State v. Wiley

• Decision Date: 19 April 1985
• Docket Number: No. CX-83-1672,CX-83-1672
• Citation: 366 N.W.2d 265
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Earthia WILEY, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 265

366 N.W.2d 265

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Earthia WILEY, Appellant.

No. CX-83-1672.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

April 19, 1985.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Evidence seized in reliance upon a search warrant was admissible at trial because the search warrant was based upon probable cause.

2. The evidence was sufficient to show that appellant constructively possessed marijuana.

3. The trial court did not err in denying appellant's motion to disclose the identity of an informant.

C. Paul Jones, Public Defender, Brian I. Rademacher, Asst. Public Defender, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Thomas L. Johnson, Hennepin County Atty., Vernon E. Bergstrom, R. Michael Richardson, Asst. Hennepin County Atty., Minneapolis, for respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

AMDAHL, Chief Justice.

Appellant was found guilty of possession of a Schedule I controlled substance by the Hennepin County District Court, in violation of Minn.Stat. Sec. 152.09, subd. 1(2) (1984). The prosecution arose out of the seizure at appellant's residence, pursuant to a search warrant, of two boxes containing loose, suspected marijuana. Appellant moved to suppress this evidence on the ground that the affidavit filed in support of the search warrant did not establish probable cause to search the residence. Appellant also moved for disclosure of the identity of the informant who provided the information contained in the affidavit. Appellant appealed the denial of these motions to the Court of Appeals, claiming in addition that the evidence was insufficient to support the trial court's findings that the seized substances were marijuana and that appellant constructively possessed the substances. The Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, unanimously found the evidence sufficient to support the verdict and unanimously affirmed the trial court's denial of appellant's motion to disclose the identity of the informant. The Court of Appeals divided, however, on whether the affidavit in support of the application for the search warrant was sufficient to establish probable cause to search, affirming the trial court by virtue of even division of the en banc panel. 348 N.W.2d 86. We affirm.

On January 24, 1983, Lieutenant Tidgwell of the Minneapolis Police Department applied for and obtained a warrant to search a residence at 1501 Upton Avenue North for stolen guns and narcotics. Tidgwell and other officers went to 1501 Upton and executed the warrant. When they arrived at the house, appellant and another person were present.

Officer Brademan, an officer in the narcotics department of the Minneapolis Police Department, assisted in the search of 1501 Upton. Because he had special training in the identification of controlled substances, Brademan was present specifically to search for narcotic drugs. In a bedroom labeled "2" on the north side of the house, Brademan discovered and seized approximately 6 ounces of a green, leafy substance suspected to be marijuana: about 5.5 ounces were found in a large, tinfoil lined box, and an additional .5 ounce was found in a syringe box, dated August 6, 1981, which had appellant's name and a Hennepin County Medical Center label on it. The large box also contained a smaller box, which had appellant's name and the date April 17, 1982, written on it. Brademan also found men's clothing in the closet of a size that would fit appellant and letters and envelopes addressed to appellant at that address. There were also letters addressed to several other people at that location.

Appellant, after receiving a Miranda warning and saying he wanted to talk, told Brademan that he lived at 1501 Upton and worked there for New World Advocates, which operates out of 1501 Upton. He denied occupying the bedroom in which the suspected marijuana was found and stated that others occupied the dwelling at various times. Later, appellant denied living at 1501 Upton. Robert Piazza, a detective for the Minneapolis Police, testified that in August of 1982, he had been assigned a robbery case in which Wiley was the victim. At that time, Wiley said he lived at 1501 Upton. Moreover, in October 1982, Wiley had written a letter to the chief of police that indicated his address was 1501 Upton.

Dawn Speier, a public health chemist for the City of Minneapolis, examined the seized substances to determine whether the material was marijuana. Speier, an experienced analytical chemist, has had specific training in the identification of controlled substances. She performed a microscopic examination of the substances and a thin-layer chromatography test.

