Kohnke v. State
| Decision Date | 19 May 2022 |
| Docket Number | 21A-CR-1496 |
| Parties | Bryon Edward Kohnke, Appellant-Defendant v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Indiana |
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.
Appeal from the Huntington Superior Court The Honorable Jennifer E Newton, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 35D01-1912-F2-404
Attorney for Appellant Justin R. Wall Wall Legal Services Huntington, Indiana
Attorneys for Appellee Theodore E. Rokita Attorney General of Indiana Megan M. Smith Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana
[¶1] Bryon Edward Kohnke ("Kohnke") appeals, following a jury trial, his convictions for Level 2 felony dealing in methamphetamine, [1] Level 6 felony dealing in marijuana, [2] Level 6 felony unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe, [3] Level 6 felony maintaining a common nuisance, [4] Class A misdemeanor dealing in paraphernalia, [5] Class C misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia, [6] and his habitual offender adjudication.[7] Kohnke argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted into evidence: (1) drugs and other items seized from Kohnke's house pursuant to the execution of a search warrant; and (2) Kohnke's statements made to police during a post-arrest interview. Concluding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted the challenged evidence, we affirm the trial court's judgment.
[¶2] We affirm.
Whether the trial court abused its discretion in its admission of evidence.
[¶3] On the night of December 14, 2019, Kimberly Blackburn ("Blackburn") left Kohnke's house along with Kohnke's son, Nathan Kohnke ("Nathan"). Blackburn, through text messages, had found a buyer for 3.5 grams of Kohnke's methamphetamine ("the eight-ball"). Blackburn had planned to meet the buyer sell the eight-ball, collect the money, and return it to Kohnke. When Blackburn was driving to meet her buyer, Huntington Police Officer Jordan Corral ("Officer Corral") initiated a traffic stop on Blackburn's car because her license plate light was non-functional. Blackburn, who had a bag of marijuana in her car, tossed the marijuana out of the passenger side window. Blackburn then pulled into an alley and turned off her engine and lights in an attempt to evade Officer Corral.
[¶4] Officer Corral followed Blackburn's car into the alley and initiated the traffic stop. Blackburn was very nervous, had trouble making eye contact with Officer Corral, and was stumbling over her words. Blackburn revealed to Officer Corral that she had an active arrest warrant. While Blackburn was collecting her license and registration, Officer Corral smelled marijuana in the car. Blackburn then explained that she had thrown a bag of marijuana out of the passenger side window when she had turned into the alley. Officer Corral then arrested Blackburn and placed her in his patrol car.
[¶5] Other officers arrived on the scene to assist Officer Corral. The officers searched the area near the car and found the bag of marijuana that Blackburn had tossed from her car. Additionally, when searching the car, officers located the eight-ball in the cup holder of Blackburn's car as well as Blackburn's cell phone. Officer Corral returned to his patrol car to talk to Blackburn. Officer Corral read Blackburn her Miranda rights, and Blackburn agreed to give a statement. Blackburn admitted that she had thrown the marijuana out of her car window, and that the methamphetamine found in her car and the marijuana found in the alley belonged to her. Officer Corral then transported Blackburn to the Huntington Police Annex for questioning.
[¶6] After Officer Corral had read Blackburn her Miranda rights for the second time, she agreed to waive those rights and speak with Officer Corral. Blackburn explained that, for the past several months, she had purchased methamphetamine from Kohnke a couple of times a week. She further explained that she had just left Kohnke's house fifteen minutes before Officer Corral had pulled her over. Furthermore, Blackburn gave Officer Corral access to her cellphone text messages. These messages revealed Blackburn's conversations with multiple parties, discussing the sale and delivery of methamphetamine. Importantly, one of those text messages asked if Kohnke had an eight-ball to sell, and Blackburn replied in the affirmative with the price of $120.
