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Name: U.S. v. Luong
Case #: 05-50090
Court: US Court of Appeals
District 9 Cir
Opinion Date: 12/12/2006
Summary

In order for the Leon (United States v. Leon (1984) 468 U.S. 897) good faith exception to apply, the affidavit supporting the issuance of a search warrant must contain sufficient information such that a police officer can reasonably believe that the affidavit shows probable cause. Here, the affidavit requesting a warrant of Luong’s residence for methamphetamine-manufacturing evidence asserted that there was a multi-agency investigation of a named individual, Jao, and then detailed a surveillance of Jao from the time he arrived in California to when he met appellant Luong and their subsequent non-suspect activities. However, it failed to provide the necessary basis to believe that the tip provided by one of the agencies that a suspect arriving at Los Angeles International Airport to set up a lab and manufacture methamphetamine was Jao. The court rejected the government’s argument that consideration should be given to exigent circumstances existing at the time the affidavit was prepared, namely, time pressure and technical difficulties in preparing the affidavit. It also emphasized that where the affidavit lacks all indicia of probable cause, no consideration will be given to unsworn facts that had been orally conveyed to the magistrate issuing the warrant.