PEOPLE OF MI V CHAVEZ L VINCENT
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
February 16, 1999
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 207384
Recorder’s Court
LC No. 97-002874
CHAVEZ L. VINCENT,
Defendant-Appellee.
Before: Gribbs, P.J., and Saad and P.H. Chamberlain*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
The people appeal by right an order of the Recorder’s Court dismissing a charge of possession
of marijuana with intent to deliver, MCL 333.7401(2)(d)(iii); MSA 14.15(7401)(2)(d)(iii), after
granting defendant’s motion to suppress evidence seized at an apartment pursuant to a search warrant
based upon information supplied by an unnamed informant. We reverse the suppression and dismissal
ruling and remand for reinstatement of that charge.
The trial court incorrectly concluded that the circumstances of the informant’s two controlled
drug buys described in the search warrant affidavit were insufficient to show that the informant’s
information was reliable. The reliability of an unnamed informant’s statements regarding the location of
drugs may be corroborated by successful controlled buys under close police surveillance. People v
Head, 211 Mich App 205; 535 NW2d 563 (1995); People v Kort, 162 Mich App 680; 413 NW2d
83 (1987); People v Williams, 139 Mich App 104; 360 NW2d 585 (1984); People v Wares, 129
Mich App 136; 341 NW2d 256 (1983); People v Davis, 72 Mich App 21; 248 NW2d 690 (1976).
The corroboration in this case is not insufficient simply because the affidavit does not
clearly indicate whether the police officers actually observed the informant g
oing to the apartment in
question, but only that the informant was observed going through the common entrance door to the
apartment building. See Davis, supra at 25. It was not necessary for the affidavit to eliminate all
possible alternative sources of the drugs in order to establish probable cause to search the apartment.
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
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Kort, supra at 688. See also Wares, supra at 141. Moreover, the current unwillingness of the
informant to appear in court has no bearing upon whether the information reported in the search warrant
affidavit was sufficient on its face to support the issuance of the search warrant. Davis, supra at 26.
Reversed and remanded for reinstatement of the charge of possession of marijuana with
intent to deliver. We do not retain jurisdiction.
/s/ Roman S. Gribbs
/s/ Henry William Saad
/s/ Paul H. Chamberlain
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