Aguilar–Spinelli test
E522191
The Aguilar–Spinelli test is a former U.S. legal standard that strictly governed when hearsay information from informants could establish probable cause for search warrants, requiring proof of both the informant’s basis of knowledge and veracity.
All labels observed (3)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Aguilar–Spinelli test canonical | 3 |
| Aguilar two-pronged test | 2 |
| Aguilar–Spinelli two-pronged test | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T5478419 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Aguilar–Spinelli test Context triple: [Illinois v. Gates, overruledDoctrine, Aguilar–Spinelli test]
-
A.
Sherbert test
The Sherbert test is a U.S. constitutional law standard that evaluates whether government actions improperly burden an individual's free exercise of religion by requiring a compelling interest pursued through the least restrictive means.
-
B.
Oakes test
The Oakes test is a legal framework used by Canadian courts to determine whether a law that limits Charter rights can be justified as a reasonable and demonstrably justified restriction in a free and democratic society.
-
C.
Mathews balancing test
The Mathews balancing test is a legal framework used by U.S. courts to determine what procedural due process is required by weighing the private interest affected, the risk of erroneous deprivation, and the government’s interest.
-
D.
Feigl
Feigl is a German-language surname borne by various notable individuals, including philosophers, scientists, and artists.
-
E.
Torrent de Bionnassay
Torrent de Bionnassay is a glacial meltwater stream in the Mont Blanc massif of the French Alps, originating from the Bionnassay Glacier.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Aguilar–Spinelli test Target entity description: The Aguilar–Spinelli test is a former U.S. legal standard that strictly governed when hearsay information from informants could establish probable cause for search warrants, requiring proof of both the informant’s basis of knowledge and veracity.
-
A.
Sherbert test
The Sherbert test is a U.S. constitutional law standard that evaluates whether government actions improperly burden an individual's free exercise of religion by requiring a compelling interest pursued through the least restrictive means.
-
B.
Oakes test
The Oakes test is a legal framework used by Canadian courts to determine whether a law that limits Charter rights can be justified as a reasonable and demonstrably justified restriction in a free and democratic society.
-
C.
Mathews balancing test
The Mathews balancing test is a legal framework used by U.S. courts to determine what procedural due process is required by weighing the private interest affected, the risk of erroneous deprivation, and the government’s interest.
-
D.
Feigl
Feigl is a German-language surname borne by various notable individuals, including philosophers, scientists, and artists.
-
E.
Torrent de Bionnassay
Torrent de Bionnassay is a glacial meltwater stream in the Mont Blanc massif of the French Alps, originating from the Bionnassay Glacier.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Fourth Amendment doctrine
ⓘ
legal standard ⓘ probable cause test ⓘ |
| aimsTo | prevent issuance of warrants on uncorroborated or unreliable hearsay ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
anonymous tips
ⓘ
confidential informants ⓘ hearsay information from informants ⓘ probable cause determinations ⓘ search warrant applications ⓘ |
| basedOn | Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ |
| category |
United States Supreme Court doctrine
ⓘ
linked to:
United States constitutional law
evidence law standard ⓘ |
| characterizedAs | strict standard for informant-based probable cause ⓘ |
| clarifiedInCase | Spinelli v. United States ⓘ |
| concerns |
sufficiency of warrant affidavits
ⓘ
use of hearsay in establishing probable cause ⓘ |
| contrastedWith | more flexible totality-of-the-circumstances test ⓘ |
| governs | use of informant tips to establish probable cause ⓘ |
| hasComponent |
basis of knowledge prong
ⓘ
reliability prong ⓘ veracity prong ⓘ |
| influenced | state constitutional jurisprudence on search and seizure ⓘ |
| jurisdiction |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| legalDomain |
constitutional law
ⓘ
criminal procedure ⓘ |
| legalEffect | could invalidate warrants based on inadequate informant information ⓘ |
| modifiedBy |
Illinois v. Gates (1983)
ⓘ
linked to:
Illinois v. Gates
|
| namedAfter |
Aguilar v. Texas
ⓘ
Spinelli v. United States ⓘ |
| originatedInCase | Aguilar v. Texas ⓘ |
| originatedInCourt | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Illinois v. Gates totality-of-the-circumstances approach
ⓘ
linked to:
Illinois v. Gates
probable cause requirement ⓘ search and seizure law ⓘ |
| replacedBy |
Illinois v. Gates totality-of-the-circumstances test
ⓘ
linked to:
Illinois v. Gates
|
| requires |
showing of informant’s basis of knowledge
ⓘ
showing of informant’s veracity ⓘ two-pronged analysis ⓘ |
| requiresShowing |
how the informant obtained the information
ⓘ
reasons to believe the informant is credible ⓘ reasons to believe the informant’s information is reliable ⓘ |
| standardType | two-prong test ⓘ |
| status | former federal constitutional standard ⓘ |
| stillUsedIn | some state courts ⓘ |
| timePeriod | applied in federal courts primarily from 1960s to 1983 ⓘ |
| usedBy |
courts reviewing validity of warrants
ⓘ
magistrates reviewing warrant applications ⓘ |
| usedFor |
determining sufficiency of informant tips
ⓘ
evaluating affidavits based on confidential informants ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Aguilar–Spinelli test Description of subject: The Aguilar–Spinelli test is a former U.S. legal standard that strictly governed when hearsay information from informants could establish probable cause for search warrants, requiring proof of both the informant’s basis of knowledge and veracity.
Referenced by (6)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject linked to:
The rigid two-pronged Aguilar–Spinelli test is abandoned in favor of a more flexible totality of the circumstances approach.
linked to: Aguilar–Spinelli test
linked to: Aguilar–Spinelli test
linked to: Aguilar–Spinelli test