United States v. Word
United States v. Word
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
Pursuant to a warrant, police officers searched known felon Robert Word’s home both for items stolen during a recent burglary and illegal drugs. The search produced numerous firearms, which Word moved to suppress. In denying Word’s motion, the district court concluded that the search warrant was supported by probable cause and, alternatively, that the challenged evidence was admissible under the good-faith exception of United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984). Word conditionally pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), reserving his right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress. We affirm.
In considering Word’s challenge to the search of his home, we first ask whether the district court clearly erred in determining that the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies. United States v. Spry, 190 F.3d 829, 834 (7th Cir. 1999). Under Leon, the exclusionary rule will not bar evidence obtained pursuant to a search warrant unless the magistrate who issued the warrant abandoned his neutral and detached role in issuing it, or unless “the officers were dishonest or reckless in preparing their affidavit or could not have harbored an objectively reasonable belief in the existence of probable cause.” Leon, 468 U.S. at 926,104 S.Ct. 3405.
In the ordinary case, “an officer cannot be expected to question the magistrate’s probable-cause determination.” United States v. Carter, 999 F.2d 182, 186 (7th Cir. 1993). Here, the amount of firsthand and corroborating information in the
AFFIRMED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Robert T. WORD
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published