State v. Multaler

¶1¶ 49. (concurring). The dissent's analysis explains why if a magistrate had refused to issue a search warrant that decision would have been upheld on appeal. But our duty when reviewing a magistrate's decision to issue a search warrant is not to search the record for reasons why that decision was in error, but, rather, to see if the evidentiary material submitted to the magistrate could have reasonably persuaded a neutral judicial officer to believe that probable cause existed that the specified evidence would be found in the location to be searched. The chain of probable cause here is crafted of many sturdy links: the reasonable suspicion that Multaler was the serial killer authorities thought him to be; the practice of serial killer to keep — forever—mementos of their butchery; and that the residence to be searched was a likely repository for those bloody keepsakes. Accordingly, the magistrate acted well within his discretion in issuing the warrant, and, therefore, we must affirm.