The Aguilar-Spinelli test is a legal standard used in the United States to evaluate the validity of a search warrant based on information provided by an informant. It stems from two U.S. Supreme Court cases: Aguilar v. Texas and Spinelli v. United States. The test has two prongs:
- Basis of Knowledge: The affidavit must provide sufficient information to demonstrate how the informant obtained the information.
- Veracity: The affidavit must establish the credibility of the informant or the reliability of the information.
The purpose of the Aguilar-Spinelli test is to ensure that the information used to justify a search warrant is both credible and reliable. It was later modified by the totality of the circumstances approach established in Illinois v. Gates, which provides a more flexible standard for evaluating the validity of search warrants based on informant information.
[Last updated in July of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]