This case involves a traffic stop resulting in a vehicle search that uncovered cocaine. We hold that there was no probable cause to conduct the search, so consent was required. Because the officer communicated to the occupants of the car that consent to search was “necessary,” the ensuing purported consent was invalid. The search therefore violated both the Indiana and Federal Constitutions, and the seized cocaine may not be admitted in evidence.
A second issue arises because the two occupants of the car were seated in a police cruiser while the search proceeded, and they made incriminating statements which were recorded on the cruiser’s videotape of the stop. The recorded statements are admissible in evidence. Although the statements were an indirect product of an unlawful search, they were freely given and not the result of unlawful interrogation.
Facts and Procedural History
On the morning of July 28, 2005, driver Cesar Santiago-Armendariz and passenger Sergio Campos were traveling in a Chevy Malibu on Interstate 80/94 in Lake County, Indiana. Officer Alfred Villarreal of the Lake County Highway Interdiction Unit clocked the vehicle at sixty-nine miles per hour in a fifty-five mile per hour zone. Villarreal paced the Malibu for about half a mile before pulling it over, parking his patrol car behind it, and activating an in-car video camera that recorded the entire stop. Villarreal approached the driver’s side window and asked Santiago for his license and registration. Villarreal noticed that Santiago’s hand was “shaking” as Santiago produced his paperwork. Villarreal then asked Santiago to have a seat in the police car. Santiago complied, but
As Villarreal filled out a warning for the speeding violation, he asked Santiago where he and Campos were coming from, and Santiago said that the two were returning from the airport. Villarreal asked who the passenger was, and Santiago responded that it was his friend, Sergio Campos. Villarreal then asked who owned the car, and Santiago said it belonged to Campos’s brother, Daniel. Villarreal asked which airport the two had come from, and Santiago responded that it was “not the big one, but the little one” in Chicago. Santiago repeated that the car belonged to Campos’s brother, this time replying affirmatively to Villarreal’s question whether the brother’s name was Jose Gonzalez, apparently the name obtained from the car’s registration.
At this point, Villarreal left the patrol car to question Campos, who had remained in the Malibu’s passenger seat. At Villarreal’s request, Campos produced some identification. Villarreal asked Campos if the airport they were returning from was “O’Hare, the big one?” Campos replied, “Yeah.” In response to questioning, Campos said he and Santiago were coming from the airport where they had just dropped off his mother, who was flying Mexicana Airlines. Villarreal testified that he knew that Mexicana, as an international airline, used only O’Hare, Chicago’s largest airport. Campos also said that the car was his brother’s and he had permission to use it.
Villarreal then returned to the police car and resumed questioning Santiago. After Villarreal told Santiago that O’Hare was the big airport, Santiago repeated that he and Campos had just returned from the airport in Chicago, but “not the big one.” Villarreal testified that he “made a mental note of [Santiago’s] moving around in my chair” when asked about the purpose of his trip.
Villarreal ran warrant checks on both Santiago and Campos and determined that the car was not reported stolen. Villarreal then “had” Santiago exit the vehicle, returned Santiago’s driver’s license and the car registration with a copy of the warning, and told Santiago to “gain some speed” before pulling back out into traffic and to “drive safe.” Santiago thanked Villarreal and shook his hand. Villarreal testified that at that point Campos and Santiago were free to go “[i]n their mind.”
As soon as Santiago turned to walk back toward the Malibu, Villarreal said, “Excuse me, sir, do you all have anything illegal in the car?” When Santiago replied in the negative, Villarreal asked him for consent to search the car. Santiago asked, “Is it really necessary?” Villarreal responded, “Yes.” Santiago then gave a response that is not audible on the video, but, according to Villarreal, was, “Okay.”
