STATE OF IDAHO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. KARI JANAE PHIPPS, Defendant-Respondent.
Docket No. 46145
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO
December 20, 2019
Boise, June 2019 Term. Karel A. Lehrman, Clerk
The order of the district court is reversed and the case is remanded.
Lawrence G. Wasden, Idaho Attorney General, Boise, for Appellant. Kenneth K. Jorgensen argued.
Kootenai County Public Defender‘s Office, Coeur d‘Alene, for Respondent. Tyler R. Naftz argued.
MOELLER, Justice.
The State appeals from the Kootenai County district court‘s reversal of the magistrate court‘s order denying Kari Janae Phipps‘s motion to suppress. Phipps asserted below that the statements she made while detained during a routine parole search of a parolee‘s residence, along with the evidence found as a result of her statements, were inadmissible on Fourth Amendment grounds. The State brings this appeal seeking to delineate the authority of parole officers to detain a non-parolee while performing a routine parole search of a parolee‘s residence. For the reasons stated below, we reverse the district court‘s decision and hold that the limited detention of Phipps was reasonable.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On November 18, 2016, Officer Kuebler and Officer Johnson from the Idaho Department of Correction performed a routine residence check on parolee Terry Wilson. Upon their arrival,
After ensuring there was no one else in the apartment, Officer Kuebler advised Phipps and Wilson that a drug dog would be brought in to aid in the search of the residence and asked whether there was anything in the apartment that they should know about. Phipps confessed to having a methamphetamine pipe in her backpack, which was on her person. Officer Kuebler proceeded to conduct a full search of the residence and found two safes containing drugs underneath a bed in a back bedroom. The officers called backup law enforcement to handle the drugs. At some point prior to the arrival of backup, the officers ascertained that Phipps had no outstanding warrants.1
Approximately ten to twenty minutes later, Officer Hutchison from the Coeur d‘Alene Police Department arrived. Officer Hutchison talked with Phipps separately in a back bedroom after he read Phipps her Miranda rights. When asked whether she had a methamphetamine pipe in her backpack, Phipps confirmed that she did. Officer Hutchison searched Phipps‘s backpack and found the methamphetamine pipe. Consequently, Officer Hutchison issued Phipps a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia.
On January 12, 2017, Phipps moved to suppress the methamphetamine pipe and her statements regarding the pipe. At the suppression hearing, Officer Kuebler was asked why he detained Phipps, to which he explained, “[w]hen we enter a residence, we require that everybody stays in the living room until we clear the residence for officer-safety reasons.” Officer Kuebler further explained,
[W]e‘re entering a residence where people are on felony probation, and the people that necessarily hang out there, a lot of times we find felony warrants or other drugs so we -- we don‘t want to have individuals leaving, coming back --
knowing where we‘re at in the residence, coming back with intentions to harm an officer.
Officer Johnson similarly testified that the detention was “[d]epartment procedure to ensure officer safety.”
When asked whether there was any suspicion of wrongdoing prior to the search of the residence, Officer Kuebler testified that they did not believe the parolee violated any terms or conditions of his parole; that they did not suspect he had any drugs in his apartment; and that they did not suspect he was illegally possessing a firearm. As for Phipps, Officer Johnson testified that he did not believe Phipps was violating any law at the time. The magistrate court found this to be the case as well: “She didn‘t appear to be armed or dangerous. They didn‘t see anything about her person that would justify a Terry stop or search of her person.” Therefore, the court found that, prior to Phipps‘s statement to the parole officers regarding the methamphetamine pipe, “there [was] no individual probable cause to hold or detain Ms. Phipps.” Rather, “Ms. Phipps was simply a person merely present during a p[arole search] . . . to check a residence.”
After the suppression hearing, the magistrate court orally pronounced its findings of fact and conclusions of law. After analyzing cases from the U.S. Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the court concluded that there is no legal difference between a search pursuant to a search warrant and a search pursuant to a parole waiver; in either case, law enforcement may detain all individuals found on the premises. Therefore, the court held that when parole officers are conducting a lawful parole search, they may detain and question all persons present, regardless of whether they have reasonable suspicion or probable cause, which is what the officers did in this case. Accordingly, the magistrate court denied Phipps‘s motion to suppress.2
On March 27, 2017, Phipps entered a conditional guilty plea, reserving the right to appeal the magistrate court‘s denial of her motion to suppress. On May 5, 2017, Phipps appealed the magistrate court‘s denial of her motion to suppress to the district court.
On appeal, the district court reversed the magistrate court‘s denial of Phipps‘s motion to suppress. The court held that parole officers may not detain non-residents found on the premises during a lawful parole search unless the officers have probable cause or reasonable suspicion. The court explained that “[i]n the case of a valid search warrant, . . . the probable cause
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
“On appeal of a decision rendered by the district court while acting in its intermediate appellate capacity, this Court directly reviews the district court‘s decision.” State v. Chernobieff, 161 Idaho 537, 539, 387 P.3d 790, 792 (2016) (quoting In re Doe, 147 Idaho 243, 248, 207 P.3d 974, 979 (2009)).
