People v. Strider

177 Cal.App.4th 1393

100 Cal. Rptr. 3d 66

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. SHANNON MARQUIS STRIDER, Defendant and Appellant.

No. B204571.

Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Three.

September 29, 2009.

Willoughby & Associates, W. Anthony Willoughby and Ronnivashti Whitehead for Defendant and Appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle and Douglas L. Wilson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

ALDRICH, J.

Defendant and appellant Shannon Marquis Strider appeals from the judgment entered following a jury trial that resulted in his conviction for possession of a controlled substance, cocaine base, while armed with a loaded firearm. Strider was sentenced to a prison term of two years.

Strider contends the trial court erred by denying his pretrial suppression motion. We agree, and therefore reverse.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Evidence elicited at the hearing on the suppression motion.¹

a. People's evidence.

Viewing the record in the light most favorable to the trial court's ruling (People v. Davis (2005) 36 Cal.4th 510, 528-529 [31 Cal.Rptr.3d 96, 115 P.3d 417]), the following relevant evidence was adduced at the hearing on the suppression motion. On December 5, 2006, at approximately 6:20 p.m., Deputy Jason Bates and his partner, Deputy William Zollo, were on routine patrol in Compton in their police cruiser. Bates observed Strider and another man standing in the fenced front yard near the porch of a single-family house located at 1356 Schinner Street. A wrought iron fence ran along the entire front and east side of the property, connecting with a solid wood fence. There was a gate in the middle of the wrought iron fence. To get to the house via the front door, one had to enter through the gate. A third man had just entered the yard, and was standing next to the gate, which was open.

Bates did not know Strider or the other two men. He was aware that the house was a "known Southside Crip gang hang out" and that the owner of the residence produced rap music "in the back." There had been shootings in the area.

Strider looked directly at the officers, turned to his right, and quickly walked to the front door of the residence. Bates observed Strider's face and the front half of his body. When Strider turned, Bates observed the butt of a chrome and black handgun protruding from his left rear pants pocket. Bates immediately exited the patrol car and ran after Strider. Strider entered the house and slammed the front security door, which Bates could see through. Bates followed, immediately opened the door, and observed Strider quickly walking towards the kitchen. Bates told Strider to stop. Strider dropped a baggie containing a substance resembling rock cocaine on the kitchen floor, and then complied with Bates's demand. Bates retrieved a loaded, chrome and black, Smith & Wesson .40-caliber, semiautomatic handgun from Strider's pocket. The deputies handcuffed Strider, and Bates recovered the cocaine. Another man was already in the house. In response to Bates's query, the other man stated that he lived at the house, but Strider did not.

b. Defense evidence.

Strider's brother lived at the house and either owned or leased it. Strider did not have to ask for permission to enter and exit the property. The rap studio was located in a detached garage behind the house. A man named Donnie Mitchell, along with his father, rented a room in the house. In addition to the wrought iron fence, a brick-and-wood fence enclosed the west side of the property.

Tyvon Green and Bobby Williams had just entered the yard through the gate when the deputies entered the yard. They were heading toward the music studio. Strider testified that he had not been in the yard, but had been standing in the doorway of the house when he observed the deputies arrive with their lights off. They entered the yard and pointed their guns at Green. Strider closed the door and went to tell "everybody who was in the back" what was going on. Bates then burst through the front door. Strider denied possession of a gun or dropping a baggie containing drugs.

c. The trial court's ruling.

The trial court denied the motion, finding the detention and entry into the home were constitutionally permissible under the totality of the circumstances. The court concluded the yard was a public area because it was exposed and visible to public view, reasoning, "when you're in public, i.e., even though you're on your private property, you're deemed to be in public." The exigent circumstances doctrine justified Bates's entry into the house in pursuit of Strider because Strider's possession of the gun presented a dangerous situation.

2. Procedure.

Trial was by jury. Strider was convicted of possession of a controlled substance, cocaine base, while armed with a loaded firearm (Health & Saf. Code, § 11370.1, subd. (a)). Strider was acquitted of carrying a loaded firearm in a public place (Pen. Code, § 12031, subd. (a)(1)).² The trial court sentenced Strider to two years in prison. It imposed a restitution fine, a suspended parole restitution fine, a laboratory analysis fee, and a court security assessment. Strider appeals.

DISCUSSION

The trial court erred by denying Strider's suppression motion.

