State Ex Rel. Duhn v. Tahash

147 N.W.2d 382, 275 Minn. 377, 1966 Minn. LEXIS 769
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedDecember 16, 1966
Docket40125
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 147 N.W.2d 382 (State Ex Rel. Duhn v. Tahash) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Duhn v. Tahash, 147 N.W.2d 382, 275 Minn. 377, 1966 Minn. LEXIS 769 (Mich. 1966).

Opinion

Otis, Justice.

Petitioner, LeRoy Duhn, has pled guilty to criminal negligence, a felony, in violation of Minn. St. 609.21. He has not appealed from that *378 conviction but seeks review of an order of the district court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

The questions presented are (1) whether the warrant for defendant’s arrest was issued upon probable cause as required by U. S. Const. Amend. IV and Minn. Const, art. 1, § 10, 1 and (2) whether defendant has waived his right to challenge the legality of his arrest by pleading guilty without raising that issue at the time of his conviction.

The warrant of arrest was based on the following complaint:

“Criminal Negligence Resulting in Death “M.S.A. 609-21
“Custody
“Municipal Court “City of St. Paul
“State of Minnesota ) > ss “County of Ramsey )
“Harry Churchill being duly sworn makes complaint to the above named Court, and says that on the 8th day of November A.D. 1964, at the City of St Paul, and within the corporate limits of said City of St Paul, in the County of Ramsey, and State of Minnesota one LeRoy Duhn then and there being, did wrongfully and unlawfully operate a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent manner, and did thereby inflict injuries upon Gary Martin Domain, of which said injuries he, the said Gary Martin Domain did on the 11th day of November, 1964 die, said acts by the said LeRoy Duhn not constituting murder or manslaughter contrary to the statutes in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Minnesota.
“Wherefore Complainant Prays, That said offender may be arrested and dealt with according to law.
“/s/ Harry P Churchill
*379 “Sworn to and subscribed and complained of before me, at the said City of St Paul Ramsey County, Minnesota, this 13th day of November A. D. 1964 “SEAL
“Robert E. Otte Clerk of Municipal Court
“By /s/ E. L. Borden Deputy Clerk”

There is no showing that the complaining witness was examined by a magistrate as required by § 629.42, 2 and petitioner asserts the complaint on its face inadequately establishes probable cause for the issuance of the warrant. We have concluded that defendant’s contention is sustained by the decisions of the United States Supreme Court in Giordenello v. United States, 357 U. S. 480, 78 S. Ct. 1245, 2 L. ed. (2d) 1503; Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S. Ct. 1509, 12 L. ed. (2d) 723; and Barnes v. Texas, 380 U. S. 253, 85 S. Ct. 942, 13 L. ed. (2d) 818. Accordingly, we hold that the complaint does not meet the requirements of the Fourth Amendment as set forth in the cases cited.

In Giordenello the court applied the rule that inferences from facts which lead to the complaint must “ ‘be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime.’ * * * The [magistrate] must judge for himself the persuasiveness of the facts relied on by a complaining officer to show probable cause. He should not accept without question the complainant’s mere conclusion that the person whose *380 arrest is sought has committed a crime.” 357 U. S. 486, 78 S. Ct. 1250, 2 L. ed. (2d) 1509.

The complaint in Giordenello was struck down because it contained no affirmative allegation that the complaining witness spoke with personal knowledge of the matters contained in it, nor did it indicate the source of his belief or set forth any other sufficient basis on which a finding of probable cause could be made. Aguilar applied to a search warrant the rules enunciated in Giordenello, noting that they were derived from the Fourth Amendment and not merely from the court’s supervisory power over Federal prosecutions. The vice of the complaint in Aguilar was that the allegations concerning possession of narcotics were conclusions drawn by an unidentified informant without a showing that either the complaining witness or the informant spoke with any personal knowledge. Consequently, the magistrate was obliged to accept without question the informant’s suspicion rather than judge for himself the persuasiveness of the facts relied on to show probable cause. 3

These decisions are succinctly summarized in Jaben v. United States, 381 U. S. 214, 224, 85 S. Ct. 1365, 1371, 14 L. ed. (2d) 345, 353, rehearing denied, 382 U. S. 873, 86 S. Ct. 19, 15 L. ed. (2d) 114. There the court said that it is not necessary that each allegation be independently documented or each fact leading to complainant’s conclusion be spelled out. “It simply requires that enough information be presented to the [magistrate] to enable him to make the judgment that the charges are not capricious and are sufficiently supported to justify bringing into play the further steps of the criminal process.”

The United States Supreme Court has made it clear in the cases discussed that its interpretation of the Fourth Amendment is made applicable to the states by the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment. Consequently, we can no longer assess the sufficiency of a criminal complaint by the tests announced in our prior decisions, and to the extent they are inconsistent with the results here reached we overrule State ex rel. Stundahl v. Richardson, 34 Minn. 115, 24 N. W. 354; State v. Volk, *381 144 Minn. 223, 174 N. W. 883; State v. Binder, 190 Minn. 305, 308, 251 N. W. 665, 667; and State ex rel. Walton v. Tahash, 267 Minn. 555, 126 N.W. (2d) 387.

Turning to the case at hand, it is apparent on the face of the complaint that there is no showing the complainant had any personal knowledge of the commission of the crime alleged. Indeed, there is no showing what the officer’s source of information was, whether hearsay or otherwise, let alone an opportunity for a magistrate to pass on its reliability. We are equally troubled by the failure to comply with § 629.42 which, as the Fourth Amendment has now been construed, clearly applies to felony prosecutions and requires the complaint to be executed before a magistrate rather than a clerk. While this issue has not been raised in the cases to which we have referred, the necessity for an objective and impartial determination by a judicial officer has been consistently treated as a principle so fundamental its application does not seem to have been seriously questioned. We therefore conclude that the complaint in the instant case did not show probable cause for the issuance of the warrant and was not executed before a proper officer.

Related

Op. Atty. Gen. 3a
Minnesota Attorney General Reports, 2023
State v. Nerz
572 N.W.2d 346 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1997)
State v. Wiley
205 N.W.2d 667 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1973)
State v. Harbitz
198 N.W.2d 342 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1972)
State v. LaBarre
195 N.W.2d 435 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1972)
Simberg v. State
179 N.W.2d 141 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1970)
Broberg v. State
176 N.W.2d 904 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1970)
State v. Limberg
175 N.W.2d 175 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1970)
State v. Mastrian
171 N.W.2d 695 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1969)
State v. Musta
170 N.W.2d 341 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1969)
State v. Burch
170 N.W.2d 543 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1969)
Cossette v. State
221 So. 2d 427 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1969)
Riebe v. State
164 N.W.2d 374 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1969)
State v. Mitchell
163 N.W.2d 310 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)
State v. Madison
160 N.W.2d 680 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)
State v. Beltowski
160 N.W.2d 705 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)
State v. Campbell
161 N.W.2d 47 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)
State v. Plant
159 N.W.2d 404 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)
State v. Suess
159 N.W.2d 180 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)
State v. Boerner
157 N.W.2d 40 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
147 N.W.2d 382, 275 Minn. 377, 1966 Minn. LEXIS 769, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-duhn-v-tahash-minn-1966.