CA6: Nexus isn’t shown to def’s house just because his car is registered there

The search warrant for defendant’s house was not based on any nexus between his alleged offense and his house. His car was involved in drug dealing, but his car being registered at his house isn’t nexus to the house. United States v. Brown, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 11739 (6th Cir. June 27, 2016):

In the present case, the search warrant affidavit contained no evidence that Brown distributed narcotics from his home, that he used it to store narcotics, or that any suspicious activity had taken place there. The affidavit did not suggest that a reliable confidential informant had purchased drugs there, that the police had ever conducted surveillance at Brown’s home, or that the recorded telephone conversations linked drug trafficking to Brown’s residence. The Government notes that Brown’s car, which was registered to his residence, was parked outside Middleton’s home and tested positively for narcotics during a canine search. Although these facts supported the search of Brown’s car, they did not establish a fair probability that evidence of drug trafficking would be found at his residence. A more direct connection was required, such as surveillance indicating that Brown had used the car to transport heroin from his home to Middleton’s on the day in question. The mere fact that the car was registered to Brown’s home was too vague and generalized a nexus to support the search warrant.

… Finally, our totality-of-the-circumstances probable cause inquiry for search warrants for the home of an allegedly “known drug dealer” honors the Fourth Amendment’s safeguards against unreasonable governmental intrusion into the home.

In sum, our cases teach, as a general matter, that if the affidavit fails to include facts that directly connect the residence with the suspected drug dealing activity, or the evidence of this connection is unreliable, it cannot be inferred that drugs will be found in the defendant’s home—even if the defendant is a known drug dealer. The affidavit here lacks that necessary nexus. Given this flaw, it was not proper to infer a fair probability of finding contraband or evidence of a crime at that particular place. See Gates, 462 U.S. at 238.

Although this alone establishes that the warrant was issued without probable cause, we note that the evidence supposedly establishing Brown’s status as a drug dealer was also inadequate. The affidavit relied on the following facts to show that Brown was a known drug dealer: Brown was a passenger in Middleton’s car when the arrest was carried out. Police officers seized four cell phones from the car, two of which were believed to belong to Brown because they listed Middleton’s phone number as a contact. One of Brown’s alleged cell phones had a text message that said, “He said 1175 or 1125 for one,” which Agent Fitch alleged referred to local cocaine prices, not heroin. Brown possessed $4,813 in currency at the time of his arrest. Brown’s car was parked at Middleton’s residence and, during a search of Brown’s vehicle, a drug dog alerted to the odor of narcotics.