Miss. R. Crim. P. 2.2

As amended through March 21, 2024

Rule 2.2 - Duty of Judge upon Making of a Charging Affidavit

(a) Probable Cause Determination. If it appears from the charging affidavit and the evidence submitted that there is probable cause to believe that the offense complained of has been committed and that there is probable cause to believe that the defendant committed it, the judge shall proceed under Rule 3.1. Before ruling on a request for a warrant, the judge may examine under oath the affiant and any witnesses the affiant may produce.

(b) Evidence. The finding of probable cause shall be based upon evidence, which may be hearsay in whole or in part provided there is a basis for believing the source of the hearsay to be credible and for believing that there is a factual basis for the information furnished.

Adopted eff. 7/1/2017.

Comment

The purposes served by Rule 2.2 are in accord with Mississippi law and the mandates of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. As the United States Supreme Court stated in Giordenello v. United States, 357 U.S. 480, 78 S. Ct. 1245, 2 L. Ed. 2d 1503 (1958):

[t]he purpose of the [charging affidavit], then, is to enable the [judge] . . . to determine whether the "probable cause" required to support a warrant exists. The [judge] must judge for himself the persuasiveness of the facts relied on by a[n] [affiant] to show probable cause. [The judge] should not accept without question the [affiant's] mere conclusion that the person whose arrest is sought has committed a crime.

Id. at 486. See also Miss. Code Ann. § 99-3-28 (regarding "[w]arrants against teachers, jail officers or counselors at adolescent offender programs"); State v. Delaney, 52 So. 3d 348 (Miss. 2011).