Conclusory statements and general claims of expertise by police do not establish probable cause

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Warrantless searches by law enforcement officers “are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment—subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions.” Katz v. United States,389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967). Under the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement, “[t]he police may search an automobile and the containers within it where they have probable cause to believe contraband or evidence is contained.” California v. Acevedo,500 U.S. 565, 580, 111 S.Ct. 1982, 114 L.Ed.2d 619 (1991). An officer will have probable cause to search if “there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place, ‘based on the totality of circumstances.’ ” Dawson v. City of Seattle,435 F.3d 1054, 1062 (9th Cir.2006) (quoting Illinois v. Gates,462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983)).
“One of the themes which runs through the decisions on the Fourth Amendment probable cause requirement is that when the ultimate probable cause determination is made, whether by a magistrate when a warrant is sought or upon a motion to suppress evidence obtained without a warrant, mere conclusions will not suffice.” 2 Wayne Lafave, Search and Seizure: A Treatise on the Fourth Amendment § 3.5(e), at 297 (4th ed. 2004). See, e.g., Gates,462 U.S. at 239, 103 S.Ct. 2317 (noting that “wholly conclusory” statements of officers are insufficient to establish probable cause); United States v. Ventresca,380 U.S. 102, 108–09, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965) (noting that “purely conclusory” statements of officers, without detailing any of the underlying circumstances, will be insufficient to establish probable cause); Nathanson v. United States,290 U.S. 41, 47, 54 S.Ct. 11, 78 L.Ed. 159 (1933) (noting that an officer's “mere affirmance of suspicion or belief without disclosure of supporting facts or circumstances” is insufficient to establish probable cause).
United States v. Cervantes, 703 F.3d 1135, 1139 (9th Cir. 2012)
Read full case here: United States v. Cervantes, 703 F.3d 1135, 1137 (9th Cir. 2012), https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-cervantes-7

Anton Vialtsin, Esq.
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