United States v. Loren Dodds

MEMORANDUM

Loren Kent Dodds appeals his conviction for possessing and manufacturing with intent to distribute more than 100 marijuana plants in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) & (b)(1)(B) and the district court’s order awarding restitution. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm Dodds’ conviction and vacate the restitution order.

The district court properly denied Dodds’ motion to suppress evidence derived from four search warrants. Dodds argues the February 2 warrant should have been suppressed for two reasons. First, he contends Trooper Cooper’s unrecorded oral affidavit did not comply with the Fourth Amendment’s oath or affirmation requirement. But even if Dodds were correct, suppression was not required because Cooper’s reliance on the warrant was “objectively reasonable.” United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 922-24 , 104 S.Ct. 3405 , 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984) (establishing good faith exception to the exclusionary rule). Contrary to Dodds’ suggestion, the magistrate did not “wholly abandont ] his judicial role in the manner condemned in Lo-Ji Sales, Inc. v. New York,” id. at 923, 104 S.Ct. 3405 , by failing to make a contemporaneous recording of…