Cj 400

These cases are similar in many ways, the most obvious being that law enforcement received "tips" from outside sources, meaning sources outside the law enforcement community, that indicated certain parties were involved in illegal drug possession, distribution, selling and trafficking. Based on these tips, law enforcement obtained search warrants to search the persons and residences of those persons involved. Both search warrants were executed and both produced drugs, and paraphernalia consistent with the information provided to law enforcement. This is where the similarities begin to dissolve.

In Aguilar v. Texas, the affidavit given by law enforcement to obtain a search warrant was that they were provided information from an informant that heroin and other narcotics were being kept at the residence in question for the purpose of sale and use. The affidavit failed to provide further information concerning the undisclosed informant or the reliability of the information. The search warrant was issued based on this hearsay information and the evidence obtained by law enforcement was admitted at trial. The petitioner was found guilty of possession of heroin (Findlaw, 2007).

In Jones v. United States held that "the magistrate must be informed of some underlying circumstances from which the informant concluded that the narcotics were where he claimed they were, and some of the underlying circumstances from which the officer concluded that the informant was credible and reliable." (Findlaw, 2007). The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision due to the fact that the search warrant should not have been issued based on the fact that the affidavit did not provide a sufficient basis for probable cause and the evidence obtained was inadmissible.

In Illinois v. Gates, law enforcement received an anonymous letter which stated that respondents were engaged in the selling and trafficking of illegal drugs. Law enforcement did the right thing and confirmed the information in the anonymous letter provided to them. Based on the information in the affidavit, a search warrant was obtained and the evidence mentioned in the search warrant was located and seized. Initially in Illinois v. Gates, the evidence obtained was executed was suppressed. The courts held that the anonymous letter and the affidavit were insufficient to sustain a determination