[T]he Supreme Court reviews the trial court (magistrate) record to determine whether there is substantial and competent evidence to support the magistrate‘s findings of fact and whether the magistrate‘s conclusions of law follow from those findings. If those findings are so supported and the conclusions follow therefrom and if the district court affirmed the magistrate‘s decision, we affirm the district court‘s decision as a matter of procedure.
Pelayo v. Pelayo, 154 Idaho 855, 858, 303 P.3d 214, 217 (2013) (quoting Bailey v. Bailey, 153 Idaho 526, 529, 284 P.3d 970, 973 (2012)). “Thus, this Court does not review the decision of the magistrate court.” Id. at 859, 303 P.3d at 218. “Rather, we are ‘procedurally bound to affirm or reverse the decisions of the district court.’ ” Id. (quoting Bailey, 153 Idaho at 529, 284 P.3d at 973).
“The standard of review of a suppression motion is bifurcated.” State v. Mullins, 164 Idaho 493, 496, 432 P.3d 42, 45 (2018) (quoting State v. Watts, 142 Idaho 230, 232, 127 P.3d 133, 135 (2005)). “When a decision on a motion to suppress is challenged, the Court accepts the trial court‘s findings of fact that are supported by substantial evidence, but freely reviews the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found.” Id. (quoting State v. McNeely, 162 Idaho 413, 414–15, 398 P.3d 146, 147–48 (2017)).
III. ANALYSIS
The State asks this Court to reverse the district court‘s decision, which reversed the magistrate court‘s denial of Phipps‘s motion to suppress. The State contends that it is reasonable
In assessing the validity of Phipps‘s detention, we initially note three undisputed facts essential to defining the scope of this Court‘s analysis. First, there is no dispute concerning the officers’ authority to enter and search the apartment. The parolee consented to suspicionless searches of his person and residence as a condition of his parole. Second, Phipps‘s initial detention qualifies as a seizure for purposes of the
“The
Although this case presents an issue of first impression for Idaho, the law in this area has been developing nationwide over the last four decades. In 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that a valid search warrant “implicitly carries with it the limited authority [for law enforcement officers] to detain the occupants of the premises while a proper search is conducted.” Summers, 452 U.S. at 705. In Summers, the police had a warrant to search a residence for narcotics. Once they arrived, they encountered Summers leaving. The police asked Summers to help them gain access to the residence and detained him while they searched the premises. After finding narcotics in the basement and determining that Summers owned the residence, the police arrested him, searched his person, and found an envelope containing heroin. Summers was subsequently charged with possession of a controlled substance. Summers moved to suppress the evidence “as the product of an illegal search in violation of the
In Summers, the dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court involved the “constitutionality of a pre-arrest ‘seizure’ ” that was “unsupported by probable cause.” Id. at 696. As previously noted, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that there are some seizures that, although covered by the
As for the character of the intrusion, the Court observed that it is “[o]f prime importance . . . that the police had obtained a warrant to search respondent‘s house for contraband.” Id. at 701. “A neutral and detached magistrate had found probable cause to believe the law was being violated in that house and had authorized a substantial invasion of the privacy of the persons who resided there.” Id. The Court also noted that the detention “was less intrusive than the search itself” and “[wa]s not likely to be exploited by the officer or unduly prolonged in order to gain more information, because the information the officers seek normally will be obtained through the search and not through the detention.” Id. Further, because the detention was in the respondent‘s own residence, “it could add only minimally to the public stigma associated with the search itself and would involve neither the inconvenience nor the indignity associated with a compelled visit to the police station.” Id. at 702.
As for the justifications of the intrusion, the Court articulated three: (1) “the legitimate law enforcement interests in preventing flight in the event that incriminating evidence is found“; (2) “the interest in minimizing the risk of harm to the officers“; and (3) “the orderly completion of the search” as the detainees’ “self-interest may induce them to open locked doors or locked containers to avoid the use of force.” Id. at 702–03. Over a strong dissent, the majority held that “a warrant to search for contraband founded on probable cause implicitly carries with it the limited authority to detain the occupants of the premises while a proper search is conducted.” Id. at 705.4
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that Summers created a categorical rule: “An officer‘s authority to detain incident to a search is categorical; it does not depend on the ‘quantum of proof justifying detention or the extent of the intrusion to be imposed by the
Here, the district court held that Summers only applies to the detention of an occupant when the search is conducted pursuant to a search warrant. While the court‘s ruling is a logical reading of Summers, it does not take into account more recent decisions that have extended Summers to circumstances where a search warrant was not issued. See, e.g., Sanchez v. Canales, 574 F.3d 1169, 1175 (9th Cir. 2009) overruled on other grounds by United States v. King, 687 F.3d 1189 (9th Cir. 2012) (parole and probation searches); People v. Rios, 122 Cal. Rptr. 3d 96, 106 (Ct. App. 2011) (probation search); United States v. Enslin, 327 F.3d 788, 796–97 (9th Cir. 2003) (consent search to execute an arrest warrant); Hovington v. State, 616 A.2d 829, 832 (Del. 1992) (arrest warrant).
