Aguilar v. Texas case brief

Aguilar v. Texas case brief summary
378 U.S. 108 (1964)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Certiorari was granted to the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, which affirmed defendant's conviction for illegal possession of a drug and held that the evidence obtained as a result of the search of defendant's house was properly admitted.

CASE FACTS
Defendant's home was searched for narcotics after two police officers obtained a search warrant from a justice of the peace. The warrant was issued based on the officers' affidavit, which stated that they had received reliable information from a credible person that narcotics could be found in defendant's home. The appellate court affirmed defendant's conviction for illegal possession of a drug, holding that the evidence obtained as a result of the search was properly admitted as evidence.

DISCUSSION

• The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the judgment and remanded the case. 
• The Court held that the search violated U.S. Constitutional Amendment IV because the affidavit did not provide any basis for the determination that probable cause existed. 
• The complaint contained no affirmative allegation that the affiant or the affiant's unidentified source spoke with personal knowledge of the matters contained therein. 
• Additionally, the affidavit did not indicate any sources for the affiant's belief and did not set forth any other sufficient basis upon which a finding of probable cause could be made.

CONCLUSION
The Court reversed the judgment that affirmed defendant's conviction for illegal possession of a drug where the search warrant for defendant's home should not have been issued. The affidavit did not provide a sufficient basis for a finding of probable cause, and, thus, the evidence obtained as a result of the search warrant was inadmissible in defendant's trial.

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