State v. Trujillo

150 N.M. 721

2011 -NMSC- 040

266 P.3d 1

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff–Petitioner,

v.Jerry TRUJILLO, Jr., Defendant–Respondent.

No. 32,234.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

Oct. 27, 2011.

Gary K. King, Attorney General, James W. Grayson, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, for Petitioner.

Jacqueline L. Cooper, Acting Chief Public Defender, Nina Lalevic, Assistant Appellate Defender, for Respondent.

OPINION

BOSSON, Justice.

{1} In State v. Williamson, 2009–NMSC–039, 146 N.M. 488, 212 P.3d 376, we advised district judges reviewing a search warrant after the fact to defer to the judgment and reasonable inferences of the judge who issued the warrant “if the affidavit provides a substantial basis to support a finding of probable cause.” Id. ¶ 29. In the case before us, we once again review an order suppressing evidence obtained pursuant to a search warrant, and once again we emphasize that “[a] reviewing court should not substitute its judgment for that of the issuing court.” Id. The Court of Appeals having upheld the suppression order, we now reverse and remand to the district court for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

{2} The following facts come directly from the State's affidavit in support of the search warrant, upon which the district judge relied in finding probable cause to issue the warrant. We set forth those factual assertions in some detail to provide the context necessary for our review of the probable cause determination.

{3} On September 10, 2007, a detective with the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, with over 10 years of law enforcement experience, was asked to respond “to an address” to investigate allegations that a teenage girl was being molested by a male family member. “Upon arrival at the address,” the detective made contact with the girl, identified in the affidavit as J.J., age 15.

{4} J.J. told the detective that after she and her brother were removed from her mother's custody by the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, they were adopted by her grandmother, Gloria Jaramillo, and her step-grandfather, Jerry B. Trujillo, Sr. Gloria Jaramillo and Jerry B. Trujillo, Sr. were married and had two children of their own, one of whom was identified as Jerry Trujillo, Jr., age 19, Defendant in this case. J.J., her brother, her grandmother and step-grandfather, and Defendant all lived at the same residence.

{5} J.J. explained how, over a period of time, Defendant wrote her letters “asking her for sex.” Even though she felt like she was being “sexually harass [ed],” J.J. finally gave in to Defendant's demands. J.J. told the detective that Defendant had anal sex with her approximately three times “in [his] bedroom.” She also told the detective that Defendant would “plac[e] his hand down her pants” and “have her touch his penis and ‘play’ with it.” These incidents occurred five or more times over the course of 15 months.

{6} Defendant also showed J.J. “pornographic magazines with pictures of ‘naked men and women.’ ” J.J. told the detective that Defendant “kept the magazines under his mattress in his room, and in the bathroom.” In addition to the magazines, J.J. stated that Defendant also showed her pornography on his computer. J.J. told the detective that “these incidents took place when her brother was at work or school, her grandmother was not at home, and her grandfather was either not home, or not watching” them.

{7} When asked about Defendant's letters to her, J.J. told the detective that she had destroyed most of them, but did give one to a friend for safekeeping. The detective was able to recover that letter, which was reproduced, at least in part, in the affidavit.

{8} J.J. also identified a cousin who may also have been molested by Defendant. The detective then interviewed the cousin, identified in the affidavit as D.M., who stated that Defendant “had touched her numerous times ... while she, J.J., and J.J.'s brother were watching television in [Defendant's] room.”

{9} When asked how long this had been going on, D.M. responded, “[s]ince J.J. went to live with [Defendant] and his parents.” The detective “asked D.M. why she stopped going to the Trujillo home, and she stated, ‘[w]ith your uncle touching you, you wouldn't wanna [sic] go over there either.’ ” (Emphasis added.) D.M. also told the detective that “[Defendant] would show her pornographic magazines.” “D.M. stated the magazines were kept under [Defendant's] bed and contained pictures of ‘naked girls.’ ”

{10} Based on the interviews with J.J. and D.M., the detective prepared an affidavit and obtained a search warrant from a district judge (issuing judge) based on that affidavit. Each page of the affidavit is captioned: “STATE OF NEW MEXICO VS. 1208 Juanita SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105.” The affidavit begins with the detective stating that he “has reason to believe that the following described residence contains evidence of crimes.” (Emphasis omitted.) The affidavit then describes 1208 Juanita SW in such great detail that it was apparent the officer had personally observed the residence. He describes such details as the color of different pieces of trim, the layout of the windows, and the location and types of trees in the yard.

