W.D.N.Y.: PC was a close call, so the court finds GFE applies instead

Probable cause is a close call here. The USMJ found probable cause and that the good faith exception applied. On review of the R&R, the court applies only the good faith exception to find the search valid. United States v. Williams, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 198760 (W.D. N.Y. Nov. 21, 2018):

Based on its de novo review, this Court concludes that whether probable cause existed for issuance of the search warrant is a close call. A number of the facts relied on by the Government are plainly relevant to the showing that Defendant lived at 1364 Pierce Avenue—but they do not necessarily establish probable cause to believe that evidence of drug trafficking would be found there. A defendant’s status as a drug dealer alone does not give rise to a fair probability that evidence of drug trafficking will be found in his home. See Zurcher v. Stanford Daily, 436 U.S. 547, 556 (1978) (“The critical element in a reasonable search is not that the property owner is suspected of [a] crime but that there is reasonable cause to believe that the specific ‘things’ to be searched for and seized are located on the property to which entry is sought”); United States v. Lahey, 967 F. Supp. 2d 698, 712 n.16 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) (“But the question of whether there was probable cause to believe that [the defendant] was a drug dealer is potentially distinct from the question of whether there was probable cause to search his apartment”); United States v. Kortright, No. 10 CR 937 (KMW), 2011 WL 4406352, at *7 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 13, 2011) (“[S]tale information … that [a defendant] dealt drugs on a handful of occasions, combined with … an expert opinion that drug dealers typically keep drugs in their homes, is not enough to establish probable cause to search. …”).