GA: Anonymous informant not corroborated by misd possession of small amount of pot and a gun

“On appeal, Wiggins contends that the search warrant was invalid because the supporting affidavit—which relied solely on an uncorroborated tip from an anonymous informant [he was moving 50 pds a week], Wiggins’s possession of a personal-use amount of marijuana, and a statement from an acquaintance of Wiggins that she had smoked marijuana at his home numerous times—did not give rise to sufficient probable cause to suggest that he was running a drug-distribution operation out of his home. We agree.” Wiggins v. State, 2015 Ga. App. LEXIS 179 (March 23, 2015).

Regarding corroboration, Agent Burnes testified that she surveilled Wiggins’s residence—where he was allegedly distributing 50 pounds of marijuana every week—for only ten minutes, an amount of surveillance that the trial court found to be insufficient. And rightly so. As the record makes clear, there was essentially no investigation to determine the anonymous informant’s reliability or to corroborate his claims. Nevertheless, the State contends that the informant’s claim that there were cameras outside of Wiggins’s residence was corroborated when KPD officers confirmed the existence of those cameras. But this is not meaningful corroboration because the cameras were on the exterior of Wiggins’s residence and visible to the general public. Indeed, KPD agents observed the cameras outside of the house before obtaining the search warrant and entering Wiggins’s residence.

The State also contends that the anonymous tip was corroborated by Wiggins’s possession of marijuana contained inside a bag with a marking commonly used by drug dealers. And while we agree that this evidence reasonably supports an inference that Wiggins is a marijuana user, it strains credulity to suggest that his possession of less than one ounce of marijuana in a single bag with this marking is sufficient to demonstrate his possible involvement in a high volume drug-distribution operation. Indeed, with the exception of the revolver, the KPD agent who searched Wiggins’s truck did not discover any items commonly used in drug distribution, such as a large amount of cash, a substantial amount of drugs, scales, drugs portioned for sale in separate baggies, drug-packaging materials, or any other drug paraphernalia.

As for the revolver, Wiggins appeared to have lawfully possessed it, and it was not discovered in close proximity to any other signs of drug dealing (such as a significant amount of drugs). More importantly, it bears repeating that the magistrate was not given any information regarding how much time had passed between Wiggins’s alleged drug trafficking and his possession of the firearm, so it is unclear whether the two are in any way related. Simply put, Wiggins’s possession of a relatively small amount of marijuana and a legally owned firearm during a traffic stop, with no other indicia of drug distribution, was insufficient corroboration for the anonymous informant’s claim that, at some unknown time, Wiggins was trafficking in a substantial amount of marijuana every week out of his home.