STATE of Iowa, Appellant, v. Jennifer Lynn BOOTH, Appellee. City of Iowa City, Appellant, v. Jennifer Lynn Booth, Appellee.
No. 02-1315
Supreme Court of Iowa
Oct. 8, 2003
670 N.W.2d 209
The Ellis standard is an especially difficult standard, as it provides that evidence can somehow both “preponderate heavily” against a guilty verdict and yet still be adequate to convict defendant, in a second trial, beyond a reasonable doubt. The only way to reconcile two apparently contradictory evaluations of the same evidence is to rely upon credibility assessments and evidentiary inferences, which the trial court is in the best position to make.
For all these reasons, we conclude the district court properly applied the weight-of-the-evidence standard in considering the motion for new trial on the second remand. Here the court carefully weighed the evidence, determined credibility, and gave sufficient reasons for its decision that the verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence. The court did exactly what it was required to do under a weight-of-the-evidence standard. We conclude the court acted well within its discretion in granting Reeves a new trial. We therefore vacate the court of appeals decision, affirm the judgment of the district court, and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS VACATED; DISTRICT COURT JUDGMENT AFFIRMED AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.
All justices concur except STREIT, J., who takes no part.
Chad W. Thomas, Iowa City, and Jill Novak, Student Legal Intern, Iowa City, for appellee.
CADY, Justice.
In this appeal, we must determine whether the front steps and common hallway of an apartment house are public places. The appellee was charged with two alcohol-related offenses premised on her being in a public place at the time the offenses were committed. She was subsequently found guilty of both charges by a judicial magistrate, but her convictions were overturned by the district court, which concluded the front steps and hallway of the house were not public places. The State challenges the district court‘s determination with this appeal. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the decision of the district court and remand for entry of an order affirming the judgment and sentence of the judicial magistrate.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
On August 11, 2001, an officer from the Iowa City police department responded to a report of a fight at a local apartment house. After arriving at the scene, the officer approached the appellee, Jennifer Lynn Booth, one of the tenants of the house, who was standing on the exterior steps of the building‘s entryway. Booth had not been directly involved in the fight, but had information to provide to the officer. She and the officer began a conversation on the front steps but soon moved in to the common hallway of the house to continue their conversation. At all times during the conversation, Booth was intoxicated and had an open container of alcohol in her possession. These facts led the officer to issue Booth two citations, one for public intoxication and one for possession of an open container of alcohol in a public place.
A bench trial on Booth‘s offenses commenced before a judicial magistrate on November 20. Booth conceded every element of the two charges against her except for the question of whether the offenses occurred in a public place. Not surprisingly, the evidence presented at the trial was focused on defining the character of the apartment house, the front steps, and the common hallway.
The evidence revealed that the house contained six, two-bedroom apartments with approximately fourteen to sixteen total residents. To access the apartments,
After taking this evidence under advisement, the judicial magistrate determined that the front steps and common hallway of the apartment house were public places and found Booth guilty of both charges. Booth appealed to the district court pursuant to
II. Standard of Review.
We recently had the opportunity to summarize our standard of review for issues of statutory interpretation in In re Detention of Swanson, 668 N.W.2d 570, 574-75 (Iowa 2003):
We focus on the intent of the legislature when construing [a] statute, looking first and foremost to the language it chose in creating the act. Gardin v. Long Beach Mortgage Co., 661 N.W.2d 193, 197 (Iowa 2003). We read the statute “as a whole and give it ‘its plain and obvious meaning, a sensible and logical construction,’ which does not create an ‘impractical or absurd result.‘” Id. (quoting Hamilton v. City of Urbandale, 291 N.W.2d 15, 17 (Iowa 1980)). If it is necessary, “we look to prior decisions of this court and others, similar statutes, dictionary definitions, and common usage” to aid our interpretation. Id. We review the district court‘s construction of the statute for correction of errors at law. See State v. Mitchell, 568 N.W.2d 493, 500 (Iowa 1997).
III. Defining a “Public Place.”
Booth was charged with two alcohol-related offenses due to her presence and conduct at the apartment house. The first charge was for public intoxication as defined by the
A person shall not use or consume alcoholic liquor in any public place except premises covered by a liquor control license.... A person shall not be intoxicated or simulate intoxication in a public place. A person violating this subsection is guilty of a simple misdemeanor.
