State v. Taylor

872 P.2d 53, 74 Wash. App. 111, 1994 Wash. App. LEXIS 206
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided April 11, 1994·No. 29243-9-I·Published·Cited by 33 cases

Opinion

Agid, J.

Brian Lamont Taylor was convicted and sentenced for six counts of violating the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, RCW 69.50.401(a). Taylor contends that the trial court should have granted his motion to suppress the contraband because the search warrant was invalid. He further contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions on counts 4 and 5, and that the trial court’s application of the deadly weapon enhancement at sentencing denied him his constitutional right to keep and bear arms. 1 We affirm.

I

Facts

In September 1990, Leonard Charles, 2 a Seattle Police Department informant, told Detective MacGregor Gordon that Taylor was dealing cocaine out of one of his two residences, located on 32nd Avenue South in Seattle (32nd Ave *115 nue). Charles also informed Gordon that Taylor used another house, this one on Ithaca Place, to process the cocaine into other forms such as crack. Charles gave information to Detective Gordon that formed the basis upon which a magistrate issued a search warrant for Taylor’s two residences. Charles informed Gordon that he had seen a large quantity of cocaine on the kitchen table at 32nd Avenue which was packaged in small amounts. Also, within 48 hours prior to the time the search warrant was issued, Charles saw a large quantity of packaged crack cocaine on a gray couch downstairs. The affidavit for the search warrant stated that Charles had also seen powdered and crack cocaine at the Ithaca Place residence on three occasions, including once within the last 48 hours. Finally, the affidavit stated that, under police surveillance, Charles had performed a controlled buy on two occasions at the 32nd Avenue residence. 3

On November 20, 1990, the Seattle Police Department executed the search warrant at the Ithaca Place residence. When the police heard no response after knocking, they forced their way into the house. Taylor and his aunt were sitting on the living room couch. Inside, the police found baggies containing approximately 15 grams of powdered and rock cocaine, 1 gram of black tar heroin, a bottle containing 46 diazepam pills, baggies commonly used for packaging cocaine and heroin, a cocaine grinder, scales, a pager and $5,737 in cash. The officers also found an unloaded .45-caliber gun on the living room coffee table. The gun was in a leather bag, along with a clip containing seven rounds of ammunition. That same morning, other officers executed a search warrant on the 32nd Avenue residence. There, the police found approximately 32 grams of cocaine, scales, baggies, a sifter, razor blades, lactose (a cutting agent), a shoulder holster, a gun box, a loaded .45-caliber clip, 3 pagers and a cellular phone.

*116 II

Sufficiency of The Warrant

Taylor first challenges the sufficiency of the search warrant, arguing that the warrant affidavit both contained a material misrepresentation and omitted relevant facts necessary to make a determination of probable cause. He argues that the trial court should have suppressed the evidence seized during the search, or that he was entitled to a hearing under Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 155-56, 57 L. Ed. 2d 667, 98 S. Ct. 2674 (1978), to determine whether his Fourth Amendment rights were violated.

A magistrate’s determination that probable cause exists to issue a warrant is entitled to considerable deference by appellate courts. State v. Mak, 105 Wn.2d 692, 718 P.2d 407, cert. denied, 479 U.S. 995 (1986); State v. Jackson, 102 Wn.2d 432, 688 P.2d 136 (1984). When a search warrant’s validity is challenged, doubts will be resolved in favor of the warrant. Mak, 105 Wn.2d at 714. In Jackson, the Supreme Court set forth the appropriate analysis for challenges to the validity of a search warrant. The court affirmed its adherence to the 2-pronged Aguilar-Spinelli 4 test when reviewing claims made under Const, art. 1, § 7. Under that test, the warrant affidavit must demonstrate the informant’s (1) "basis of knowledge” and (2) "veracity”. Jackson, 102 Wn.2d at 437. The "basis of knowledge” prong is satisfied if the affidavit establishes the circumstances under which the informant obtained his information. The informant must state that he has personal knowledge of the facts asserted in the affidavit. The "veracity” prong is commonly satisfied by a showing that the informant has a proved "track record”, i.e., that he has provided accurate information to the police in the past. Jackson, 102 Wn.2d at 436-38. If the warrant affidavit fails to satisfy either of the AguilarSpinelli prongs, the deficiency may be cured by corroborating the informant’s tip with independent police investigatory work. Jackson, at 438.

*117 In a pretrial motion to suppress, Taylor argued that the warrant affidavit misrepresented the manner in which the controlled buys occurred. He further argued that, after the search warrant was executed, Charles gave a sworn statement that the controlled buys never occurred. 5 In addition, Taylor contended that the warrant omitted that Taylor was Charles’ nephew, that Charles was a drug addict with pending criminal charges against him at the time he informed on Taylor, and that Charles had admitted possessing drugs in a prior case in which Taylor had been initially charged. Taylor argued that the magistrate could not independently evaluate Charles’ reliability without knowing about these circumstances.

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

State v. Taylor, 872 P.2d 53, 74 Wash. App. 111, 1994 Wash. App. LEXIS 206 (Wash. Ct. App. 1994).

872 P.2d 53 (State v. Taylor) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State Of Washington V. Benjamin Jack Hoover
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2025
State Of Washington, V. John Canales
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2022
State of Washington v. Warren L. Lemmon
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2015
State Of Washington, V Sophia Fatima Thomas
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2015
State of Washington v. Jose Martinez
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2013
State Of Washington, V John R. Gardner, Jr.
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2013
State v. Chenoweth
158 P.3d 595 (Washington Supreme Court, 2007)
State v. Gurske
118 P.3d 333 (Washington Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. McCord
106 P.3d 832 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2005)
State v. Gurske
120 Wash. App. 63 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2004)
State v. Schelin
55 P.3d 632 (Washington Supreme Court, 2002)
State v. Krzeszowski
24 P.3d 485 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2001)
State v. Schelin
14 P.3d 893 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2000)
State v. Johnson
974 P.2d 855 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1999)
State v. Wade
966 P.2d 384 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1998)
State v. Simonson
960 P.2d 955 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1998)
State v. Mills
907 P.2d 316 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1995)
State v. Lopez
904 P.2d 1179 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1995)
State v. Davis
904 P.2d 306 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1995)
State v. Lovelace
895 P.2d 10 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1995)