Knight v. Commonwealth

61 Va.App. 297

734 S.E.2d 716

Raheem Montaz KNIGHT

v.COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

Record No. 0066–12–3.

Court of Appeals of Virginia, Salem.

Dec. 18, 2012.

M. Lee Smallwood, II, Assistant Public Defender (Office of the Public Defender, on brief), for appellant.

Aaron J. Campbell, Assistant Attorney General (Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Present: FELTON, C.J., and HUMPHREYS and CHAFIN, JJ.

WALTER S. FELTON, JR., Chief Judge.

Raheem Montaz Knight (“appellant”) appeals his conviction of carrying a concealed weapon, second or subsequent offense, in violation of Code § 18.2–308. Appellant asserts the Circuit Court of the City of Danville(“trial court”) erred by denying his pretrial motion to suppress the firearm seized by police from his backpack during a warrantless search. For the following reasons, we conclude that the trial court erred by denying appellant's motion to suppress evidence of the firearm seized from his backpack.

I. BACKGROUND

“On appeal from a denial of a suppression motion, we must review the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, giving it the benefit of any reasonable inferences.” Slayton v. Commonwealth, 41 Va.App. 101, 103, 582 S.E.2d 448, 449 (2003).

So viewed, the evidence showed that on June 23, 2011, Danville Sheriff's Deputy Brenda Hayes was working in her off-duty capacity as a security guard for Piedmont Mall. On that day, she was situated in the security guard office, located inside the mall, approximately twelve feet from one of the mall's main entryways.¹

Shortly before 6:00 p.m., appellant entered the security guard office where Deputy Hayes was seated. Appellant explained to her that he had a fight with his girlfriend, C.A., in the mall parking lot, that he hit her, that she was outside the mall in their vehicle, and that he wanted Deputy Hayes to accompany him to the parking lot to help “calm her down.” Deputy Hayes offered to send a mobile unit to the parking lot to assist appellant, but appellant repeated his request that Deputy Hayes assist him. Deputy Hayes noticed that appellant was carrying a black backpack and some CDs.²

Deputy Hayes agreed to accompany appellant to the parking lot. She walked out of the security office first, followed by appellant, who left his backpack in the security office. As she and appellant approached the glass doors at the mall's entrance, Deputy Hayes saw “two Danville Police cars coming across the parking lot.” When she saw the police vehicles, she returned to the security office. Appellant proceeded to leave the mall and walk toward the parking lot. ³

When Deputy Hayes returned to the security guard office, she noticed appellant's backpack inside the office beside the door. She locked the office door, securing the backpack inside, and proceeded to the parking lot where appellant, C.A., and the Danville police officers were located. She approached Danville Police Department Officer Lancaster and informed him that appellant left “a [ ] black bag inside the mall office.” ⁴ She also told the officer that he “needed to come and take a look at the bag.” Officer Lancaster advised her that he would “be in there in a minute.” Deputy Hayes then returned to the security guard office.

After speaking with appellant and C.A. in the parking lot, Officer Lancaster entered the mall and joined Deputy Hayes in the security guard office. Officer Lancaster testified that when he entered the security office he “ observed [the backpack] sort of right near the doorway of the office. I picked the bag up and when I picked the bag up, I opened it, and inside, I noticed a weapon inside of a holster.” Officer Lancaster then returned to the parking lot and “approached [appellant] with the backpack” in his hand. When he asked appellant what was in the backpack, “[I said to him] ‘Don't lie.’ ” Appellant responded that there was a handgun inside the backpack. Officer Lancaster subsequently arrested appellant for carrying a concealed weapon, second or subsequent offense, in violation of Code § 18.2–308.

Prior to trial, appellant moved the trial court “to suppress all evidence seized as a result of the warrantless and non-consensual search of his [backpack]” by Officer Lancaster.He asserted that “[n]o consent or exigent circumstances existed that would justify a search of the [backpack] without a warrant.” The Commonwealth asked the trial court to deny appellant's motion to suppress, arguing that Officer Lancaster's warrantless search of appellant's backpack was valid under the “community caretaker” exception to the warrant requirement, that appellant abandoned his privacy interest in his backpack when he left it in the mall, and that Officer Lancaster inevitably would have discovered the handgun in appellant's backpack.

