United States v. George Jonathan Jensen, Thomas Stoflet and Ronald Sylva

432 F.2d 861, 1970 U.S. App. LEXIS 7082
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedOctober 5, 1970
Docket20102_1
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 432 F.2d 861 (United States v. George Jonathan Jensen, Thomas Stoflet and Ronald Sylva) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. George Jonathan Jensen, Thomas Stoflet and Ronald Sylva, 432 F.2d 861, 1970 U.S. App. LEXIS 7082 (6th Cir. 1970).

Opinion

EDWARDS, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal by the United States from the grant of appellees’ motion to suppress evidence. The United States District Judge who granted the motion held that the affidavit filed by an agent of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was insufficient to establish probable cause to believe that a violation of 21 U.S.C. § 331 (q) (1) (prohibiting manufacture of hallucinogenic drugs) was being committed. He relied upon the United States Supreme Court decisions in Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964) and Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969). Another District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan had previously issued the warrant, obviously taking a contrary view.

We have carefully reviewed the disputed affidavit (reproduced hereafter as an appendix) and believe that it does set forth facts from which the District Judge who issued it could appropriately have found probable cause.

THE DRUG SHIPMENTS

We recognize, of course, that this investigation was triggered by information from an unnamed informer (or informers) :

“1. On or about February 28, 1969, information was received by the Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs at Detroit, Michigan, that Ventrón Corporation, Beverly, Massachusetts, had shipped that day 1 pound of Lithium Aluminum Hydride to Thomas Stoflet of the Paint and Color Research Company, 1762 Penobscot Building, Detroit, Michigan, and said Lithium Aluminum Hydride is known to the affiant to be a chemical used in the manufacture of mescaline.
“2. On or about March 3, 1969, information was received by the Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs, Detroit, Michigan, that K & K Laboratories, Plainsview, New York, had shipped that day 500 grams of 3, 4, 5, Trimethoxyphenylacetonitrile to Thomas Stoflet, Paint and Color Research Company, 1762 Penobscot Building, Detroit, Michigan, and said 3, 4, 5, is known to the affiant to be a chemical used in the manufacture of mescaline.”

But in this case the agents of the Narcotics Bureau did not on receiving this information simply submit the unconfirmed hearsay in affidavits seeking a search warrant. Cf. Aguilar v. Texas, supra. On the contrary, the affidavit indicates a month of surveillance and investigation. This investigation served to provide detailed confirmation of the two shipments (to the office ultimately searched) of drugs known by the affiant, a Narcotics Bureau Agent, to be used in the manufacture of the drug mescaline.

The affidavit also states that these two drug shipments were delivered to the “Paint & Color Research Co.” in the Penobscot Building in Detroit.

The affiant also swore:

“On March 25, 1969, the affiant spoke with Roger Fuelster, chemist for the Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs, who stated that 3, 4, 5, and Lithium Aluminum Hydride were of no use in paint and color research.”

THE JENSEN ROLE

The affidavit contains additional hearsay which of and by itself would not sustain a warrant:

“On or about March 17, 1969, the affiant received information from an informant that a man named George who works at Parke Davis Company, which is located at Joseph Campau and the river, was operating a laboratory which was producing hallucigenic (sic.) drugs.”

The affidavit also informed the issuing judge that the agents thereupon con *863 firmed through investigation at Parke Davis that a George Jensen was employed there as a draftsman, and that investigation established that George Jensen (under the name of Gordon Jensen) had paid the rent on the Penobscot Building office rented by the Paint & Color Research Co. and that the office was being used as a chemical laboratory.

THE STOFLET ROLE

The affidavit contains still further information:

“On March 25, 1969, the affiant spoke with Mr. James Vanderbrink, personnel manager, Acme Quality Paints, who stated that T. Stoflet was employed from November, 1968, to March, 1969. Stoflet held the position of a lab technician and was assigned the duties of matching paint colors for automotive finishes.
« * *
“On March 25, 1969, the affiant spoke with Mr. Vanderbrink from Acme Quality Paints who stated that T. Stoflet had been released of his duties at the paint and color research because a female coworker complained of having received a pill from Stoflet which cause (sic) her to have hallucigenic (sic) affects.”

The affidavit detailed the investigation and surveillance which confirmed that Stoflet was one of the two men who had rented the Penobscot Building office for the Paint & Color Research Co. and that he had personally received the package of Lithium Aluminum Hydride shipped by the Ventrón Corporation.

While we recognize, of course, that these facts, if added to others contained in the affidavit, do not add up to proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, they do, in our minds, constitute probable cause for the District Judge who issued the warrant to believe that the crime of manufacturing hallucinogenic drugs was being committed.

Hearsay from named persons who supply detailed information suggesting direct knowledge of the facts is admissible for determining probable cause for a search warrant. Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 416, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969); Draper v. United States, 358 U.S. 307, 79 S.Ct. 329, 3 L.Ed.2d 327 (1959).

Hearsay from an unnamed informant may be admissible if there is reason (established in the affidavit) to trust the informant’s conclusion either because the facts show that the informant is reliable or because his information is credible in view of its detailed nature (the underlying circumstances). Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 114, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964).

Hearsay from an unnamed informant may also be admitted when it can be confirmed by independent investigation. Spinelli v. United States, supra, 393 U.S. at 415, 89 S.Ct. 584; Aguilar v. Texas, supra, 378 U.S. at 109 n. 1, 84 S.Ct. 1509.

In Aguilar the Supreme Court said:

“If the fact and results of such a surveillance had been appropriately presented to the magistrate, this would of course, present an entirely different case.” Aguilar v. Texas, supra at 109 n. 1, 84 S.Ct. at 1511.

We believe the basic principles controlling the test of search warrant information are set forth in Aguilar v.

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

Related

United States v. Ted Dudek A/K/A Ted Landers
560 F.2d 1288 (Sixth Circuit, 1977)
Fry v. State
493 S.W.2d 758 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1973)
United States v. Wilford Burch
471 F.2d 1314 (Sixth Circuit, 1973)
Hunt v. Swenson
344 F. Supp. 471 (E.D. Missouri, 1972)
Frazier v. State
480 S.W.2d 375 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1972)
LeDent v. Wolff
334 F. Supp. 64 (D. Nebraska, 1971)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
432 F.2d 861, 1970 U.S. App. LEXIS 7082, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-george-jonathan-jensen-thomas-stoflet-and-ronald-sylva-ca6-1970.