It appears from the video that Campos could not have heard the exchange between Santiago and Villarreal, and no one claims he did. Villarreal told Santiago to have a seat in the police car and then returned to the Malibu to ask Campos for consent to search the car. Campos told Villarreal to ask Santiago, and Villarreal responded, “Well, he gave me consent.” Campos’s reply, like Santiago’s response to the request for consent, is inaudible on the tape, but Villarreal testified that Campos then said, “Okay.” Villarreal asked Campos to join Santiago in the police car. While Villarreal searched the car, Campos and Santiago held a conversation in the police cruiser that was recorded on the video, apparently without their knowledge. The conversation is audible, but is in a mixture of Spanish and English and no
Villarreal found a brick-shaped package of cocaine in the trunk of the Malibu. Campos was charged with Dealing in Cocaine, a Class A Felony. Campos moved to suppress the cocaine, contending that the search violated both the Fourth Amendment and article I, section 11 of the Indiana Constitution. He also moved to suppress the recording of his statements to Santiago in the patrol car, contending the recording violated both the Fifth Amendment and article I, section 14 of the Indiana Constitution. After a suppression hearing, the trial court denied Campos’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the car, holding that Campos lacked standing to challenge the search, and, alternatively, that Campos had waived his claim to standing by leaving the decision to search to Santiago. The trial court also denied the motion to suppress Campos’s statements recorded in the police cruiser on the ground that Campos did not have an expectation of privacy in the cruiser.
Campos was granted leave to file an interlocutory appeal. He argued that he had standing to contest the search of the vehicle, that he was illegally detained by Villarreal, and that Villarreal had violated the Indiana Constitution by failing to advise him of his right to counsel before seeking consent to the search. Campos also challenged the admission of his statements recorded in the police car before a Miranda warning was given. The State responded that Villarreal had reasonable suspicion to detain Campos after the traffic stop had ended; Campos had no standing to contest the vehicle search; Campos waived any claim to standing to contest the search; no Pirtle warning was required because Campos was not in custody when he gave consent; Campos was not subjected to interrogation so no Miranda warning was required; and Campos had no expectation of privacy in the police cruiser. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that Campos lacked standing to challenge the search, Villarreal had reasonable suspicion to continue the detention, and the statements made in the police car did not require Miranda warnings. Campos v. State,
Standard of Review
We review de novo a trial court’s ruling on the constitutionality of a search or seizure. Myers v. State,
I. The Search of the Malibu
Many search and seizure issues are resolved in the same manner under both the Indiana and Federal Constitutions. The search of the Malibu presents some in that category. These are addressed in Part I.A. Part I. B deals with issues unique to Indiana law under article I, section 11.
1. Reasonable Suspicion to Detain A traffic stop is a “seizure” subject to the constraints imposed by both the Indiana and Federal Constitutions. One exception to the warrant requirement for a seizure is an investigatory stop based on reasonable suspicion. Baldwin v. Reagan,
The State does not challenge Campos’s assertion that Villarreal needed reasonable suspicion to detain Campos after the traffic violation portion had concluded. Instead, the State claims that Villarreal had reasonable suspicion to detain Campos, and the Court of Appeals agreed. Campos v. State,
We do not need to resolve the issue of reasonable suspicion. Assuming Villarreal had reasonable suspicion to continue detainment of Campos and Santiago, he still did not possess the higher degree of certainty required for probable cause to search the vehicle under the federal “automobile exception” to the warrant requirement. See Carroll v. United States,
2. Standing to Challenge the Search Standing to challenge a search or seizure under article I, section 11 differs in some respects from standing to assert a Fourth Amendment claim. Specifically, the Indiana Constitution provides protection for claimed possessions irrespective of the defendant’s interest in the place where the possession was found. Peterson v. State,
The State does not contest Campos’s standing to challenge his detention after the traffic stop had concluded. Passengers are allowed to challenge any part of a vehicle stop under either the Indiana or Federal Constitutions because they are essentially seized when the driver is seized. Brendlin v. California, — U.S. -, -,
To challenge a search “a defendant must establish ownership, control, possession, or interest” in the premises searched. Peterson,
In Hester v. State, the Court of Appeals relied on a presumption that a driver has standing unless there is evidence to the contrary.
The holding that the government advocates would mean that a perfectly innocent citizen who, say, borrowed a neighbor’s car with permission, would not have standing to challenge a search of that car. We are not willing to require such a citizen to forego his or her Fourth Amendment rights or obtain some form of signed affidavit that could be presented to a law enforcement officer to establish legitimate possession of the car.
Id. at n. 2.
We agree with the reasoning of the court in United States v. Miller. The only evidence in the record regarding the ownership of the car comes from Campos and Santiago. Specifically, both Campos and Santiago told Villarreal that the car was Campos’s brother’s and Campos said he had permission to use it. The State has produced no evidence that the car is not Campos’s brother’s or that Campos did not have permission to use it. Accordingly, Campos has standing to challenge the search of the car.
