State v. Sanchez-Loredo

• Decision Date: 23 March 2012
• Docket Number: No. 101,912.,101,912.
• Citation: 272 P.3d 34
• Parties: STATE of Kansas, Appellant, v. Dinah SANCHEZ–LOREDO, Appellee.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

272 P.3d 34

STATE of Kansas, Appellant,

v.Dinah SANCHEZ–LOREDO, Appellee.

No. 101,912.

Supreme Court of Kansas.

March 23, 2012.

Syllabus by the Court

1. A recognized exception to the United States Constitution's Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement exists where the law enforcement officer has probable cause plus exigent circumstances.

2. Probable cause can be established if the totality of the circumstances indicates there is a fair probability that the place to be searched contains contraband or evidence of a crime.

3. Exigent circumstances exist where the law enforcement officer reasonably believes there is a threat of imminent loss, destruction, removal, or concealment of evidence or contraband.

4. Under the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement, which is a subclass of the probable-cause-plus-exigent-circumstances exception, the mobility of the vehicle provides the exigent circumstances without the necessity of proving anything more. If a vehicle is readily mobile and probable cause exists to believe the vehicle contains contraband or evidence of a crime, the Fourth Amendment does not require a warrant for police to search the vehicle.

Thomas R. Stanton, deputy district attorney, argued the cause, and Keith E. Schroeder, district attorney, and Steve Six, attorney general, were with him on the brief for appellant.

Richard A. Samaniego, of O'Hara & O'Hara, of Wichita, argued the cause, and Charles A. O'Hara, of the same firm, was with him on the brief for appellee.

The opinion of the court was delivered by JOHNSON, J.:

Reno County law enforcement officers made a traffic stop of Dinah Sanchez–Loredo's vehicle, detained her at the scene for approximately 75 minutes while obtaining a search warrant, and recovered a large quantity of methamphetamine and some drug paraphernalia during the ensuing automobile search. Sanchez–Loredo seeks review of the Court of Appeals' decision which reversed the district court's suppression of the seized drugs and drug paraphernalia based upon the district court's determination that exigent circumstances did not exist to support a warrantless search and seizure. Sanchez–Loredo's petition for review states the following narrow issue upon which review is sought: “Does the mobility of a vehicle provide exigent circumstances to search the vehicle regardless of the circumstances?” We hold that, for Fourth Amendment purposes, the mobility of a vehicle fulfills the requirement of exigent circumstances, so that a warrantless vehicle search is permitted based solely on probable cause. Accordingly, we affirm the Court of Appeals' reversal of the district court's suppression order.

Factual and Procedural Overview

Reno County law enforcement officers had information that Dinah Sanchez–Loredo was transporting money to Dodge City and returning to Hutchinson with methamphetamine on behalf of drug distributors. Part of that information flowed from an investigation that ensued after a May 11, 2007, residential search in Hutchinson yielded a large quantity of methamphetamine and a large amount of money. Sanchez–Loredo's alleged connection to that drug operation made her the subject of law enforcement surveillance.

On July 26, 2007, Reno County officers followed Sanchez–Loredo's vehicle around the city of Hutchinson, observing her meet briefly with persons known to be involved with drugs. The vehicle left Hutchinson with Sanchez–Loredo driving and Amber Moore as a passenger. The officers followed the vehicle to Dodge City.

In Dodge City, the officers followed the vehicle for a time, until it appeared as though the vehicle driver was attempting to discern whether the vehicle was being followed. The officers discontinued the tail for fear of detection but recommenced following Sanchez–Loredo after she left Dodge City and was en route back to Hutchinson. When the vehicle crossed into Reno County, the officers stopped it and conducted an unsuccessful K–9 sniff of the vehicle.

During the course of their observation of Sanchez–Loredo, the law enforcement officers had been in contact with a Reno County assistant district attorney. After the drug dog failed to alert, the officers requested that the prosecutor obtain a warrant to search Sanchez–Loredo's vehicle. An officer was able to obtain the executed search warrant and return to the scene of the detained vehicle in approximately 75 minutes from the time of the initial vehicle stop. The ensuing search produced, inter alia, a large quantity of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Both Sanchez–Loredo and Moore were charged, in separate cases, with drug crimes.

