The 4th: Totality of the circumstances

“A search warrant may issue only upon a finding of probable cause. The duty of the reviewing court is to ensure the issuing magistrate had a substantial basis upon which to conclude that probable cause existed. In Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238 (1983), the United States Supreme Court adopted a ‘totality-of-the-circumstances’ test for probable cause determinations:

The task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, common-sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him, including the ‘veracity’ and ‘basis of knowledge’ of persons supplying hearsay information, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.”

State v. Baccus, 367 S.C. 41, 50 (2006) (citations omitted)