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State v. Peek5/3/2000
relatives, trying to get someone to let him in. These were the details which officers set out in the search warrant in Baker to establish probable cause. We will now examine the affidavit which was the basis for the search warrant in the instant case.
Based upon our review of this affidavit, we conclude that it clearly established probable cause for the taking of blood, hair, and saliva samples from the defendant. According to the affidavit, rapes had occurred on July 1, 1996, and July 30, 1996, in the East Lake Community of Chattanooga. The daughter of the first victim described the attacker as a "black male." The first victim said that the attacker spoke with a "Northern" accent and was 6'1" or 6'2" or taller, and that he had a "slight paunch." The first victim also related to police that she had recently had a "somewhat hostile encounter" at a sports bar with a black male, whose name she did not know, when she declined his invitation to dance with him. The night manager of the sports bar, who was identified in the affidavit, told officers that a person meeting the description of the person with whom the first victim had had the "hostile encounter" was a black male named "Michael" who spoke with a "white" accent.
According to the affidavit, the second victim could not "give any physical description of her attacker." She said that he spoke with a "proper, clear, Northern" accent. Following a query from the investigator, police officers who were assigned to patrol the area of the rapes said they knew a black male named Michael Peek, aka Michael Peak, who resided within one mile of the two rapes and had been seen walking between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. on the morning of the second rape, approximately seven-tenths of a mile from where the rape occurred. According to police records, the defendant had a "lengthy history of arrests," which included charges of residential burglary and indecent exposure. The defendant had given New York as his place of birth and, according to police records, he was between six feet two inches and six feet four inches in height. Chattanooga police officers told the investigating officers that the defendant spoke with a "Northern" accent, was between 6'2" and 6'4", and had a "slight pot belly."
According to the affidavit, the next-door neighbor of the second rape victim, who was personally acquainted with the defendant for several hours until approximately 3:15 a.m., sat in his car with the defendant as it was parked at the residence where the witness and the second victim lived. The witness and the defendant got out of the witness's car at the same time, but the witness did not notice which direction the defendant took. As the witness entered his residence next door to the second victim, he noticed that it was either "3:15 or 3:17" a.m. He learned of the rape later in the morning when the victim awakened him to help her call the police to report that she had been raped. The affidavit concluded by setting out fourteen "similarities" between the two rapes, and seeking a search warrant to take blood, saliva, and hair samples from the defendant.
In denying defendant's motion to suppress, the trial court stated:
All right. Mr. Dobson, in reading the affidavit of the detective , he reminded me of an FBI type affidavit, and I believe that he does cover everything that is necessary to set out probable cause, so let your motion to suppress be denied.
We agree with the trial court that the affidavit given in support of the issuance of the search warrant was sufficient to establish probable cause and, thus, justify the issuance of the search warrant for the items sought. In Baker, after reviewing the investigative efforts of po
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