State v. Spoke Committee, University Center, Grand Forks

270 N.W.2d 339, 1978 N.D. LEXIS 143
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 29, 1978
DocketCiv. No. 9472
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 270 N.W.2d 339 (State v. Spoke Committee, University Center, Grand Forks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Spoke Committee, University Center, Grand Forks, 270 N.W.2d 339, 1978 N.D. LEXIS 143 (N.D. 1978).

Opinions

ERICKSTAD, Chief Justice.

The Spoke Committee, a student activities programming committee at the University of North Dakota, appeals to this court from the order of the three-judge district court, consisting of the Honorable James H. O’Keefe, the Honorable Robert L. Eckert, and the Honorable Kirk Smith, dated the 16th day of December, 1977, which affirmed the oral opinion and order dated November 14, 1977. In essence, the three-judge court affirmed the oral decision of the Honorable Kirk Smith of the 18th day of May, 1977, which concluded that under Section 12.1-27.1-08, N.D.C.C., the film “Deep Throat” was obscene and a statewide injunction should issue prohibiting the future showing of the film.

Spoke, otherwise known as Student Programming of Kampus Events, asserts on this appeal that: (1) The search and seizure procedure in this case violated Spoke’s rights under the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States; (2) The North Dakota Obscenity Control Statute, Chapter 12.1-27.1 is unconstitutional in violation of Spoke’s rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States; and (3) Spoke’s rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States were infringed by the holding of the court below that the film “Deep Throat” was obscene, given the circumstances of its exhibition in a symposium about obscenity held at the University of North Dakota.

For reasons hereinafter stated in this opinion, we agree with Spoke on point number one and reverse the order of the three-judge district court.

In contention number one, Spoke asserts that its rights have been violated because the affidavit of the State’s Attorney of Grand Forks County failed to establish probable cause upon which the search warrant could issue, and because the affidavit and search warrant procedure did not provide an opportunity for a judicial officer to focus searchingly on the issue of obscenity.

The essential parts of the affidavit follow:

“I.
“That your Affiant is the States Attorney of Grand Forks County, State of North Dakota and under Section 12.1-27.-1-06 of the North Dakota Century Code is defined as an appropriate Law Enforcement Officer in connection with the above recited section of law;
“II.
“That your Affiant has been informed by Mr. Russell Brown of the University of North Dakota, and by an article in the Grand Forks Herald dated April 12,1977, that the film “Deep Throat” will be shown in the Student Union Ballroom located on the campus of the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, at 7:30 p.m. April 13, 1977;
“HI.
“That your Affiant has read numerous articles and critiques about the film “Deep Throat” and that from your Affi-ant’s reading of said articles, critiques and criticisms of said film your Affiant believes said film depicts sodomy between human beings as defined by Section 12.1-27.1-01(7) [12.1-27.1-01(8)] of the North Dakota Century Code and in specific depicts contact between the penis of one male human being and the mouth of one female human being actors in said film, as defined by the above stated section;
“IV.
“Your Affiant requests a duly signed Search Warrant by Judge A. C. Bakken of the District Court under the provisions of Section 12.1-27.1-06 of the North Dakota Century Code and in specific under subsection (a) of said statute and subsection (b) of said statute;
“V.
“That your Affiant intends to bring a civil proceeding in the District Court of [342]*342the County of Grand Porks for a determination of obscenity of the film “Deep Throat” and that your Affiant requests said Search Warrant for seizure of a copy of said film for preservation of evidence to be used in the civil proceeding that will be commenced by your Affiant in the name of the County of Grand Forks, State of North Dakota.”

Examining the affidavit from the standpoint of the Fourth Amendment alone, it appears to be defective. What we have here is an affidavit based upon hearsay. It is true that this fact alone does not make the affidavit defective. An affidavit based upon hearsay must be shown to be credible or reliable. In Aguilar v. State of Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964), the United States Supreme Court found a search warrant defective that was based upon an affidavit that read:

“ ‘Affiants have received reliable information from a credible person and do believe that heroin, marijuana, barbiturates and other narcotics and narcotic paraphernalia are being kept at the above described premises for the purpose of sale and use contrary to the provisions of the law.’ ” 378 U.S. at 109, 84 S.Ct. at 1511, 12 L.Ed.2d at 725.

In analyzing that affidavit in light of the Fourth Amendment, the Supreme Court, speaking through Justice Goldberg, said:

“Although an affidavit may be based on hearsay information and need not reflect the direct personal observations of the affiant, Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697, the magistrate must be informed of some of the underlying circumstances from which the informant concluded that the narcotics were where he claimed they were, and some of the underlying circumstances from which the officer concluded that the informant, whose identity need not be disclosed, see Rugendorf v. United States, 376 U.S. 528, 84 S.Ct. 825, 11 L.Ed.2d 887, was ‘credible’ or his information ‘reliable’. Otherwise, ‘the inferences from the facts which lead to the complaint’ will be drawn not ‘by a neutral and detached magistrate,’ as the Constitution requires, but instead, by a police officer ‘engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime,’ Giordenello v. United States, ... 357 U.S. 480 at 486, 78 S.Ct. 1245 at 1250, 2 L.Ed.2d 1503; Johnson v. United States, . . . 333 U.S. 10 at 14, 68 S.Ct. 367 at 369, 92 L.Ed. 436, or, as in this case, by an unidentified informant.” 378 U.S. at 114-115, 84 S.Ct. at 1514, 12 L.Ed.2d at 729.
In attacking the affidavit, the Court said: “The affidavit here not only ‘contains no affirmative allegation that the affiant spoke with personal knowledge of the matters contained therein,’ it does not even contain an ‘affirmative allegation’ that the affiant’s unidentified source ‘spoke with personal knowledge.’ ” 378 U.S. at 113, 84 S.Ct. at 1513, 12 L.Ed.2d at 728.

In the instant case, the State’s Attorney did not identify his sources of information as to the obscene nature of the film, nor did he attempt to show the reliability of the sources of information, and for that matter he did not even assert their reliability.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. SPOKE COMMITTEE UNIVERSITY CTR., ETC.
270 N.W.2d 339 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1978)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
270 N.W.2d 339, 1978 N.D. LEXIS 143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-spoke-committee-university-center-grand-forks-nd-1978.