United States v. Gonzales

MEMORANDUM *

The United States appeals the district court’s grant of defendant Andrew David Gonzales’s motion to suppress evidence of child pornography seized from his home pursuant to a search warrant. The district court suppressed the evidence on the basis that the warrant was not supported by probable cause and further concluded that the warrant was not saved by the good faith exception of United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 , 104 S.Ct. 3405 , 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984). We agree.

The magistrate issued the warrant solely based on the affidavit of an Anchorage Police Department detective, who relied on decade-old information and generalized statements regarding the proclivities of pedophiles. The magistrate clearly erred in issuing the search warrant because the affidavit did not provide the magistrate with a “substantial basis” for concluding that probable cause existed. See Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238-39 , 103 S.Ct. 2317 , 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983); see also United States v. Meek, 366 F.3d 705, 712 (9th Cir.2004) (issuance of a search warrant is reviewed for clear error).

The Leon good faith exception does not save the warrant. We have taken into consideration the…