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MD: Total failure of PC made good faith exception inapplicable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Where PC was totally lacking, search warrant could not be relied upon in good faith. Agurs v. State, 2010 Md. LEXIS 201 (May 19, 2010): The affidavit supporting the warrant stated no facts suggesting that such items would be found in the home and stated only speculative and inconclusive facts suggesting that the petitioner was involved with controlled dangerous substances. Under these circumstances, the affidavit provided no indicia of probable cause that the petitioner had items related to controlled dangerous substances in his home. Accordingly, the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule did not apply because the police could not have relied on the warrant in good faith. Defendant’s stop was valid, and defendant does not really dispute that...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 22, 2010 (boomark / email).