Copas v. State
| Decision Date | 13 August 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 33A01-0801-CR-3.,33A01-0801-CR-3. |
| Citation | 891 N.E.2d 663 |
| Parties | Samara J. COPAS, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
James H. Voyles, Frederick Vaiana, Voyles Zahn Paul Hogan & Merriman, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Joby D. Jerrells, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Samara J. Copas brings this interlocutory appeal from the trial court's denial of her motion to suppress evidence. Copas raises a single issue for our review, which we restate as whether the State's seizure of a blood sample from Copas while she was unconscious was supported by probable cause, as required by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.1
We affirm.
On May 20, 2006, shortly after 1:15 a.m., Jerry E. Clapp was driving along County Road 500 S in Henry County. As he approached the intersection of County Road 500 S and State Road 103, he observed a white vehicle on the side of the road near a small SUV, which was inverted. Clapp called 911, exited his vehicle, and saw a woman, later identified as Copas, lying on the ground outside the white vehicle, on the driver's side. Clapp noticed Copas was breathing and tried to inform her that paramedics were on the way, but she was nonresponsive. Clapp also noticed broken alcoholic beverage containers in the white vehicle, and the odor of alcohol coming from that vehicle, but did not notice an alcoholic odor on Copas. Clapp then went to the inverted SUV and informed its driver, later identified as Charles McAlhaney, to "hang in there" and that paramedics were on the way. Transcript at 28. Clapp did not receive a response from McAlhaney, but McAlhaney made "gurgling" sounds that indicated to Clapp that McAlhaney "was drowning in his blood." Id. at 28-29.
At approximately 1:30 a.m., Henry County Deputy Sheriff Michael Rossiter responded to the accident. Deputy Rossiter observed Copas lying on the ground unconscious on the driver's side of a white Chevrolet Suburban. Deputy Rossiter approached the Suburban, in which he noticed shattered alcoholic beverage containers in the driver's seat and on the floorboard in front of the driver's seat. Deputy Rossiter also noticed the smell of alcohol inside the Suburban. Deputy Rossiter did not notice "an odor of alcoholic beverage on" Copas. Id. at 14. When paramedics arrived, Clapp and Deputy Rossiter helped transfer Copas onto a backboard. Copas was then placed in an ambulance and taken to the Henry County Hospital. McAlhaney died at the scene of the accident shortly after the arrival of the emergency personnel.
Sometime over the next hour and a half, Deputy Rossiter prepared a search warrant affidavit, submitted that affidavit to the Henry Superior Court, and received a search warrant. In the affidavit, Deputy Rossiter requested permission to seize a blood sample from Copas, who was unable to give consent due to her unconsciousness, in connection with "evidence of the crime of operating while intoxicated." State's Exh. 1 at 1. Deputy Rossiter stated the following facts as support for his belief that Copas had operated a vehicle while intoxicated at the time of the accident: (1) Copas was an "occupant" of the "Suburban involved in crash"; (2) Deputy Rossiter saw "alcohol beverage containers in view"; (3) the "vehicle smelled of alcohol"; and (4) Jerry Clapp told Deputy Rossiter that Copas "indicated she was in white vehicle and no one else in area of crash." Id. at 1-2. At about 3:00 a.m., Deputy Rossiter executed the search warrant, through medical staff, at the Henry County Hospital. That blood sample allegedly revealed that Copas had a blood alcohol level of 0.15, and it also allegedly revealed that Copas had cocaine in her blood.
On August 31, 2006, the State charged Copas with Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle with Alcohol in the Body, as a Class B felony; Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle with Schedule II Controlled Substance in the Body, as a Class B felony; and Reckless Homicide, a Class C felony. On June 22, 2007, Copas filed a motion to suppress the "blood evidence" on the grounds that the search warrant permitting the seizure of that evidence lacked supporting probable cause, as required by federal and state law. Appellant's App. at 40-42. On October 11, 2007, the trial court held a hearing on the motion to suppress, which the court denied on November 21, 2007. The court certified its decision for interlocutory appeal on December 4, 2007, which we accepted.
Copas contends that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress the blood evidence seized pursuant to the search warrant because that search warrant was not supported by probable cause, as required by the Fourth Amendment. Our standard of review here is well-established:
In deciding whether to issue a search warrant, "the task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, commonsense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit ... there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place." Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). The duty of the reviewing court is to determine whether the magistrate had a "substantial basis" for concluding that probable cause existed. 462 U.S. at 238-39, 103 S.Ct. 2317. It is clear that a substantial basis requires the reviewing court, with significant deference to the magistrate's determination, to focus on whether reasonable inferences drawn from the totality of the evidence support the determination of probable cause. Houser v. State, 678 N.E.2d 95, 99 (Ind.1997). A "reviewing court" for these purposes includes both the trial court ruling on a motion to suppress and an appellate court reviewing that decision. Id. at 98. In this review, we consider only the evidence presented to the issuing magistrate and not post hoc justifications for the search. Seltzer v. State, 489 N.E.2d 939, 941 (Ind.1986).
