concurring) (referencing Jackson, 2000 SD 113, ¶ 8, 616 N.W.2d at 416).

[¶8.] "Reviewing courts are not empowered to conduct an after-the-fact de novo probable cause determination; on the contrary, the issuing judge's legal basis for granting the warrant is examined with `great deference.'" Jackson, 2000 SD 113, ¶ 9, 616 N.W.2d at 416 (following Gates, 462 U.S. at 236, 103 S.Ct. at 2331). "`A deferential standard of review is appropriate to further the Fourth Amendment's strong preference for searches conducted pursuant to a warrant.'" Id. (quoting Massachusetts v. Upton, 466 U.S. 727, 733, 104 S.Ct. 2085, 2088, 80 L.Ed.2d 721, 727 (1984)). Under this Court's implementation of the Gates standard, we view an anonymous caller's "`reliability, veracity, and basis of knowledge'" as relevant considerations in finding probable cause; these considerations, however, are "`not independent, essential elements.'" Id. (repeating United States v. Reivich, 793 F.2d 957, 959 (8thCir.1986)); see Gates, 462 U.S. at 230,

103 S.Ct. at 2328.

[¶9.] Under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and, similarly, in Article VI, Section 11, of the South Dakota Constitution, "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause supported by affidavit...." SD Const art VI, § 11. "`The determination of whether an affidavit in support of a search warrant shows probable cause for issuance of the warrant must be based upon an examination of the four corners of the affidavit.'" Jackson, 2000 SD 113, ¶ 11, 616 N.W.2d at 416 (quoting State v. Lodermeier, 481 N.W.2d 614, 622 (S.D.1992) (following State v. Iverson, 364 N.W.2d 518, 522 (S.D.1985))). "Reasonable inferences may be drawn from the information in the affidavit." Id. (citing Lodermeier, 481 N.W.2d at 622; State v. Kaseman, 273 N.W.2d 716, 723 (S.D.1978)).

[¶10.] Deputy Biesheuvel's affidavit in support of the State's request for a search warrant of Raveydts's apartment provides in pertinent part:

On 7-6-03 at approximately 0800 hours I was contacted by anonymous male subject at the

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