Possession Prohibited: It shall be unlawful for any person to possess alcoholic beverages in any open container upon the public streets or alleys, including the sidewalk within the public right of way, and in any public place, except premises covered by a license or permit, and when applicable a public right of way easement agreement.
To secure Booth‘s convictions, the State had the burden of showing that she was in a public place at the time the offenses were committed. A “public place” in this context is defined as “any place, building, or conveyance to which the public has or is permitted access.”
Booth argues that we should adopt the approach taken by the district court and apply our holding in State v. Lake, 476 N.W.2d 55 (Iowa 1991) in her favor. In Lake, we determined that the defendant was not in a public place for purposes of the public intoxication statute while she was sitting in her friend‘s vehicle even though the vehicle was in a public location. See id. at 55-56. In reaching our ultimate conclusion in Lake, we observed, “[a] right of public access is the touchstone of the section 123.3[(27)] definition of public place.” Id. at 55. Launching from this observation, Booth asserts the front steps and common hallway of the apartment house are not public places because only tenants, invited guests, and perhaps other members of the public who would have a legitimate reason to enter the building were permitted access to the building. Thus, she believes, because neither the tenants nor their invited guests should be considered part of the general public, no member of “the public has or is permitted access” and the front steps and hallway are not public places.
The State responds to Booth‘s argument by attempting to undercut what it believes is a far too permissive interpretation of the statute. It argues that the adoption of Booth‘s approach to the definition of “public place” would be contrary to the purpose of alcohol consumption control laws and would permit offenders to evade charges in areas that the laws were meant to cover. Moreover, the State takes issue with what it believes is a mischaracterization of the nature of the apartment house and Booth‘s right to act within it, noting her lease explicitly conveyed to her the control of only her apartment and not the entire house.
At the core of both parties’ arguments is their disagreement over the extent “to
We have not previously had the opportunity to specifically consider the legislature‘s intent in barring public intoxication, nor have we considered the intent behind Iowa City‘s open container law. Yet, both are tied closely—by placement in the code or by invocation of its provisions—to Iowa Code chapter 123. This connection warrants recognition of the broader statutory context of both offenses at issue in this case. Chapter 123 constitutes the Iowa Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, a statute created “for the protection of the welfare, health, peace, morals, and safety of the people of the state” which “shall be liberally construed for the accomplishment of that purpose.”
statutes proscribing public intoxication serve two general purposes. First, they are designed to prevent nuisance and annoyance to members of the general public. Second, they also serve as a protection against offenders who endanger the well-being of themselves or others.
State v. Runner, 172 W.Va. 720, 310 S.E.2d 481, 483 (1983). We approach this case with our legislature‘s intent and these statutory purposes in mind.2
In arguing for its application, Booth focuses on our conclusion in Lake that “[a] right of public access is the touchstone of the section 123.3[(27)] definition of public place.” 476 N.W.2d at 56. However, Lake was premised on two other observations that must be kept in mind in resolving this appeal. Although our “touchstone” comment was intended as a summation of the definition of a public place, we also focused on the statutory language of the public intoxication law, concluding that, “while defendant was occupying the privately owned motor vehicle either on the public street or in the public parking lot, she was in a conveyance to which the public was not permitted access,” thus making the vehicle private. Id. This conclusion was bolstered by our recognition that there was a “private nature of automobiles” established by “nearly thirty years of fourth amendment jurisprudence” that had made clear
Lake essentially recognized a “bubble” of privacy in the vehicle although it was in an otherwise public location. To a large extent, this case involves a similar concept. The State argues, at least implicitly, that Booth‘s own apartment may be a private location, but the bubble bursts once she crosses the threshold of her apartment door into the common areas of the house. Booth seemingly argues that, similar to a single-family home, everything at or behind the front door of the apartment house should be presumptively private. Although both of these arguments are appealing, several factors—including legislative intent, the laws’ purposes, and prior case precedents—indicate that the State‘s approach to this issue is the correct one.
