062674 Adams v. Commonwealth 02/29/2008 In a murder case in which defendant challenged the search of his residence by police under a search warrant, considering the totality of the circumstances surro

State: Virginia

Court: Supreme Court

Docket No: 062674

Case Date: 02/29/2008

Plaintiff: 062674 Adams

Defendant: Commonwealth 02/29/2008 In a murder case in which defendant challenged the search of his residence

Preview:Present: Hassell, C.J., Keenan, Koontz, Kinser, Lemons, and Agee, JJ., and Russell, S.J. GERMAINE DELANO ADAMS v. OPINION BY JUSTICE CYNTHIA D. KINSER February 29, 2008 COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA Record No. 062674

A jury convicted Germaine Delano Adams of the seconddegree murder of Christopher Junior Hairston and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The primary issue

in this appeal concerns the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule as set forth in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (1984), and whether it applies in this case. Because we conclude that a reasonably well trained police officer would not have known that a search of Adams' residence was illegal despite a magistrate's issuance of a search warrant, we will affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals of Virginia holding that the good-faith exception applies and that the trial court therefore did not err in admitting into evidence items seized during the search of Adams' residence. I. RELEVANT FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS 1

Additional facts relevant to an issue unrelated to the good-faith exception will be set forth under a separate heading in this opinion.

1

In the early morning hours of June 18, 2004, James Vaught, a sergeant with the Henry County Sheriff's Office, responded to a call concerning a shooting at the Virginia Oaks Trailer Park. Upon arriving at the scene of the

shooting, Vaught discovered the body of Hairston lying face down in the road to the trailer park. An autopsy of the

body revealed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to Hairston's neck. Vaught also discovered four shell

casings near the body that were subsequently determined to have been fired from a 9mm Glock pistol. Later that day, Scott Barker, an investigator with the Henry County Sheriff's Office, prepared and signed under oath a criminal complaint based on information received from other police officers who had investigated the shooting. In the complaint, Barker stated:

[T]he accused

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