Of most significance to this case, is the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ extension of the Summers rule to permit the limited detention of “the occupants of a home during a parole or probation compliance search.” Sanchez, 574 F.3d at 1173. In Sanchez, probation officers began conducting random probation compliance checks on all probationers with prior arrests for robbery living within the area in response to an increase in robberies. Oscar Sanchez was one of those probationers. Records indicated that Sanchez was living at his parents’ house. As it turned out, however, Sanchez was incarcerated in state prison at the time. After the officers arrived, they made the occupants—Sanchez‘s parents, sister, and nephew—wait outside while they conducted a search of the home for Sanchez. After about an hour of searching, the officers were unable to locate Sanchez and allowed the family back inside the home. Id. at 1171–72.
Sanchez‘s family filed a suit against the officers under
On appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court, holding that “officers may constitutionally detain the occupants of a home during a parole or probation compliance search.” Id. at 1173. The court reasoned that the three justifications set forth in Muehler—as originally established in Summers—are present in every valid home search, whether or not the search is supported by a warrant: “[T]he law should always be concerned to prevent the flight of criminals, ensure officer safety, and facilitate orderly completion of valid searches—warrant or no warrant.” Id. at 1174. Moreover,
Given that police officers may search the home of a parolee or probationer “without a warrant” and without “run[ning] afoul of the
Fourth Amendment ” so long as “the officers have [probable cause to believe] that they are at the address where . . . the parolee . . . resides,” Motley, 432 F.3d at 1079, there is no need to be concerned that a neutral magistrate had not approved the reasonableness of the compliance search. See generally Samson, 547 U.S. at 848 (“[P]arolees . . . have severely diminished expectations of privacy by virtue of their status alone.“); Motley, 432 F.3d at 1080 (implying limitations on the “the interest of third parties” who are co-occupants of a parolee‘s home). Just as in a search pursuant to a search warrant, therefore, “it is constitutionally reasonable to require [the occupant of a home] to remain while officers of the law execute a valid [probation compliance] search.” Summers, 452 U.S. at 704–05.
The holding in Sanchez clearly extends Summers to parole and probation searches. We find there are sound reasons for this “because the character of the additional intrusion caused by detention is slight and because the justifications for detention are substantial,” notwithstanding the absence of a search warrant. Muehler, 544 U.S. at 98 (citing Summers, 452 U.S. at 701–05). As for the character of the intrusion, it is generally the same whether the individual is detained during the execution of a search warrant or a parole search. That is, the detention is “surely less intrusive than the search itself,” is “not likely to be exploited . . . because the information the officers seek normally will be obtained through the search and not through the detention,” and bears “neither the inconvenience nor the indignity associated with a compelled visit to the police station.” Summers, 452 U.S. at 701–02.
The district court‘s decision in this case suggests that the detention should be limited to identifying new persons arriving and remaining on the premises during the parole search; any non-residents should then be permitted to leave. We decline to limit Summers in such a way. Requiring officers to check identification and determine whether each occupant is a resident or non-resident will be cumbersome, time consuming, distracting, and ultimately lead to prolonging the period of detention. Given the highly transient nature of many people‘s living arrangements, it would frequently prove impossible to ascertain a person‘s current residence from the information they have on hand. Further, allowing individuals to come and go defeats the
Additionally, as the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged in Muehler, officers can ask general questions of Summers detainees as long as the detention is not “prolonged by the questioning.” 544 U.S. at 101. “[E]ven when officers have no basis for suspecting a particular individual, they may generally ask questions of that individual; ask to examine the individual‘s identification; and request consent to search his or her luggage.” Id. (internal citations omitted) (quoting Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429, 435 (1991)). Accordingly, when an individual is being lawfully detained during such a search, their rights under the
The record establishes that the officers in this case were conducting a routine parole search of a parolee‘s residence when they detained Phipps as she was exiting a bedroom. The officers made Phipps and the parolee sit in the living room as they conducted a search of the residence. Phipps‘s detention was therefore permissible under Summers because she was present during a lawful parole search of a parolee‘s residence.6 Moreover, the officer‘s questioning did not constitute an independent
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed above, the district court erred in reversing the magistrate court‘s order denying Phipps‘s motion to suppress. Accordingly, we reverse the district court‘s order. This matter is remanded to the district court with instructions to reinstate the magistrate court‘s order and remand the case to the magistrate court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Chief Justice BURDICK, and Justices BRODY, BEVAN and STEGNER CONCUR.