Officer Lancaster, Deputy Hayes, appellant, and C.A. each testified at the pretrial hearing on appellant's motion to suppress evidence of the handgun found in his backpack. After hearing that testimony and argument from the Commonwealth and appellant, the trial court found that appellant left the backpack inside the mall security office, that the backpack belonged to appellant, and that Deputy Hayes informed Officer Lancaster that the backpack belonged to appellant. The trial court also found that Officer Lancaster's warrantless search of appellant's backpack inside the mall security office did not violate his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. It found that Officer Lancaster's warrantless search of appellant's backpack was a valid exercise of his “community caretaker” function. The trial court stated that, as “gratuitous bailees” of appellant's backpack, Deputy Hayes and Officer Lancaster “had some duty ... which validate[d] the [community] caretaker function.” The trial court also found that Officer Lancaster did not act in bad faith by opening and searching appellant's backpack without a warrant. Accordingly, it denied appellant's motion to suppress the handgun found in his backpack.

Pursuant to Code § 19.2–254, appellant entered a conditional guilty plea to carrying a concealed weapon, second or subsequent offense, in violation of Code § 18.2–308. The trial court found appellant guilty of the charged offense and sentenced him to four years' imprisonment, with all but forty-five days suspended.

II. ANALYSIS

“Appellate review of a trial court's denial of a defendant's motion to suppress is de novo when the defendant claims that the evidence sought to be suppressed was seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment.” Glenn v. Commonwealth, 275 Va. 123, 130, 654 S.E.2d 910, 913 (2008). On such review, the appellate court is “bound by the trial court's findings of historical fact unless ‘plainly wrong’ or without evidence to support them.” McGee v. Commonwealth, 25 Va.App. 193, 198, 487 S.E.2d 259, 261 (1997) ( en banc ) (quoting Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 699, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 1663, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996)). “To prevail on appeal, ‘the defendant must show that the trial court's denial of his suppression motion, when the evidence is considered in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was reversible error.’ ” Slayton, 41 Va.App. at 105, 582 S.E.2d at 450 (quoting Whitfield v. Commonwealth, 265 Va. 358, 361, 576 S.E.2d 463, 464 (2003)).

A. Community Caretaker Doctrine

Appellant first asserts that the trial court erred by finding that Officer Lancaster's warrantless search of his backpack was reasonable under the community caretaker doctrine.

Searches and seizures conducted without a warrant are presumptively invalid. Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 372, 113 S.Ct. 2130, 2135, 124 L.Ed.2d 334 (1993). However, Virginia recognizes a “community caretaker” exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement. See King v. Commonwealth, 39 Va.App. 306, 309, 572 S.E.2d 518, 520 (2002).

The community caretaker exception requires that an officer have an objectively reasonable belief that his conduct in searching a closed container, such as the backpack here, is necessary to provide aid or to protect members of the public from physical harm. See Williams v. Commonwealth, 42 Va.App. 723, 730, 594 S.E.2d 305, 309 (2004); Commonwealth v. Waters, 20 Va.App. 285, 290, 456 S.E.2d 527, 530 (1995). For a warrantless search of a closed containerto be upheld as permitted within the Fourth Amendment, the warrantless entry must be “totally divorced” from a criminal investigation. Cady v. Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433, 441, 93 S.Ct. 2523, 2528, 37 L.Ed.2d 706 (1973).

Whether a warrantless search of a closed container under the community caretaker exception to the warrant requirement is within the recognized exception is determined by whether, based upon the totality of the circumstances, it was reasonable for the officer to believe that the search was necessary for: (1) the protection of the owner's property while it remained in police custody; (2) the protection of police against claims or disputes concerning lost or stolen property; or (3) protection of the public and the police from physical danger. Williams, 42 Va.App. at 730, 594 S.E.2d at 309. Overall, “[o]bjective reasonableness remains the linchpin of determining the validity of [the] action.” Waters, 20 Va.App. at 290, 456 S.E.2d at 530.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the evidence presented at the motion to suppress hearing proved that Deputy Hayes knew that the backpack that had been left in the security guard office belonged to appellant. Indeed, Deputy Hayes expressly told Officer Lancaster that appellant left his backpack in her office.

The record was bereft of any evidence that Officer Lancaster searched the backpack to protect himself or Deputy Hayes from any “claims or disputes” regarding appellant's property. Williams, 42 Va.App. at 730, 594 S.E.2d at 309. Neither Deputy Hayes nor Officer Lancaster articulated any reasonable suspicion that the backpack or its unknown contents posed a...