Microscopic examination is used to determine if the plant matter is of the species cannabis. In looking at the substance, Speier saw three kinds of hairs. One, a cystolis, had a small cell of calcium carbonate at its base. Speier determined the presence of calcium carbonate by placing acid on the substance and observing that it bubbled. She also observed long, nonglandular hairs and very long hairs grouped closely together on the plant. These characteristics indicated that the substance was marijuana. Three identifying characteristics of marijuana--palmate leaves, absence of buds where leaflets join the stem of the plant, and serrated leaf edges--could not be checked because Speier lacked a full leaf of the plant and was examining crushed material.

Thin-layer chromatography was used to identify the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a Schedule I controlled substance, in the material seized. To perform this test, Speier dissolved standard THC and the suspected marijuana in solvents. The resulting solutions were spotted onto a thin-layer plate and allowed to develop. The position of the spots from the two samples of suspected marijuana was then compared to the position of the spot from the THC standard material. Speier found that the samples matched the known THC standard.

The trial court found appellant guilty of possession of marijuana.

1. Appellant asserts that the search warrant authorizing the search of 1501 Upton was unsupported by probable cause. The affidavit in support of the application for the search warrant, in pertinent part, stated that:

On 1-24-83 the CRI came into the Organized Crime Office and told me that hd [sic] been at 1501 Upton Ave. N. on 1-22-83 at 2330 hrs. At that time in the basement he had seen 15-20 handguns and rifles in a cardboard box that the occupant of that dwelling stated were stolen. He also saw narcotics consisting of marijuana and cocaine at the same time. The CRI has been at this dwelling on numerous occasions and has seen stolen property there consisting of guns stereos, TV's and other misc. items. The occupant is described as a Black Male, late 40's, close to 7 ft. tall, about 300 pounds and he lives there with a white female named Clare. I checked the listing in the cross directory for 1501 Upton Ave. N. and it lists to Clare Bettymae Masanz. I also checked a 1973 Mercedes in front of that address that the CRI indicated is driven by the black male and the white female and I obtained the license number of DMJ 234. This vehicle list to CLARE BETTYMAE MASANZ, 1501 Upton Ave. N. and is a 4 door blue in color. The CRI indicates that there is also a white male, name unk. who is temporarily staying in the basement where the guns are located. The white male is suppose to help the black [male] do income tax statements for the neighborhood people who want their services. * * *

It should be noted that the CRI has been used over several years successfully. It should also be noted that the black man that has the guns at 1501 Upton Ave. N. admitted to the CRI that the guns and other objects in his home are stolen.

In Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983), the Supreme Court ruled that the presence of probable cause should be determined under a "totality of the circumstances" test:

The task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, common-sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him, including the "veracity" and "basis of knowledge" of persons supplying hearsay information, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.

Id. at 238, 103 S.Ct. at 2332. A magistrate's determination of probable cause should be "paid great deference by reviewing courts" and a reviewing court should not review that determination de novo. The fourth amendment requires only that the magistrate had a "substantial basis for * * * conclud[ing] that a search would uncover evidence of wrongdoing." Id. at 236, 103 S.Ct. at 2331, quoting Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 271, 80 S.Ct. 725, 736, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960). In reviewing the sufficiency of an affidavit under the totality of the circumstances test, courts must be careful not to review each component of the affidavit in isolation. Even if each component is judged unsubstantial, the components viewed together may reveal in the informant's tip "an internal coherence that [gives] weight to the whole." Massachusetts v. Upton, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 2085, 2089, 80 L.Ed.2d 721 (1984). Furthermore, the resolution of doubtful or marginal cases should be "largely determined by the preference to be accorded warrants." Id., quoting United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965).

In light of these principles, we find the affidavit sufficient to establish probable cause. The affidavit stated that the informant had been at 1501 Upton several times and had observed stolen guns and narcotics on the premises only 2 days before the warrant was issued. Recent personal observation of incriminating conduct has traditionally been the preferred basis for an informant's knowledge. See State v. Yahnke, 336 N.W.2d 299 (Minn.1983); State v. Buchholtz, 295 N.W.2d 629 (Minn.1980).

The affidavit also stated that...