U.S. v. Thompson

• Decision Date: 02 January 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-5148,84-5148
• Citation: 751 F.2d 300
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Edward Eugene THOMPSON, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 300

751 F.2d 300

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Edward Eugene THOMPSON, Appellant.

No. 84-5148.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Dec. 14, 1984.

Decided Jan. 2, 1985.

Scott Tilsen, Minneapolis, Minn., for appellant.

Joseph T. Walbran, Asst. U.S. Atty., Minneapolis, Minn., for appellee.

Before LAY, Chief Judge, and BRIGHT and BOWMAN, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

Edward Eugene Thompson appeals his conviction of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon pursuant to 18 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1202(a)(1) (1982). Thompson challenges the denial of his motion to suppress the firearm discovered during a search of his apartment on the ground that the search warrant and its supporting affidavit were facially invalid. We hold that the affidavit provided sufficient probable cause on which to issue the search warrant under the guidelines set out by the United States Supreme Court in Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). The conviction of Thompson is therefore affirmed.

On March 23, 1984, a search warrant was executed by Minneapolis Police Narcotic Division officers for a search of Thompson's residence at 2819 Pillsbury Avenue South, apartment 103, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Thompson's motor vehicle; and Thompson's person. The objects described in the warrant included marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and handguns. During the search of the residence, several items including a .32 caliber revolver were seized. Subsequently, Thompson was arrested and indicted as a felon in possession of a firearm.

Thompson moved to suppress evidence obtained from the search of his residence on the ground that the evidence seized was obtained in violation of his fourth amendment rights. The motion was denied by the district court ¹ on May 15, 1984. On June 19, 1984, Thompson entered a conditional plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, pursuant to Rule 11(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. This rule preserves the right to appeal from the judgment of conviction in order to seek review of the denial of the motion to suppress evidence.

On appeal, Thompson challenges the sufficiency of the affidavit of Sergeant Ronald Johnson in support of the warrant to search Thompson's residence. According to Thompson, the affidavit was no more than a "bare bones" affidavit, and did not establish probable cause under the "totality of circumstances" test of Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). Under that standard,

[t]he 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. And the duty of a reviewing court is simply to ensure that the magistrate had a "substantial basis for ... conclud[ing]" that probable cause existed.

Id. 103 S.Ct. at 2332 (quoting Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 271, 80 S.Ct. 725, 736, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960)). We are convinced that the state district court judge had a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed for the issuance of the search warrant. Applying the totality of circumstances analysis to this case, we believe that what...