California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. El Badry, C090714 (Cal. App. 2020):
"[L]aw enforcement officers may draw upon their expertise to interpret the facts in a search warrant application, and such expertise may be considered by the magistrate as a factor supporting probable cause." (People v. Nicholls (2008) 159 Cal.App.4th 703, 711.) The magistrate is equally entitled to rely on "the conclusions of experienced law enforcement officers in weighing the evidence supporting a request for a search warrant as to where evidence of crime is likely to be found. [Citation.] It is not essential that there be direct evidence that such evidence will be at a particular location. Rather, the magistrate ' "is entitled to draw reasonable inferences about where evidence is likely to be kept, based on the nature of the evidence and the type of offense." ' [Citation.]" (People v. Sandlin (1991) 230 Cal.App.3d 1310, 1315.)
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