Probable Cause
Probable cause in obtaining a warrant can be an important factor in deciding whether evidence gathered with that warrant can be used at trial. In Spinelli vs. United States, the FBI obtained a search warrant based on a sparsely corroborated tip from an informant that led to the discovery of evidence that indicated that Spinelli was running an illegal book marking operation. The court ruled an informant’s tip must be sufficiently corroborated to be the basis for probable cause or information supporting the applying officer’s belief that the informant is reliable and credible.
The case of Illinois v. Gates overturned Spinelli. Here, based on a corroborated informant’s tip regarding Gates’ travel plans police obtained a search warrant and discovered marijuana in Gates’ car, which the trial court excluded as fruits of an illegal search. The Spinelli two pronged approach for determining probable cause based on informant’s tip was abandoned in favor of a less technical totality of the circumstances test. The court ruled a search warrant based on an informant’s tip may be properly issued if, given the totality of the circumstances set forth in the warrant application, including the veracity and basis of knowledge of the informant and any corroboration of the informant’s information, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence will be found in the place to be searched. This is the totality of circumstances test.
