S.D.W.Va.: SW for apartment five days after car was found nearby with PC inside it wasn’t stale

Defendant stopped at a DUI checkpoint, officers could see marijuana through the window, and then defendant fled the checkpoint. Officers gave chase. They found the car at an apartment complex, seemingly abandoned, parked with the door open and engine running. Another officer saw the marijuana and searched. Evidence of drug trafficking was found, and a loaded revolver was lying next to the open door. Inside the car were plenty of documents identifying defendant as the owner of the car, and that he was on probation. There was probable cause and nexus in that probable cause for search of his apartment. The fact officers waited five days to obtain the search warrant, without explanation, does not make the search warrant stale. Going in, the court described defendant’s concerns with the search “legitimate,” but unavailing. United States v. Hodges, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25575 (S.D. W.Va. Feb. 16, 2018).* [This, of course, begs the question of why he didn’t get rid of the stuff in his apartment before they came back.]