Query v. State, 745 N.E.2d 769, 771 (Ind. 2001). "Significantly, `probable cause requires only a probability or substantial chance of criminal activity, not an actual showing of such activity.'" Eaton v. State, 889 N.E.2d 297, 299 (Ind.2008) (quoting Gates, 462 U.S. at 245 n. 13, 103 S.Ct. 2317).
The seizure of blood from the body is not a new issue in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. In Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 769-70, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966), the United States Supreme Court noted, in the context of a warrantless seizure of blood evidence, that "[t]he interests in human dignity and privacy which the Fourth Amendment protects forbid any such intrusions on the mere chance that desired evidence might be obtained." And "[i]n the absence of a clear indication that in fact such evidence will be found, these fundamental human interests require law officers to suffer the risk that such evidence may disappear unless there is an immediate search." Id. at 770, 86 S.Ct. 1826. However, while "[t]he overriding function of the Fourth Amendment is to protect personal privacy and dignity against unwarranted intrusion by the State," its "proper function is to constrain, not against all intrusions as such, but against intrusions which are not justified in the circumstances, or which are made in an improper manner." Id. at 767-68, 86 S.Ct. 1826; Carr v. State, 728 N.E.2d 125, 128 (Ind.2000).
As an initial matter, Copas suggests that "[t]he search warrant failed to allege an accident occurred resulting in serious bodily injury or death in an effort to meet statutory criteria." Appellant's Brief at 6. But Indiana's implied consent laws do not apply here, for two reasons. First, Copas was unconscious, and the implied consent laws do not require a law enforcement officer to offer a chemical test to an unconscious person. See Ind.Code §§ 9-30-6-2(b)(1), 9-30-7-3(c) (2004). Second, Deputy Rossiter seized Copas' blood pursuant to a search warrant. "The provisions of the implied consent law do not act either individually or collectively to prevent a law enforcement officer from obtaining a blood sample pursuant to a search warrant." Brown v. State, 774 N.E.2d 1001, 1007 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), trans. denied.
Copas also asserts that, under Schmerber, there is a higher burden on the State to seize blood evidence. We respectfully disagree. Schmerber, while useful for general Fourth Amendment guidance, is not controlling because the police in that case acted without a warrant. "Searches and seizures `conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment — subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions.'" Logan v. State, 729 N.E.2d 125, 129 (Ind.2000) (quoting Middleton v. State, 714 N.E.2d 1099, 1101 (Ind.1999)). Here, unlike in Schmerber, the police acted pursuant to a warrant. We review the validity of that warrant accordingly.
Again, the State seized a sample of Copas' blood from her body pursuant to a search warrant. As such, in order for that seizure to have been proper, the State needed to have probable cause that her blood would reveal evidence of criminal behavior. See, e.g., I.C. § 35-33-5-1 (). That is, the State was required to show probable cause that Copas both operated the Suburban and did so while intoxicated. "[T]he amount of evidence needed to supply probable cause of operating while intoxicated is minimal." Hannoy v. State, 789 N.E.2d 977, 989 (Ind. Ct.App.2003), aff'd on reh'g, 793 N.E.2d 1109 (Ind.Ct.App.2003), trans. denied.
The totality of the circumstances stated in Deputy Rossiter's probable cause affidavit is indeed minimal; nonetheless, it is sufficient to establish...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Wells v. Bernitt
...decided case by case, and is less than the level of proof necessary to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See Copas v. State, 891 N.E.2d 663, 668 (Ind.Ct.App.2008). Although Wells did not designate evidence sufficient to withstand a motion for summary judgment, we agree with the tri......
-
Moussa v. State
...to the blood draw. A blood draw under our implied consent laws is a search for purposes of the Fourth Amendment. Copas v. State. 891 N.E.2d 663, 664 (Ind.Ct.App.2009). In general, the Fourth Amendment prohibits warrantless searches. Hannoy, 789 N.E.2d at 982. Searches conducted without a wa......
-
Crawley v. State
...was in the context of an interlocutory appeal disputing whether there was probable cause for the purpose of a search. Copas v. State, 891 N.E.2d 663 (Ind.Ct.App.2008). The defendant had been found unresponsive lying outside of a vehicle that had been in a serious collision, on the driver's ......
- Copas v. State