State v. Velazquez

Syllabus

Convicted, following a conditional plea of nolo contendere, of the crimes of possession with intent to sell more than one ounce of heroin, possession with intent to sell more than one-half ounce of cocaine, and criminal possession of a firearm, the defendant appealed. He claimed that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress certain evidence because the search warrant application and affidavit failed to establish probable cause for the search of his apartment and the seizure of property therein. Held: The trial court properly denied the defendant's motion to suppress, as the search warrant affidavit set forth information given to the affiant police officers by a confidential informant that provided substantial evidence from which the issuing judge could have determined, on the basis of the totality of the circumstances, that a finding of probable cause was warranted. There was nothing in the trial court's decision denying the motion to sup- press that indicated that it improperly considered evidence outside the four corners of the search warrant, as, despite the defendant's claim, there was no indication that the court considered the testimony of one of the affiant police officers in determining whether the warrant established probable cause. Argued October 10, 2025—officially released January 13, 2026