United States v. Adler

393 F. Supp. 707, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12268
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 20, 1975
DocketCrim. No. 75-120
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 393 F. Supp. 707 (United States v. Adler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Adler, 393 F. Supp. 707, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12268 (E.D. Pa. 1975).

Opinion

OPINION

LUONGO, District Judge.

Defendants have moved to suppress all evidence seized pursuant to a warrant to search

“premises known as Unruh & Bustle-ton Avenue, or 2100 Unruh Avenue, Basement Floor and Middle Floor, with entrance facing Bustleton Avenue of a two story red brick building . . . [for] . . . records of financial indebtedness contracted in connection with and in addition to mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration; which are in violation of Title 18, United States Code, § 1010.”1

The affidavit submitted by F.B.I. Agent Zagreb in support of the application for the search warrant consisted of the following:

“The affiant has a statement from a purchaser of a home through City Wide Realty, the mortgage for which home was insured by the Federal Housing Administration in which statement the purchaser stated that at settlement City Wide Realty as creditor accepted a note from the purchaser as debtor for $1,800; that payments were made by mail and in person to City Wide Realty at Unruh & Bustleton Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa., and that affiant has seen a rent book containing receipts for payments made from 3/1/69 to 2/5/1970; and a letter from City Wide Realty Company, dated April 21, 1971, asking for late payments of $324.75; and a statement from home owner that she saw records of financial indebtedness in the office of City Wide Realty Company, Unruh & Bustleton Avenue, Philadelphia, on 4/28/72.”

The affidavit was sworn to on May 2, 1972, and the warrant issued and was executed on the same day. The search was conducted by a team of agents, two assigned to the basement floor and two to the middle floor under the direction and supervision of a group leader. The search lasted two hours and included all desk drawers and filing cabinets on both floors of the premises. The search uncovered evidence of “secondary” financing, which led to the filing of the 12 count indictment charging violations of § 1010 with respect to purchases of five different homes, mortgages for which were insured by the FHA.

[709]*709Defendants attack the search on several grounds, including, inter alia, that the warrant does not sufficiently describe the place to be searched; the affidavit does not furnish probable cause to believe that a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1010 had been committed since it sets forth no facts to support a conclusion that a false statement had been submitted; the affidavit sets forth no facts upon which a determination of the reliability of the informant could be based; and the affidavit set forth information of events too remote in time to furnish probable cause at the time of the issuance of the warrant.

DISCUSSION

It would be helpful to state briefly, at the outset, the principles governing the review of probable cause for issuance of warrants. Some are set forth in Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 419, 89 S.Ct. 584, 590, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969), as follows:

“. . . that only the probability, and not a prima facie showing, of criminal activity is the standard of probable cause, Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 96 [85 S.Ct. 223, 228, 13 L.Ed.2d 142] (1964); that affidavits of probable cause are tested by much less rigorous standards than those governing the admissibility of evidence at trial, McCray v. Illinois, 386 U.S. 300, 311 [87 S.Ct. 1056, 1062, 18 L.Ed.2d 62] (1967); that in judging probable cause issuing magistrates are not to be confined by niggardly limitations or by restrictions on the use of their common sense, United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 108 [85 S.Ct. 741, 745, 13 L.Ed.2d 684] (1965); and that their determination of probable cause should be paid great deference by reviewing courts, Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 270-271 [80 S.Ct. 725, 735-736, 4 L.Ed.2d 697] (1960).”

In addition, the affidavit must present evidence of sufficiently current events on which the magistrate can make a finding that probable cause exists at the time of the issuance of the warrant. Sgro v. United States, 287 U.S. 206, 53 S.Ct. 138, 77 L.Ed. 260 (1932); United States v. Johnson, 461 F.2d 285 (10 Cir. 1972); United States v. Guinn, 454 F.2d 29 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 407 U.S. 911, 92 S.Ct. 2437, 32 L.Ed.2d 685 (1972); United States v. Van Ert, 350 F.Supp. 1339 (E.D.Wisc.1972). Further, if the evidence submitted includes information furnished by an informant

“[t]he first step in the analysis is to determine whether the finding of probable cause is based on the informant’s tip alone, the tip plus evidence corroborating the tip, or the tip and other incriminating evidence. If the tip alone or the tip plus corroboration of the tip are the sole grounds for the finding by the magistrate of probable cause, then Spinelli and Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964), demand that the tip or the tip plus corroboration meet certain standards.” United States v. McNally, 473 F.2d 934, 937 (3d Cir. 1973).

As Judge Adams pointed out in McNally, Spinelli and Aguilar require that if the informant’s tip is essential to the determination of probable cause, the additional allegations of the affidavit must set forth a factual basis for the informant’s conclusion, and a factual basis for the affiant’s reason to believe the informant.

Proceeding with the foregoing principles in mind, I will consider the several objections raised by the defendants to the warrant, the affidavit, and the search.

First, as to the description of the place to be searched, if the magistrate is permitted great leeway in filling in blank spaces, the warrant might be said to describe the business premises of City Wide Realty, whose name appears in the caption. The description “. . . 2100 Unruh Avenue, Basement Floor and Middle Floor, with en[710]*710trance facing Bustleton Avenue of a two story red brick building” could be consistent with a two story dwelling with a residential entrance on Unruh Avenue and a side entrance to a business establishment occupying the basement level and the first floor of the building.

Next, the gravamen of the crime alleged to have been committed (violation of 18.U.S.C. § 1010) is the filing of a false statement to influence action by the FHA. Defendants point out that nowhere in the affidavit is there any mention of a statement having been submitted in connection with the transaction in question. That omission troubles me greatly.

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Bluebook (online)
393 F. Supp. 707, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-adler-paed-1975.