4.2.6

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 4.2.6Staleness

If evidence supporting probable cause is too stale, this can affect the validity of the search warrant. Where facts show a crime is of a continuous nature, or in the course of conduct, the passage of time becomes less significant. State v. Smith, 122 Ariz. 58, 593 P.2d 281 (1979); see alsoState v. Torrez, 112 Ariz. 525, 544 P.2d 207 (1975) (same; the passage of “the passage of three days since one of the informants purchased heroin at appellant’s gas station did not render the warrant stale” in light of the protracted and continuous criminal activity inherent in narcotics operation). An affidavit asking to search a trailer at which drugs were sold nine (9) days before was considered only “marginally stale,” if stale at all. State v. Coats, 165 Ariz. 154, 159, 797 P.2d 693 (App. 1990) (Div. 1).

The Ninth Circuit has stated that an affidavit must be based on facts “‘so closely related to the time of the issue of the warrant as to justify a finding of probable cause at that time.’” United...