U.S. v. Gipson

In prosecution on drug and firearms charges, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized from his home pursuant to search warrant. Record showed that: (1) prior to police street encounter with defendant that formed basis of motion to suppress, defendant's wife met with DEA agents to tell them about presence of methamphetamine inside their home; (2) local law enforcement used information that defendant's wife had provided to obtain search warrant; (3) Magistrate Judge found that wife's statements were sufficiently attenuated from any Fourth Amendment violation of police stop of defendant so as to support issuance of search warrant; and (4) defendant did not file any objections as to this finding by Magistrate Judge. As such, defendant waived any issue with respect to said finding by Magistrate Judge, and Ct. of Appeals held that Magistrate Judge's finding, that wife's statement to authorities was independently sufficient to sustain finding of probable cause to support issuance of search warrant, was conclusively established under this record.