[¶7] After interviewing Blackburn, the police obtained a search warrant for Kohnke's house. The search warrant authorized police to search for and seize from Kohnke's house any "controlled substances, drug paraphernalia, and instrumentalities used to manufacture, weigh, and measure or package controlled substances." (App. Vol. 2 at 130). The police arrived at Kohnke's house around 4:30 a.m. The police announced themselves, knocked, and declared that they possessed a warrant multiple times. After receiving no response, officers kicked in Kohnke's door, and, after entering, Officer Corral found Kohnke asleep on his couch. Kohnke woke up after Officer Corral shouted at Kohnke to show his hands. Officer Corral conducted a pat down of Kohnke and located a large amount of methamphetamine in Kohnke's front left pocket. Additionally, near Kohnke's couch, Officer Corral located a purple bag containing a large amount of marijuana. Officers also located a large plastic container containing additional methamphetamine. Also, officers found hypodermic syringes, caps to syringes, pipes with burnt residue, scales with residue, and a drawer full of paraphernalia covered with residue. In total, police recovered over 100 grams of methamphetamine and over 150 grams of marijuana from Kohnke's house. The search took over an hour to conduct. During the search, Kohnke was "surprisingly calm[, ]" "defeated looking," and "tired." (Tr. Vol. 3 at 57).
[¶8] Officer Corral arrested Kohnke and transported him to the Huntington Police Annex for questioning. Officer Corral began his interview with Kohnke by reading Kohnke his Miranda rights. Kohnke stated that he understood those rights. Kohnke also signed a Miranda warning and waiver form. Officer Corral asked Kohnke if Kohnke wanted to talk to him. Kohnke responded, "might as well." (State's Ex. 34). Kohnke provided his name and date of birth to Officer Corral. Then, Kohnke admitted to dealing methamphetamine and marijuana. He explained that he had been dealing for a couple of months. Additionally, Kohnke admitted to selling pipes and hypodermic syringes. Kohnke detailed the prices and procedures he used to sell the methamphetamine, marijuana, pipes, and syringes. This detailed information included how Kohnke would sell an eight-ball for $120. During the interview, Officer Corral asked Kohnke if he was alright, and Kohnke responded that he was "just tired." (State's Ex. 34). Kohnke denied being high during this interview. Kohnke also declined to disclose where he had purchased his drugs.
[¶9] The State ultimately charged Kohnke with Level 2 felony dealing in methamphetamine, Level 6 felony dealing in marijuana, Level 6 felony unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe, Level 6 felony maintaining a common nuisance, Class A misdemeanor dealing in paraphernalia, and Class C misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia. The State also alleged that Kohnke was an habitual offender.
[¶10] In September 2020, Kohnke filed a motion to suppress his statements made to police during his post-arrest interview. Also, Kohnke moved to suppress the evidence seized from his house by police. Specifically, Kohnke argued that his statements made to police were involuntary because "[a]t the time of the statement, the Defendant was intoxicated and, therefore, his statements were not given knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily." (App. Vol. 2 at 124). Additionally, Kohnke argued that the search warrant issued for his house was unconstitutional because: (a) the search warrant did not specifically list items to be searched for and seized, making it overly broad in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution; (b) the State's probable cause affidavit was in violation of Indiana Code § 35-33-5-2 because it was based on hearsay, failed to contain reliable information establishing the credibility of the hearsay source, or contained information that established that the totality of the circumstances corroborated the hearsay; (c) the probable cause affidavit failed to establish probable cause that a crime had been committed and evidence of the crime would be found in Kohnke's house; and (d) under the totality of the circumstances, the search of Kohnke's house was unreasonable and violated Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution. During the October 2020 suppression hearing, Kohnke testified that he did not remember the interview with Officer Corral at all. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court denied Kohnke's motion to suppress his post-arrest statements made to police. Additionally, the trial court denied Kohnke's motion to suppress the evidence seized from his house.
[¶11] In June 2021, the trial court held a jury trial. The jury heard the facts as set forth above. Additionally, Blackburn testified that she had known Kohnke for at least six months and had been to his house multiple times. Blackburn also testified that she had been instructed by Kohnke to sell the eight-ball for $120 and to return the money to Kohnke. In exchange for selling Kohnke's methamphetamine, Blackburn testified that she would "just get high." (Tr. Vol 2 at 220). The jury found Kohnke guilty as...
To continue reading
Request your trial