State v. Beam

FRYE, Justice.

The issue before this Court is whether the evidence presented to the issuing magistrate, when taken as a whole, provides a substantial basis to support the magistrate’s finding of probable cause for the issuance of the search warrant. We answer in the affirmative and reverse the Court of Appeals’ decision which affirmed the trial court’s order suppressing the evidence.

The facts, basically undisputed, are as follows: On 7 February 1987, Detective Hollifield of the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department applied for a warrant to search defendant’s home for a controlled substance. In…