Morris v. State, 94-187

• Decision Date: 14 December 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94-187,94-187
• Citation: 908 P.2d 931
• Parties: Alexander Lewis MORRIS, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Page 931

908 P.2d 931

Alexander Lewis MORRIS, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

No. 94-187.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

Dec. 14, 1995.

Leonard D. Munker, State Public Defender; Diane Lozano, Assistant Public Defender; Gerald M. Gallivan, Director, Defender Aid Program; and Frederick Dethlefsen, Student Intern. Argument by Mr. Dethlefsen, for Appellant.

Joseph B. Meyer, Attorney General; Sylvia Lee Hackl, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; and Mark T. Moran, Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Mr. Moran, for Appellee.

Before GOLDEN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, TAYLOR and LEHMAN, JJ.

LEHMAN, Justice.

Pursuant to a plea agreement, Appellant Alexander L. Morris (Morris) pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to deliver controlled substances and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, while reserving the right on appeal to seek review of the district court's ruling on his motion to suppress. The issue we decide is whether the district court erred in determining that the search of Morris' wallet by a deputy sheriff (Deputy) was a reasonable search and thus the fruits derived from the search were admissible evidence.

We reverse.

ISSUES

Morris phrases the issue as:

Whether the trial court erred by denying Appellant's motion to suppress all physical and testimonial evidence directly and indirectly derived from the illegal search of Appellant's wallet.

The State of Wyoming rephrases the issue as:

Whether the trial court properly denied Appellant's motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of searching his wallet.

FACTS

On August 15, 1993, a deputy sheriff responded to a report that Morris was sleeping in the backyard of a private residence in Dayton, Wyoming. The Deputy awoke Morris, asked if he was okay, and requested identification. Morris could not find his driver's license but produced a MSHA mine safety card and a social security card, neither of which bore a photograph or home address.

Morris was not arrested but, because he was unsteady and disoriented, the Deputy suggested that they return to the sheriff's office so that Morris could contact someone to come and get him. Morris agreed to this suggestion. Upon arrival at the office, Morris gave the Deputy the telephone number and name of a person to contact; however, the call was received by an answering machine. The Deputy then inquired whether Morris might have any phone numbers of friends in his wallet. It was at this time that Morris discovered he had lost his wallet. The Deputy recalled seeing Morris with his wallet in the patrol vehicle and offered to search the vehicle for it. Morris did not reply to the Deputy's offer.

After locating the wallet on the floorboard of his patrol vehicle, the Deputy proceeded to search the wallet. Found therein was a tightly folded piece of paper containing a white powdery substance. The Deputy confronted Morris with the powdery substance and inquired whether Morris had anything else on his person that he should know about. Morris produced from his pocket a bag of marijuana and a pipe. Morris was then arrested for possession of a controlled substance; and, during the booking process, 15 bindles of the white powdery substance were The district court denied Morris' motion to suppress all evidence derived from the Deputy's warrantless search of his wallet. Timely pursuit of this appeal followed Morris' conditional plea of guilty.

found on his person. The substance was later identified as methamphetamine.

MOTION TO SUPPRESS

A. Standard of Review

Generally, evidentiary rulings of a district court are not disturbed on appeal unless a clear abuse of discretion is demonstrated. Wilson v. State, 874 P.2d 215, 218 (Wyo.1994); Armstrong v. State, 826 P.2d 1106, 1111 (Wyo.1992); Garcia v. State, 777 P.2d 603, 607 (Wyo.1989). " 'An abuse of discretion has been said to mean an error of law committed by the court under the circumstances.' " Wilson, 874 P.2d at 218 (quoting Martinez v. State, 611 P.2d 831, 838 (Wyo.1980)). It is well established that when reviewing a district court's ruling on a motion to suppress,

[f]indings on factual issues made by the district court considering a motion to suppress are not disturbed on appeal unless they are clearly erroneous. Hyde v. State, 769 P.2d 376, 378 (Wyo.1989); Roose v. State, 759 P.2d 478, 487 (Wyo.1988). * * * Since the district court conducts the hearing on the motion to suppress and has the opportunity to: assess the credibility of the witnesses; the weight given the evidence; and make the necessary inferences, deductions and conclusions, evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the district court's determination. United States v. Werking, 915 F.2d 1404, 1406 (10th Cir.1990).

