People v. Haack, 2019 CO 52

Police received a report from hospital staff that Haack drove away intoxicated; report included his name, vehicle description, and plate.
Officers arrived at Haack’s home minutes later and saw him exit the driver’s side of the described truck with lights on.
While speaking on the patio, Haack admitted he was unsafe to drive and went in and out of his home; officers followed him inside and prevented the door from closing.
Officers detected alcohol odor while inside the home; after Haack returned outside he submitted to field sobriety tests (including HGN), failed, was arrested, and gave a blood sample at the hospital.
The district court found the warrantless entry into Haack’s home unlawful, suppressed all evidence obtained after officers crossed the threshold, but found Haack was not in custody (Miranda) until arrest and that the later test results would have been admissible but for the entry.
The People appealed, arguing the post-entry field sobriety and blood test results (and statements) were admissible under the independent source doctrine because probable cause and intent to arrest existed before the entry.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether evidence obtained after the unlawful entry (field sobriety tests, blood test, statements) must be suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree	Evidence was from an independent source: police had probable cause and intended to arrest before entering, so later tests/statements are admissible	Post-entry observations (odor of alcohol) could have prompted the arrest; later evidence may be tainted by the unlawful entry	Vacated part of suppression order and remanded: district court must determine whether post-entry evidence was derivative of the unlawful entry and, if so, whether later searches/observations were genuinely independent sources

Murray v. United States, 487 U.S. 533 (1988) (independent source doctrine requires both independent probable cause and lack of prompting by earlier illegal search)
Segura v. United States, 468 U.S. 796 (1984) (example of evidence acquired untainted by prior illegal activity)
Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920) (tainted evidence rediscovered lawfully may still be inadmissible)
People v. Schoondermark, 759 P.2d 715 (Colo. 1988) (remand required to determine officer motivation in seeking warrant after unlawful entry)
People v. Morley, 4 P.3d 1078 (Colo. 2000) (timing can preclude finding that later search was prompted by earlier illegal entry)
People v. Carlson, 677 P.2d 310 (Colo. 1984) (probable cause to arrest for DUI supports requiring field sobriety tests)
People v. Coates, 266 P.3d 397 (Colo. 2011) (probable cause as mixed question of fact and law)
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) (custodial interrogation requires warnings)