State of New Hampshire v. Stephen Socci, 166 N.H. 464

Officers went to Socci's home on Aug. 10, 2011 for a knock-and-talk to seek consent to search.
Wickson observed the garage area, noting windows covered, a spinning electric meter, a smoke stack and blower, and smelled marijuana from the area near the garage.
Melissa Socci allowed entry and initially declined consent; defendant later spoke with officers after being contacted at work.
Defendant ultimately consented to search after being informed of evidence; officers found a marijuana grow operation in the garage and more inside the home.
Trial court denied the suppression motion, ruling the driveway semi-private and the exterior garage not within protected curtilage, and finding consent voluntary.
On appeal, Socci challenges the initial garage search as unconstitutional and contends the consent was tainted or coercive; the court vacates and remands to resolve taint and voluntariness questions.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the initial search of the garage area was unlawful under the Fourth Amendment	Socci contends the garage search violated the Fourth Amendment (and NH Const. art. 19)	State argues the odor and route were lawful and taint can be purged	Unlawful Fourth Amendment search of the area around the garage
Whether taint from the illegal search requires suppression of evidence or can be purged	All evidence derived from the illegal search should be suppressed	Consent evidence could be admissible if taint is purged	Remanded to assess taint with Orde/Hight factors to determine if purged
Whether the defendant's consent was freely and voluntarily given under the totality of circumstances	Consent was coerced by threats alleged by the defense	Consent was voluntary; threats do not necessarily vitiate	Remanded to evaluate voluntariness with specific factual findings on alleged threats and coercion
Whether the NH Constitution analysis is triggered given the Fourth Amendment violation	NH Part I, Art. 19 analysis should be used for fruit of the illegality		Remand needed to determine voluntariness and taint under NH Constitution; need findings

Florida v. Jardines, 133 S. Ct. 1409 () (physical intrusion on curtilage equals a search; consent issue analyzed against Fourth Amendment baseline)
State v. Hight, 146 N.H. 746 (2001) (taint from illegality factors; purging test applied to evidence obtained after illegal search)
Orde, 161 N.H. 262 () (taint analysis: determine if evidence was obtained by exploitation or purged of taint)
State v. Patch, 142 N.H. 453 (1997) (threats to obtain consent may affect voluntariness; limits of voluntariness under duress)
Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590 (1975) (taint analysis for statements obtained after illegal arrest)