LA5: SW improperly suppressed without applying GFE

The trial court erred in not finding the search warrant here was saved by the good faith exception. “Upon review of the application, we find none of the scenarios proposed in Leon are present in this case. Thus, the trial court abused its discretion in granting the motion to suppress the search warrant for Defendant’s cell phone. From the application, it appears that Detective Wischan was forthcoming, and based on the fact the phone was found on Defendant’s person at the time of his arrest, the detective had reasonable grounds to suspect that Defendant may have had the phone in his possession on March 13, 2022 and that the phone may contain some evidence regarding the crimes committed on that date. We also find that the warrant was not so lacking of indicia of probable cause that the magistrate’s belief in its existence was entirely unreasonable. Further, the warrant appeared to be without defect and valid. Last, it is clear from the application that the officers executing the warrant believed the warrant to be validly issued. See Davis, supra.” State v. Cosse, 2023 La. App. LEXIS 836 ( La. App. 5 Cir. May 19, 2023).*

Defendant was a suspect in a 1980 murder in Orange County, California. Police did a genealogical survey of him and concluded he was even more of a suspect. By then he’d moved to Alamogordo, New Mexico. Finally, there was enough for a search warrant, but a trash search came first and DNA off a beer can matched the 1980 crime scene evidence. Motion to suppress was properly denied. People v. Lepere, 2023 Cal. App. LEXIS 380 (4th Dist. May 16, 2023).*