We believe it is clear that both the public intoxication and open container laws are, at least, “designed to prevent nuisance and annoyance to members of the general public” and “serve as a protection against offenders who endanger the well-being of themselves or others.” Runner, 310 S.E.2d at 483; see also
This conclusion finds support in our prior cases, particularly State v. Davidson, 217 N.W.2d 630 (Iowa 1974). See also State v. Elliott, 557 N.W.2d 887, 889-90 (Iowa 1996). In Davidson, we determined that a tenant who was found in the common hallway of his apartment complex and charged with carrying a concealed weapon was not entitled to invoke a statutory exception to the crime based on his carrying the weapon “in his own dwelling house or other land possessed by him.” Davidson, 217 N.W.2d at 631. In reaching this conclusion, we rebuffed the defendant‘s argument that “when he was in the common hallway adjacent to his apartment he was at a place where he was entitled to be under his lease” thus bringing the hallway “within the statutory term ‘dwelling house or other land possessed by him.‘” Id. at 631-32. We reasoned that accepting the defendant‘s argument “would permit one [carrying a concealed weapon] to wander about apartment buildings inhabited by hundreds of persons simply because his own living quarters were located somewhere” in the complex, a result contrary to legislative intent. Id. at 632.
This observation in Davidson can be analogized to this case, even though different statutes are at issue. Concealed weapon, public intoxication, and open container laws are each meant to ensure the well being of the public, including persons who also happen to be co-tenants with an offender. See Elliott, 557 N.W.2d at 889-90;
Moreover, in as much as the result in Lake was premised on or supported by our observation that Fourth Amendment jurisprudence establishes the “private nature of automobiles,” the same cannot be said for the front steps or common hallway of the apartment house. Lake, 476 N.W.2d at 56. Most courts considering the issue have concluded that a tenant has no reasonable expectation of privacy in the front steps or common hallway of a multi-unit apartment complex for purposes of Fourth Amendment analysis.3 See United States v. Nohara, 3 F.3d 1239, 1242 (9th Cir.1993) (“Most other [United States Courts of Appeals] agree a tenant does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in an apartment building hallway or other common area.“); United States v. Calhoun, 542 F.2d 1094, 1100 (9th Cir.1976) (“The hallway of an apartment building ... is a ‘public’ place for purposes of interpreting the Fourth Amendment.“); State v. Santiago, 224 Conn. 494, 619 A.2d 1132, 1136 (1993) (“The simple fact that there is a porch or stoop in front of a house [(in this case, an apartment house)] does not make the threshold a place entitled to fourth amendment protection.“); see also United States v. Conner, 948 F.Supp. 821, 838-39 (N.D.Iowa 1996) (collecting cases). Thus, the private vehicle in Lake is distinguishable from the front steps and common hallway here. Any potential Fourth Amendment analogy between the two cases would likely warrant a comparison between the vehicle in Lake and Booth‘s own apartment. The non-private nature of the front steps and common hallway only bolsters our conclusion that both laws at issue in this case were meant to include these areas.
Thus, we believe both the public intoxication and open container laws were in-
IV. Conclusion.
We reverse the decision of the district court and remand for entry of an order affirming the judgment and sentence of the judicial magistrate.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
All justices concur except CARTER, J. and LAVORATO, C.J., who dissent.
CARTER, Justice (dissenting).
I disagree with the conclusion of the court that the apartment house hallway and entry steps were public places so as to make either the state statute or local ordinance applicable to that area. We recognized in State v. Lake, 476 N.W.2d 55, 57 (Iowa 1991), that “[a] right of public access is the touchstone of the section 123.3[(23)] definition of a public place.” For purposes of applying that definition, I submit that public access refers to access by the public at large without invitation. I am confident that neither the tenants in this apartment building nor the building‘s owner have chosen to open it up to public access. Those persons who are welcome there come by invitation, express or implied.
In determining whether the areas where the alleged crimes were committed were public places, the majority relies on three factors that have absolutely no bearing on whether Booth‘s acts fall within the statutory definition of the crimes of which she has been convicted. These are the defendant‘s status in the common areas of the building under the terms of her lease, the sensibilities of the other tenants in the building, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence concerning a reasonable expectation of privacy. The tenant‘s status in the common areas of the building under her lease in no way governs the right of public access. Nor do the tenant‘s sensibilities to the conduct of other tenants.
Fourth Amendment jurisprudence was referred to in the Lake case to confirm the private nature of an automobile interior. The Fourth Amendment jurisprudence relied on by the majority is in no way determinative of a right to admission on the part of the general public. That is because there are many places where the general public is not admitted but where persons present do not enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy. The district court acted properly in reversing the judgment of the magistrate, and I would affirm its order.
LAVORATO, C.J., joins this dissent.