State v. Lyons

State v. Lyons involved whether a warrant issued to search Lyons' residence for marijuana lacked probable cause on its face.

Police sought and obtained a warrant to search Lyon's residence.  Marijana was found. The affidavit in support of the warrant stated:

Within the last 48 hours a reliable and confidential source of information (CS) contacted YCNU Detectives and stated he/she observed narcotics, specifically marijuana, being grown indoors at the listed address. The CS knows the suspect and homeowner as "Jimmy". The CS observed the growing marijuana while inside an outbuilding on the property of the listed residence. The CS observed the marijuana growing in potted soil under active lighting designed to promote plant growth.

The trial court granted Lyon's motion to suppress for lack of probable cause to issue the warrant. The court reasoned that “48 hours” statement did not necessarily mean that the confidential source saw the marijuana in the last 48 hours, instead it meant only that the confidential source had come to the police in the last 48 hours. Warrants generally must be issued on information obtained within the last 48 hours, otherwise the information is stale.

Division 3 of the Court of Appeals reverses. The court reasons that taking into account “standard of review (abuse of discretion) and canons of construction (nontechnical reading, commonsense reading, with great deference to the magistrate, with doubts resolved in favor of the warrant)” the warrant was valid.

Judge Siddoway dissents. She agrees “with the trial court that given this form of affidavit, the magistrate is forced to assume that the officer must have intended to communicate that the confidential source's observation was recent. This is not the role of a neutral magistrate envisioned by the federal and Washington constitutions.”