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46. Quoted in Wallace v. State, 157 N.E. 657, 660 (1927).
47. Quoted in ibid. at 658.
48. Ibid. at 660-661.
49. In Veeder v. United States, 252 Fed. 414, 418 (1918),
a federal appellate court stated, "If the facts afford the
legal basis for the search warrant, the accused must take
the consequences. But equally there must be consequences
for the accuser to face. If the sworn accusation is based
on fiction, the accuser must take the chance of punishment
for perjury."
50. Of course, the potential risk of a subsequent perjury
prosecution will depend on the circumstances of each case.
Since perjury is a knowing lie, an accuser who tells what
he believes to be the truth assumes little risk--even if a
more extensive investigation fails to confirm his belief.
On the other hand, an accuser who swears out a complaint
containing blatant falsehoods runs a substantial risk of a
perjury prosecution--even if a more extensive investigation
happens to confirm his allegation. Some allegations lend
themselves to subsequent perjury actions; others do not
but still may be sufficient, in the circumstances, to
establish "probable cause" to believe a crime has been
committed.
51. "[The] true test of sufficiency of complaint or
affidavit to warrant issuance is whether it has been drawn
in such a manner that perjury could be charged thereon if
any material allegation contained therein is false."
Simon v. State, 515 P.2d 1161, 1165 (1973). See also
People v. Sullivan, 437 N.E.2d 1130, 1133 (1982).
52. The Supreme Court of Michigan, led by Thomas Cooley,
recognized the danger of diluting the oath requirement in
Swart v. Kimball 5 N.W. 635, 640 (1880). Judge Cooley
observed that "[t]he man most free from any reasonable
suspicion of guilt [will not be] safe if he holds his
freedom at the mercy of any man 300 miles off who will
swear that he has been informed and believes in his guilt.
It is easy to tell falsehoods, and those who are least
fitted to judge of their credibility are generally the
very persons who will believe them because they are told.
But to substantiate charges within the meaning of the law,
evidence is required, and not merely suspicions or infor-
mation or beliefs." Judge Cooley concluded that a warrant
based solely on the belief of an accuser was inconsistent
with the Michigan Constitution.