United States v. Peel

565 F. App'x 688
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedApril 30, 2014
Docket12-5212, 13-5000
StatusUnpublished

This text of 565 F. App'x 688 (United States v. Peel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Peel, 565 F. App'x 688 (10th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT **

TIMOTHY M. TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge.

James Peel was charged with and pleaded guilty to firearms possession by a felon. The charges arose from a search of his house that uncovered a gun. He argues the gun should have been suppressed because the search warrant was based on information the officers conducting the search should have known was inadequate *689 to establish probable cause under the Fourth Amendment. 1

We AFFIRM. We agree with the district court that even if the probable cause supporting the affidavit could have been more robust, the officers executing the search acted in good faith in relying upon the warrant. The affidavit in support of the warrant was not so wholly lacking in indicia of probable cause that a reasonable officer could not rely on the warrant. Since we affirm the conviction, we need not address the district court’s revocation of Peel’s probation and imposition of supervised release.

I. Background

Based on information developed through a confidential informant, Tulsa Police suspected Peel of distributing marijuana. They applied for a warrant to search Peel’s residence.

In support of the search warrant application, officers supplied an affidavit based on their interactions with the informant. In particular, the affidavit stated the informant had been to Peel’s residence and had observed Peel, “who had a large amount of marijuana inside his residence.” App. Vol. 1, 48. According to the affidavit, the informant also told police that “the marijuana was packaged for sale” and that the informant had observed Peel “conduct drug transactions” from the residence. The informant described the marijuana and also stated that Peel invited the informant to purchase marijuana whenever the informant decided to return. Id.

After learning where Peel’s residence was located, police verified that the utilities at the residence were in Peel’s name. They also searched the Tulsa Police Records and other state databases, revealing that Peel had prior felony convictions for false impersonation, possession of marijuana, and unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Surveillance of the home disclosed “short term traffic” and officers “observed vehicles pull up in front of the residence” and that “the occupants of the vehicles would go inside for a short period of time and return to their vehicle [sic] and leave.” Id. The affidavit included statements regarding the officer’s knowledge of certain activities common among drug users and drug dealers, including their tendency to keep drug paraphernalia, money, and firearms at their residences.

As corroboration, the officer’s affidavit explained:

The RCI [reliable confidential informant] has in the past given information to your affiant and other law enforcement agencies in excess of three occasions. All subjects arrested subsequent to information received from this RCI have been successfully charged with narcotic violations. Your affiant further states that the information that the RCI [sic] has never been untrue or misleading. The information the RCI has provided in the past has been up to date and vital on several narcotics investigations. Your affiant further states that the RCI has shown knowledge of the trafficking of narcotics. Your affiant *690 further states that the RCI has distributed narcotics in the past. Your affiant further states that the RCI stated that a black male named ‘James Peel’ was selling marijuana from his residence....

Id. at 47-48.

Based on the affidavit, an Oklahoma state court judge issued a search warrant for Peel’s residence. A search revealed a loaded .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol on a kitchen cabinet shelf, an SKS semi-automatic rifle, and three unloaded magazines. Though officers detected a strong odor of marijuana, they did not locate any marijuana during their search.

After he was indicted in federal court for illegal possession of firearms by a convicted felon, Peel moved to suppress the items obtained in the search. The district court denied the motion, finding there was probable cause to search the residence and, alternatively, that the good-faith exception applied to justify the search.

II. Discussion

“[Wjhile we review the district court’s ruling on the sufficiency of a search warrant de novo, we do not review de novo the determination of probable cause by the issuing judge or magistrate.” United States v. Haymond, 672 F.3d 948, 958 (10th Cir.2012) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Rather, “we give great deference to the issuing judge’s finding of probable cause” and ask only whether, under the totality of the circumstances, the judge had a “substantial basis” to find that probable cause existed. Id. (citations omitted).

Probable cause must be based on a “fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.” United States v. Cooper, 654 F.3d 1104, 1124 (10th Cir.2011) (quotations omitted). When probable cause is based on information given by a confidential informant, we evaluate the totality of the circumstances by looking to a number of factors that, taken together, “may usefully illuminate the commonsense, practical question whether there is ‘probable cause’ ” to search. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 230, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). These factors include the veracity, reliability, and basis of knowledge of the informant. Id. But the inquiry is holistic — the “factors are not absolute, independent requirements that must be satisfied in order for probable cause to exist.... [A] deficiency in one factor may be compensated for by a strong showing of another or by other indicia of reliability.” United States v. Quezada-Enriquez, 567 F.3d 1228, 1233(10th Cir.2009) (citation omitted).

Peel argues that these standards have not been met. He contends the officer’s affidavit inadequately disclosed to the state court judge both the specific reliability of the informant and that police had done enough to corroborate the statements of the informant that would confirm his veracity. But even assuming the affidavit was inadequate, we conclude that the officers who executed the search acted in good faith in relying upon the warrant, and, therefore, that the district court properly denied Peel’s motion to suppress.

It is well established that courts will not suppress evidence obtained from a search pursuant to a warrant if the officers who relied upon the warrant “acted with an objective good faith belief that the warrant was properly issued by a neutral magistrate.” See United States v. Augustine, 742 F.3d 1258

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Related

Illinois v. Gates
462 U.S. 213 (Supreme Court, 1983)
United States v. Leon
468 U.S. 897 (Supreme Court, 1984)
United States v. Campbell
603 F.3d 1218 (Tenth Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Danhauer
229 F.3d 1002 (Tenth Circuit, 2000)
United States v. Tuter
240 F.3d 1292 (Tenth Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Quezada-Enriquez
567 F.3d 1228 (Tenth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Cooper
654 F.3d 1104 (Tenth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Haymond
672 F.3d 948 (Tenth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. James Frederick Rowland
145 F.3d 1194 (Tenth Circuit, 1998)
United States v. Augustine
742 F.3d 1258 (Tenth Circuit, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
565 F. App'x 688, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-peel-ca10-2014.