State v. Smith

163 P.3d 1194

144 Idaho 482

STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Christian Reed SMITH, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 33714.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, May 2007 Term.

May 25, 2007.

Honorable Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General, Boise, for appellant. Kenneth K. Jorgensen argued.

Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for respondent. Eric D. Fredericksen argued.

SCHROEDER, Chief Justice.

Christian Smith is charged with manufacture of a controlled substance in violation of I.C. § 37-2732(a)(1)(B). The state appeals the district court's order suppressing evidence.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

At 1:44 p.m. on Sunday, May 2, 2004, the Moscow Fire Department was dispatched to a reported fire at 204 N. Adams Street where there is an old Victorian-style house converted into apartments. Jason Blubaum, the first firefighter to arrive at the scene, saw the burnt remnants of a couch in the driveway. Several individuals were standing nearby with a garden hose, and the ground was wet. They said that they did not know how the fire started but indicated that the couch belonged to one of their neighbors in the apartment complex. There were no visible flames or smoke coming from the house, but there was a trail of black soot and burn marks leading from the couch back into the house and up the stairs to apartment number four. There was a hole in the wall by the stairwell with a note, signed by Christian Smith, the tenant of apartment four, apologizing for the damage and promising to clean it up after work.

The landlord let Blubaum into the apartment to investigate. Blubaum determined that no fire danger remained. He saw that the couch had been placed against a baseboard heater, which he thought may have caused the fire. A discharged fire extinguisher lay nearby. After three to five minutes inspecting the living room, he left the building to relate his findings to his commanding officer, Battalion Chief Aaron Watson, who had just arrived.

Chief Watson entered the apartment to perform his own inspection, accompanied by police officer Keith Cox. Watson asked Officer Cox to accompany him to witness what he did and "just to make sure everything's on the up and up." Watson determined that the heater was not the cause of the fire, but he was unable to determine exactly what happened without talking to the tenant. There appeared to be no fire extension into the walls. Watson and Cox observed a white ivory pipe and some marijuana seeds on the coffee table in the apartment. Cox picked up the pipe and smelled it to confirm that it was marijuana, then replaced it. Cox told Watson, "We need to leave."

Cox and Watson drove to Smith's workplace to question him about the fire. Apparently the couch had caught fire around 2:00 a.m. Smith extinguished the fire, but the couch continued to smolder. After several hours he and a friend carried it out to the driveway and hosed it down. Smith hosed it once more at about 6:30 a.m. before leaving for work, but it "just wouldn't [stop] burning."

Cox asked Smith whether he was doing any drugs but did not mention the items they had found. After several minutes of questioning Smith agreed to accompany Cox and Watson back to the apartment in the police car. Cox told Smith he was not being arrested or detained.

At the apartment complex, Cox informed Smith that they had been inside his apartment and seen the pipe and seeds. He asked Smith for permission to search the apartment and read a consent form to Smith. He explained that Smith had a right to refuse, but that if he did not consent the police would freeze the scene and obtain a search warrant. Smith hesitated and Cox gave him some time to think about it. Subsequently, another police officer urged Smith to decide quickly because they were busy that day and needed to know soon whether to start the process of obtaining a warrant. An officer told Smith that getting the warrant would be a hassle because they would have to interrupt the judge's day off, and that the police could be more lenient if he cooperated. Smith questioned the officers about his options and, perceiving that a search of his apartment was inevitable, "rolled his eyes" and signed the form. Officer Cox searched the apartment with Smith present and found a growing marijuana plant. Smith was charged with manufacturing marijuana.

The district court granted Smith's motion to suppress, finding that any exigency dissipated when Blubaum left the apartment, and that Smith's subsequent consent to search was involuntary. The Court of Appeals reversed. This Court granted Smith's petition for review.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

When considering a case on review from the Court of Appeals, this Court directly reviews the decision of the trial court but gives serious consideration to the views of the Court of Appeals. State v. Klingler, 143 Idaho 494, 495-96, 148 P.3d 1240, 1241-42 (2006). In reviewing an order granting or denying a motion to suppress evidence, the Court defers to the trial court's factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous; however, the Court freely reviews the determination as to whether constitutional requirements have been satisfied in light of the facts found. Id.

III. EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES JUSTIFIED BLUBAUM AND WATSON'S ENTRY INTO THE APARTMENT

The evidence Smith seeks to suppress was discovered during the later search of his apartment pursuant to his consent. Smith's consent was based on the evidence already obtained from his apartment. A finding that it was illegally acquired would render his subsequent consent ineffective.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches. The Fourth Amendment applies to firefighters as well as police officers. Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 506, 98 S.Ct. 1942, 1948, 56 L.Ed.2d 486, 496 (1978); State v. O'Keefe, 143 Idaho 278, 283, 141 P.3d 1147, 1152 (Ct.App.2006). Warrantless searches are presumptively unreasonable. State v. Anderson, 140 Idaho 484, 486, 95 P.3d 635, 637 (2004). The burden of proof is on the state to show that the search either fell within one of the well-recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement or was otherwise reasonable under the circumstances. Id. Among the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement is the exigent circumstances exception. State v. Holton, 132 Idaho 501, 504, 975 P.2d 789, 792 (1999). The exception applies where the facts known at the time of the entry indicate a "compelling need for official action and no time to secure a warrant." Tyler, 436 U.S. at 509, 98 S.Ct. at 1949, 56 L.Ed.2d at 498.

A. Initial entry by Blubaum

Blubaum's entry was justified by the exigencies of the situation. According to the United States Supreme Court, a burning building presents an exigency of sufficient proportions to render a warrantless entry reasonable. Tyler, 436 U.S. at 509, 98 S.Ct. at 1950, 56 L.Ed.2d at 498. Even after the fire is out, a prompt determination of its origin may be necessary to prevent its recurrence. Id. at 510, 98 S.Ct. at 1950, 56 L.Ed.2d at 498. Firefighters may enter a building without a warrant to fight a blaze and, after extinguishing it, may remain for a reasonable time to investigate its cause. Id.

The exigency in this case was a threat of fire rather than an actual fire, but the principle is the same. See O'Keefe, 143 Idaho at 285, 141 P.3d at 1154 (finding that there may be a need for immediate investigation to detect continuing dangers). Both Blubaum and Watson testified that the couch fire could have extended into the structure without necessarily being visible. The burn marks in the stairway carpet corroborated their testimony. According to Blubaum, smoldering can occur in walls or floors or under carpets for hours or days after something else has been on fire in an apartment. Although Blubaum saw no flames or smoke, the facts known to him indicated there was an appreciable, immediate risk of fire within the building. The presence of multiple tenants in the building compounded the urgency. See Michigan v. Clifford, 464 U.S. 287, 297 n. 8, 104 S.Ct. 641, 649 n. 8, 78 L.Ed.2d 477, 486 (1984); Tyler, 436 U.S. at 510 n. 6, 98 S.Ct. at 1950 n. 6, 56 L.Ed.2d at 499 n. 6. So long as the claim of exigency is not a pretext, courts avoid second-guessing the decisions of officials who reasonably believe they are confronting an urgent situation. State v. Monroe, 101 Idaho 251, 255, 611 P.2d 1036, 1040 (1980), vacated on other grounds, 451 U.S. 1014, 101 S.Ct. 3001, 69 L.Ed.2d 385 (1981);¹ O'Keefe, 143 Idaho at 283, 141 P.3d at 1152. Blubaum did not enter on pretext. His purpose was to ensure that the fire was out and determine its cause. This function serves a compelling public interest. See Clifford, 464 U.S. at 293, 104 S.Ct. at 647, 78 L.Ed.2d at 484. The circumstances confronting Blubaum—a recently-doused couch in the driveway, a trail of soot and burn marks, an absent tenant, bystanders' lack of knowledge about how the fire started, multiple tenants in the building, and a landlord's request to investigate, combined with his own knowledge about how fire can persist and spread—were sufficiently exigent to render his entry objectively reasonable.² In Tyler, the United States Supreme Court rejected the view that "the exigency justifying a warrantless entry ends, and the need to get a warrant begins, with the dousing of the last flame." 436 U.S. at 510, 98 S.Ct. at 1950, 56 L.Ed.2d at 498.³

Smith argues that the holding of Tyler that a firefighter may remain in a building to investigate the cause of a fire after entering to extinguish it does not apply because Blubaum entered after the fire had been extinguished. The distinction does not aid Smith. The fact that the fire was extinguished by someone other than the firefighter indicates a need to investigate to ensure that it will not rekindle. This is especially so when the tenant who attempted to extinguish the fire was absent and the fire appeared...