IN: Prior arrest for meth could be considered as RS in overbuying pseudo

Defendant’s prior arrest for methamphetamine was a factor that could be considered when the officer approached defendant for over purchasing pseudoephedrine at a drug store found on a records check. There was no reason for the officer to doubt the veracity of the meth arrest record in considering it. State v. Stevens, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 459 (June 12, 2015)*:

P19 We find Moody to be controlling in this case and conclude that under both the Fourth Amendment and Article 1, Section 11, it was reasonable for law enforcement officers to believe that the information they received from IDACS, namely that Stevens had a prior conviction for dealing in methamphetamine, was accurate. The system is one on which officers regularly rely, and nothing indicates that officers are or should be expected to confirm or research data generated by IDACS, particularly absent any evidence of intentional misconduct with respect to use or maintenance of the system. This reasonable belief was sufficient to provide probable cause to believe that Stevens was committing a crime by attempting to purchase pseudoephedrine. See Row v. Holt, 864 N.E.2d 1011 (Ind. 2007) (county deputy sheriff reasonably believed he had probable cause to arrest arrestee without warrant, and even if the trier of fact concluded that the arrest was not based on probable cause because information communicated to deputy sheriff by another officer was incorrect); Wessling v. State, 798 N.E.2d 929, 935 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003) (“Where there is a police-channel communication to the arresting officer, he acts in good faith thereon, and such knowledge and information exists within the department, then the arrest is based on probable cause.”); Jenkins v. Keating, 147 F.3d 577, 585 (7th Cir. 1998) (“When an officer has received information from some person—normally the putative victim or an eyewitness—who it seems reasonable to believe is telling the truth, he has probable cause to arrest the accused perpetrator.”) (internal quotation and quotation marks omitted).