This somewhat elusive standard can present difficult issues. See generally 4 Wayne R. LaFave, Search & Seizure § 8.2 (4th ed.2004) (collecting cases). However, this is not a close case. In Bumper v. North Carolina, the United States Supreme Court held that consent was invalid where it was given after a police officer said he possessed a warrant, but no warrant was ever produced.
Campos was the person authorized by its owner to control the use of the car. Villarreal therefore needed valid consent from Campos in order to search the car, and apparently recognized that need. When asked for consent to search the vehicle, Campos told Villarreal to ask Santiago. It was only after Villarreal told Campos that Santiago had consented that Campos said “Okay.” Campos was not told that it was “necessary” to search, but that fact did not render Campos’s consent valid. In Conner v. State, consent was given only after an invalid search warrant was presented.
4. Waiver The trial court held that even if Campos had standing to object to the search, he waived it by making his answer dependent on Santiago’s. Standing is a personal right, and as such, can be waived or abandoned. Moran v. State,
We therefore find the search to violate both article I, section 11 of the Indiana Constitution and the Fourth Amendment, and all evidence seized from it must be suppressed. See State v. Quirk, 842
B. Indiana’s Pirtle Warning
Article I, section 11 of the Indiana Constitution “requires that a person in custody explicitly waive the right to counsel before giving a valid consent to a search.” Clarke v. State,
There is no bright line test “for determining when an investigatory detention moves beyond merely a Terry stop and becomes an arrest or custodial interrogation.” Jones v. State,
When Villarreal told Santiago that it was “necessary” to search his car, no reasonable person would think that he had the right to leave or to decline Villarreal’s request. Therefore, Santiago was in custody. It is conceded that Santiago did not receive a Pirtle warning. Thus, there was a Pirtle violation with regard to Santiago. Although Santiago was effectively in custody after Villarreal said the search was “necessary,” Campos had remained in the Malibu and was merely being detained under an investigatory stop. He was not told that his compliance was necessary, so he was not in custody. Accordingly, there
II. Statements Recorded While in the Police Car
Campos argues that his statements recorded while in the police cruiser should be suppressed as a violation of his Fifth Amendment right to silence.
Although Campos’s statements were made after an unlawful search and accompanying seizure, they were voluntary and freely given without duress or coercion. They therefore were not “tainted” by the unlawful search and detention. Campos argues that the admission of his statements nevertheless violated the Fifth Amendment because he did not receive a Miranda warning of his right to remain silent. Miranda warnings must be given to people in police custody before interrogation. However, “[p]olice officers are not required to give Miranda warnings unless the defendant is both in custody and subject to interrogation.” Ritchie v. State,
The recording is also challenged as an unlawful search. To challenge the admission of the statements under the Fourth Amendment as an illegal search, Campos must establish both a subjective and objective expectation of privacy in the place “searched,” i.e., the police cruiser. In United States v. McKinnon,
Conclusion
The trial court’s denial of Campos’s motion to suppress the evidence gathered during the automobile search is reversed. The trial court’s denial of Campos’s motion to suppress the statements made in the police cruiser is affirmed. This case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Notes
. Campos and the State both state that this claim was not raised in the trial court. However, we agree with the Court of Appeals that this issue was presented in "Defendant’s Memorandum in Support of Motion to Suppress Evidence."
Campos also argues that Villarreal had no right to ask Campos to produce identification. Because Campos was seized when Santiago was seized, it was not unreasonable for Villarreal to ask for identification. See Cade v. State,
. Precedent gives some guidance on various factors that contribute to reasonable suspicion. For example, an inconsistent answer regarding present purpose or destination "casts suspicion and doubt on the nature and legitimacy of the activity being investigated.” State v. Quirk,
Mr. Santiago conversed with me, and I made a mental note of his moving around in my chair as I asked him about questions about the purpose of his trip. And my clarifying questions confirmed to me that I had two different stories. It caused suspicion in my mind, everything from the beginning of the traffic stop when I approached him when he fumbled his paperwork, his shaking of the hand when he gave me the' — all the information back to me, to the purpose of his trip. He didn't know who the vehicle belonged to. He said it belonged to the passenger’s brother. Mr. Campos’ brother. He told me his name was Daniel. I looked at the regis-
. Campos argues that the recording of his statements also violated article I, section 14 of the Indiana Constitution but provides no cases or analysis addressing this provision, so we decline to address it. The only Indiana case cited, Packer v. State,