1. Applicable legal principles.

When reviewing the denial of a suppression motion, we view the record in the light most favorable to the trial court's ruling, and defer to the trial court's express or implied factual findings if supported by substantial evidence. We exercise our independent judgment to determine whether, on the facts found, the search or seizure was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. (People v. Davis, supra, 36 Cal.4th at pp. 528-529; People v. Maury (2003) 30 Cal.4th 342, 384 [133 Cal.Rptr.2d 561, 68 P.3d 1]; People v. Jenkins (2000) 22 Cal.4th 900, 969 [95 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044]; People v. Krohn (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 1294, 1298 [58 Cal.Rptr.3d 60]; People v. Knight (2004) 121 Cal.App.4th 1568, 1572 [18 Cal.Rptr.3d 384].) Challenges to the admissibility of a search or seizure must be evaluated solely under the Fourth Amendment (People v. Carter (2005) 36 Cal.4th 1114, 1141 [32 Cal.Rptr.3d 759, 117 P.3d 476]), and evidence obtained as a result of an unreasonable search and seizure is excluded at trial only if exclusion is required by the federal Constitution (People v. Camacho (2000) 23 Cal.4th 824, 830 [98 Cal.Rptr.2d 232, 3 P.3d 878]; People v. Chavez (2008) 161 Cal.App.4th 1493, 1498 [75 Cal.Rptr.3d 376]).

(1) The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement personnel. (U.S. Const., 4th Amend.; Terry v. Ohio (1968) 392 U.S. 1, 8-9 [20 L.Ed.2d 889, 88 S.Ct. 1868]; People v. Thompson (2006) 38 Cal.4th 811, 817 [43 Cal.Rptr.3d 750, 135 P.3d 3]; People v. Camacho, supra, 23 Cal.4th at pp. 829-830.) However, an officer may stop and briefly detain a person for investigative purposes if the officer has a reasonable suspicion, supported by articulable facts, that criminal activity involving the person is afoot, even if the officer lacks probable cause to arrest. (United States v. Sokolow (1989) 490 U.S. 1, 7 [104 L.Ed.2d 1, 109 S.Ct. 1581]; Terry v. Ohio, supra, at p. 30; In re Manuel G. (1997) 16 Cal.4th 805, 821 [66 Cal.Rptr.2d 701, 941 P.2d 880]; In re H.M. (2008) 167 Cal.App.4th 136, 142 [83 Cal.Rptr.3d 850]; People v. Krohn, supra, 149 Cal.App.4th at p. 1298.) "`Such detentions are permitted, notwithstanding the Fourth Amendment's requirements of probable cause and a search warrant, because they are "limited intrusions" that are "justified by special law enforcement interests." [Citations.]' [Citation.]" (People v. Durazo (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 728, 734 [21 Cal.Rptr.3d 516].)

Under certain circumstances, a law enforcement officer may enter the "curtilage" of a residence without violating the Fourth Amendment.³ "`"It is clear that police with legitimate business may enter areas of the curtilage which are impliedly open, such as access routes to the house."'" (People v. Chavez, supra, 161 Cal.App.4th at p. 1500; see People v. Thompson (1990) 221 Cal.App.3d 923, 942 [270 Cal.Rptr. 863].)

(2) "`It is a "basic principle of Fourth Amendment law" that searches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable.' [Citation.] Indeed, `the "physical entry of the home is the chief evil against which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is directed."' [Citation.]" (People v. Thompson, supra, 38 Cal.4th at p. 817, quoting Payton v. New York (1980) 445 U.S. 573, 586, 585 [63 L.Ed.2d 639, 100 S.Ct. 1371].) The presumption of unreasonableness that attaches to a warrantless entry into the home, can, however, "`be overcome by a showing of one of the few "specifically established and well-delineated exceptions" to the warrant requirement [citation], such as "`hot pursuit of a fleeing felon, or imminent destruction of evidence, . . . or the need to prevent a suspect's escape, or the risk of danger to the police or to other persons inside or outside the dwelling'" [citation]. The United States Supreme Court has indicated that entry into a home based on exigent circumstances requires probable cause to believe that the entry is justified by one of these factors such as the imminent destruction of evidence or the need to prevent a suspect's escape.' [Citation.]" (People v. Thompson, supra, at pp. 817-818; see People v. Celis (2004) 33 Cal.4th 667, 676 [16 Cal.Rptr.3d 85, 93 P.3d 1027].)

(3) Where police conduct a search or seizure without a warrant, the prosecution has the burden of showing the officers' actions were justified by an exception to the warrant requirement. (People v. Camacho, supra, 23 Cal.4th at p. 830; People v. Williams (1999) 20 Cal.4th 119, 136 [83 Cal.Rptr.2d 275, 973 P.2d 52...