General Drug Trafficking Knowledge Not Enough for Probable Cause

An officer’s general knowledge about items used in drug trafficking was not enough to establish probable cause for obtaining a search warrant

United States v. Brown, 2016 BL 205724, 6th Cir., No. 13-1761, 6/27/16.

   The Sixth Circuit found that an officer’s general knowledge about drug trafficking, coupled with flawed information about the homeowner’s participation in dealing drugs, did not establish sufficient probable cause for a search warrant. Although the officer had sufficient cause to search the homeowner’s car, information collected from the car, including the address of the house, was not enough on its own to satisfy search warrant requirements. The court found “no evidence that [the homeowner] distributed narcotics from his home, that he used it to store narcotics, or that any suspicious activity had taken place there.” Further in the opinion, the court continued by saying, “The affidavit did not suggest that a reliable confidential informant had purchased drugs there, that the police had ever conducted surveillance at [homeowner’s] home, or that the recorded telephone conversations linked drug trafficking to Brown’s residence.” Without any such probable cause, the search was unreasonable.

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/United_States_v_Brown_No_16a0148p06_2016_BL_205724_6th_Cir_June_2.