Both Sanchez–Loredo and Moore filed motions to suppress the evidence obtained from the search of the vehicle. The district court conducted a hearing on the motions and issued a joint opinion, explaining its rationale for granting the suppression motions. First, the court rejected the defendants' challenge to the validity of the vehicle stop, specifically finding that, using the totality of the circumstances test, the officers had probable cause to stop the vehicle and detain the occupants. Further, the court summarily declared that the drug dog's inability to alert on the vehicle did not destroy the probable cause that existed at the time of the canine sniff.

Nevertheless, the district court opined that the principle that a person has less expectation of privacy in a motor vehicle than a residence does not negate the rule of law that warrantless searches are the exception, not the rule. Citing to United States v. Cantu, 405 F.3d 1173, 1179 (10th Cir.2005), the district court declared that, by its terms, the Fourth Amendment intimates a strong preference for warrants. Accordingly, the district court held that a warrantless automobile search based upon probable cause can only be conducted “where it is not practicable to secure a warrant.”

The district court then found that the law enforcement officers had sufficient information to establish probable cause when Sanchez–Loredo's vehicle left Dodge City and that they had more than adequate time to obtain a warrant through the standby prosecutor prior to the time of the vehicle stop. Moreover, the court could not find any exigent circumstances that would have required law enforcement officers to stop the vehicle when they did. The ultimate rationale given for suppressing the evidence was that, “[u]nder the unique circumstances of this case, the Court finds it was practicable to obtain the search warrant prior to the stop and detention of the Defendants.”

The State appealed the suppression order. The Court of Appeals reversed the district court, holding that a “search without a warrant is allowed when probable cause is combined with exigent circumstances; in the case of potential evidence in a car, the mobility of the car provides the exigent circumstances.” State v. Sanchez–Loredo, 42 Kan.App.2d 1023, Syl., 220 P.3d 374 (2009). Sanchez–Loredo then sought and was granted review with this court.

Before proceeding, we pause to clarify the issues we will not be addressing. Sanchez–Loredo did not cross-appeal the district court's rulings that were adverse to her, such as the finding that the officers had probable cause to stop and detain her. See State v. Adams, 283 Kan. 365, 367, 153 P.3d 512 (2007) (as a general rule, absent exceptional circumstances, appellate courts do not consider issues on appeal that were not raised by the parties); see also Douglas v. Lombardino, 236 Kan. 471, 490, 693 P.2d 1138 (1985) (appellee's failure to cross-appeal deprived court of jurisdiction to consider appellee's briefed issues). Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals gratuitously observed that “[w]ithout a doubt,” the district court was correct in finding that the officers had probable cause to search the vehicle and that “doubtlessly, the officers had sufficient grounds to stop her vehicle.” 42 Kan.App.2d at 1029, 220 P.3d 374. Further, the opinion agreed with the district court's declaration that the failure of the drug dog to alert to possible contraband did not eliminate the previously established probable cause. 42 Kan.App.2d at 1029, 220 P.3d 374. But Sanchez–Loredo's petition for review did not challenge these holdings. See Supreme Court Rule 8.03(a)(5)(c) (2011 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 69); State v. Allen, 293 Kan. 793, Syl. ¶ 2, 268 P.3d 1198 (2012) (under Supreme Court Rule 8.03(g)(1), a party must allege an issue was decided adversely by the Court of Appeals to get Supreme Court review); State v. Ward, 292 Kan. 541, 580, 256 P.3d 801 (2011) (issue not raised before the Court of Appeals or in petition for review deemed abandoned).

Accordingly, this opinion will not address the district court's finding of probable cause or the effect on probable cause of an unsuccessful olfactory search by a drug dog. Further, we will not consider the reasonableness of the length of detention or the validity of the search warrant. Likewise, no one has discussed whether the issuance of the search warrant could attenuate the taint of any prior unlawfulness. Rather, as noted above, the narrow question presented for our review is whether the Court of Appeals erred in finding, as a matter of law, that the mobility of a vehicle provides the exigent circumstances to support a warrantless vehicle search based on probable cause. We will confine our opinion to that issue.

Vehicle Mobility as Exigent Circumstance

A. Standard of Review

The general standard of review for an issue of evidence suppression is bifurcated. First, without reweighing the evidence, the appellate court reviews the district court's findings for supporting substantial competent evidence. State v. Woolverton, 284 Kan. 59, 70, 159 P.3d 985 (2007). Then, the ultimate legal conclusion is reviewed de novo. State v. Fitzgerald, 286 Kan. 1124, 1126, 192 P.3d 171 (2008). But if there are no disputed material facts, only a question of law is presented, over which an appellate court...