Wilson, 874 P.2d at 218. See also Murray v. State, 855 P.2d 350, 354 (Wyo.1993); United States v. Soto, 988 F.2d 1548, 1551 (10th Cir.1993) (citing United States v. Horn, 970 F.2d 728, 730 (10th Cir.1992) and United States v. Evans, 937 F.2d 1534, 1536 (10th Cir.1991)). The issue of law before us, whether an unreasonable search or seizure occurred in violation of constitutional rights, is reviewed de novo. Guerra v. State, 897 P.2d 447, 452 (Wyo.1995); Wilson, 874 P.2d at 218. And see Lopez v. State, 643 P.2d 682, 683-85 (Wyo.1982); Cook v. State, 631 P.2d 5, 7-8 (Wyo.1981); and United States v. Walker, 941 F.2d 1086, 1090 (10th Cir.1991).

B. Discussion

Appellant contends that his constitutional rights were violated by the Deputy's initial search of his wallet; by the seizure of a folded piece of paper contained within his wallet; by the subsequent search of that folded paper; and by the seizure of the contents contained within the folded paper. Appellant claims that this alleged illegal and unreasonable search and seizure requires the suppression of all evidence, direct and indirect, derived therefrom and requires the voiding of his initial arrest.

Article 1, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution provides:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by affidavit, particularly describing the place to be searched or the person or thing to be seized.

See Goettl v. State, 842 P.2d 549, 558-75 (Wyo.1992), Urbigkit, J., dissenting (arguing search and seizure provisions of the state constitution provide stronger protection than the federal constitution). The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution grants

[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The protection of the Fourth Amendment is applied to state action under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Wilson, 874 P.2d at 219 (citing Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961), and Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25, 69 S.Ct. 1359, 93 L.Ed. 1782 (1949)).

The State argues that because the encounter between the Deputy and Morris was a consensual, non-coercive, non-custodial contact for the purposes of ensuring Morris' welfare, Fourth Amendment rights were not implicated. We agree that the encounter between the Deputy and Morris was a consensual encounter, and we also agree that the Deputy was performing his community caretaker function, as discussed in Wilson, when he offered to help Morris contact someone to come and get him and when he transported Morris to the sheriff's office. However, we disagree that Fourth Amendment rights were not implicated. Searches and seizures made without a warrant or outside the judicial process are per se unreasonable under both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Art. 1, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution, subject only to a few clearly articulated exceptions. Mickelson v. State, 906 P.2d 1020, 1022 (Wyo.1995); Guerra, 897 P.2d at 452; Roose v. State, 759 P.2d 478, 481 (Wyo.1988).

In State v. Paasch, 117 Or.App. 302, 843 P.2d 1011 (1992), a citizen found a wallet and delivered it to the police. A policeman searched the wallet, finding drugs. On appeal, the defendant argued that the search was illegal and the evidence should have been suppressed. The Oregon Court of Appeals agreed, stating:

Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution protects "the right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable search, or seizure." A government action that invades a protected property or privacy interest is a search. State v. Faulkner, 102 Or.App. 417, 420, 794 P.2d 821, rev. den. 310 Or. 422, 799 P.2d 151 (1990). People have a privacy interest in wallets and other personal effects that does not disappear because the personal effect has been lost or mislaid. See State v. Pidcock, 306 Or. 335, 759 P.2d 1092, cert. den. 489 U.S. 1011, 109 S.Ct. 1120, 103 L.Ed.2d 183 (1988); State v. Morton, 110 Or.App. 219, 822 P.2d 148 (1991). The deputy's intrusion into the compartments of the wallet was a search.

Id., 843 P.2d at 1012 (emphasis added). The court went on to hold the search unreasonable and unlawful. Similarly, in State v. Morton, 110 Or.App. 219, 822 P.2d 148 (1991), the court held that although the police could search a lost or mislaid purse for identification purposes only, the search had to end once identification was found. The police found seven pieces of identification and still continued to search the purse, whereupon drugs were found. The court ruled that the continuation of the search after identification had been found was unreasonable and unlawful. Id., 822 P.2d at 150. The court went on to hold that the police lacked...