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Constitutional Law-Search And Seizure-The Standard Of Reliability For The Citizen Informer Is Reduced In Virginia

University of Richmond Law Review

Searches and seizures do not violate the fourth amendment to the United States Constitution where entry to specified premises is authorized by a properly issued search warrant based on an affidavit showing probable cause. Probable cause may be established by information given to an affiant officer by an informer if the information in the affidavit meets the require-ments of the two-pronged test set forth in Aguilar v. Texas. The first prong of that test, the informant-conclusion portion, requires that the affidavit describe some of the pertinent underlying circumstances necessary to judge the validity of the informant's conclusion. The other prong, …