{11} After detailing the allegations discussed above, the affidavit concludes by describing specific pieces of evidence to be seized. It states that the detective has “reason to believe [Defendant] may have letters detailing some of his activity with J.J.” The affidavit also states that the detective has “reason to believe [Defendant] has possession of the pornographic magazines he showed to” the alleged victims, “which he keeps under his bed, or beneath his mattress.” Finally, the affidavit concludes by requesting “this search warrant be granted in order to examine the residence for any and all evidence which may provide investigators additional information in this case.” (Emphasis added.)

{12} Based upon the affidavit, the issuing judge found probable cause and issued the warrant. After the search was conducted and evidence, including a pornographic magazine and a letter written between Defendant and J.J., was collected, Defendant filed a motion to suppress physical evidence. The motion was based on a lack of an express nexus between the criminal activity described in the affidavit and 1208 Juanita SW, the actual address to be searched. While the narrative in the affidavit contains references to “an address” or “the residence” or “the Trujillo home,” at no point does the affidavit explicitly state that “the residence” and 1208 Juanita SW are one and the same, that 1208 Juanita SW is the place where these events occurred, or that 1208 Juanita SW is where the evidence can be found.

{13} Defendant claimed that the search violated his rights under both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution. A second district judge, to whom the trial was assigned (reviewing judge), granted Defendant's motion and suppressed all of the evidence obtained in the search. The State appealed and the Court of Appeals affirmed in a memorandum opinion. State v. Trujillo, No. 29,870, 2010 WL 3968960 (N.M.Ct.App. Jan.13, 2010). We granted certiorari and now reverse. State v. Trujillo, 2010–NMCERT–003, 148 N.M. 560, 240 P.3d 15.

DISCUSSIONProbable Cause Required for a Search Warrant

{14} The Fourth Amendment guarantees “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures....” U.S. Const. amend. IV. Except in the case of “a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions,” before conducting a search, the Fourth Amendment requires police to obtain a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967), superceded by statute as stated in United States. v. Koyomejian, 946 F.2d 1450, 1455 (9th Cir.1991).

{15} Similarly, Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution provides that “no warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, shall issue without describing the place to be searched, or the persons or things to be seized, nor without a written showing of probable cause.” Both the United States Constitution and the New Mexico Constitution require a showing of probable cause prior to the issuance of a search warrant. See Williamson, 2009–NMSC–039, ¶ 14, 146 N.M. 488, 212 P.3d 376.

{16} “Probable cause to search a specific location exists when there are reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has been committed in that place, or that evidence of a crime will be found [in that location].” State v. Evans, 2009–NMSC–027, ¶ 10, 146 N.M. 319, 210 P.3d 216. “Put another way, before a valid search warrant may issue, the affidavit must show: (1) that the items sought to be seized are evidence of a crime; and (2) that the criminal evidence sought is located at the place to be searched.” Id. ¶ 11 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “There are no ‘bright line, hard-and-fast rules' for determining probable cause, but the degree of proof necessary to establish probable cause is ‘more than a suspicion or possibility but less than a certainty of proof.’ ” Id. (quoting State v. Nyce, 2006–NMSC–026, ¶ 10, 139 N.M. 647, 137 P.3d 587, overruled in part on other grounds by Williamson, 2009–NMSC–039, 146 N.M. 488, 212 P.3d 376 (expressly disavowing the de novo standard of review)).

Standard of Review

{17} Recently, in Williamson, this Court resolved a conflict in our caselaw regarding the proper standard of review for challenges to search warrants under Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution. Williamson, 2009–NMSC–039, ¶¶ 19–30, 146 N.M. 488, 212 P.3d 376. In that case, we clarified that “an issuing court's determination of probable cause should not be reviewed de novo but, rather, must be upheld if the affidavit provides a substantial basis to support a finding of...