People v. Brewer

• Decision Date: 26 November 1984
• Docket Number: No. 84SA249,84SA249
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Rodney BREWER and Debbie Brewer, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 860

690 P.2d 860

PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Rodney BREWER and Debbie Brewer, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 84SA249.

Supreme Court of Colorado En Banc.

Nov. 26, 1984.

Eugene L. Farish, Dist. Atty., Del Norte, for plaintiff-appellant.

David F. Vela, Colorado State Public Defender, Jeff Boyd Herron, Deputy State Public Defender, Alamosa, for defendants-appellees.

LOHR, Justice.

In this interlocutory appeal from an order of the District Court for Rio Grande County, the People challenge the suppression of a quantity of marijuana and certain drug-related paraphernalia uncovered in a search of a house rented to the defendants. We affirm the order of the district court.

Selia Stieha leased a house on Batterson Street in Monte Vista, Colorado, to the defendants, Rodney and Debbie Brewer. The lease provided for a month-to-month tenancy, with rental payments to be due on the fifteenth of each month. On November 24, 1983, Stieha arrived in Monte Vista with some goods that she wished to store in an unrented portion of the Batterson Street house. She attempted to call the Brewers, but found that their telephone had been disconnected. From conversations with the defendants' relatives, Stieha learned that the Brewers were living in another house, and had put antifreeze in the plumbing of the Batterson Street house. They had not paid rent to Stieha for the month of November.

Concerned about the condition of the house, Stieha and her husband went to the premises and used Stieha's key to gain admission. The house was in disarray. One of the defendants, Debbie Brewer, arrived soon afterwards, apologized for the mess, and promised that the defendants would move out over the coming weekend. Stieha arranged to meet with the tenants the following morning so that she could place her goods in a back room for storage.

When the Brewers failed to arrive at the appointed time the next day, Stieha again unlocked the door and entered the house. Disgusted with the condition of the premises, Stieha kicked a shoe box in a gesture of frustration and uncovered a bag of marijuana. She then contacted police officers and admitted them into the house, where they seized the marijuana that Stieha had discovered. Stieha allowed the officers to search the premises. Soon after the search began, Debbie Brewer arrived at the house. The trial court found that, when asked by the officers for her permission to search, Brewer responded that it looked as though they had already done what they were going to do, or words to that effect.

The defendants were charged with possession of more than eight ounces of marijuana. ¹ At a suppression hearing, the trial court ruled that the warrantless search of the property violated the defendants' rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, section 7, of the Colorado Constitution. ² It therefore suppressed everything seized during the search of the house. We hold that the trial court's ruling was correct.

The uncontested evidence shows that Stieha's discovery of the marijuana was unrelated to any governmental action. Her activities on the leased premises were solely in pursuit of her private interests as owner and landlord. Her lease with the defendants gave her the right, as landlord, to enter and inspect the house. Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures applies only to governmental action, and not to independent searches by private citizens. United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984); Burdeau v. McDowell, 256 U.S. 465, 41 S.Ct. 574, 65 L.Ed.2d 1048 (1921); People v. Benson, 176 Colo. 421, 490 P.2d 1287 (1971). Therefore, the defendants cannot challenge Stieha's actions on a constitutional basis up to the point when she invited the police officers onto the premises to show them what she had found.

Stieha's invitation to the police officers to enter the house, and her ensuing consent to their request to search the premises supply no basis to support the warrantless entry and subsequent search. It is well settled that a landlord cannot consent to a search of her tenants' premises by governmental authorities. Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 81 S.Ct. 776, 5 L.Ed.2d 828 (1961); People v. Boorem, 184 Colo. 233, 519 P.2d 939 (1974); Condon v. People, 176 Colo. 212, 489 P.2d 1297 (1971).

Had the police officers obtained a search warrant based on the probable cause provided by Stieha's report of what she had found, there would have been no violation of the defendants' Fourth Amendment rights. People v. Benson, 176 Colo. 421, 490 P.2d 1287 (1971); see Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 487-490, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 2048-2050, 29 L.Ed.2d 564. In People v. Benson, this court found no violation of a defendant's Fourth Amendment rights under similar, but distinguishable, circumstances. In that case, a motel manager, during a routine inspection, discovered marijuana in the defendant's motel room. The manager reported her findings to police officers, who then obtained a warrant and searched the room. The problem in the case now before us is that no warrant was obtained by the officers before they entered the Brewers' rented house. A search without a warrant is presumed to be invalid, and the burden is on the People to prove that the search fell within some exception to the warrant requirement. People v. Turner, 660 P.2d 1284 (Colo.1983); People v. Hines, 195 Colo. 71, 575 P.2d 414 (1978); People v. Casias, 193 Colo. 66, 563 P.2d 926 (1977). The People have not met this burden.

The People have argued on appeal that the search in question can be justified in three possible ways. First, they argue that the defendants had abandoned the Batterson Street house and that Stieha therefore had the authority, as owner, to consent to the search. Next, the People contend that one of the defendants, Debbie Brewer, consented to the search. Finally, they argue that section 16-3-308, 8 C.R.S. (1984 Supp.), which creates a "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule, should be applied in this case.

The People's first argument, that the defendants had abandoned the house, is contrary to the conclusion reached by the trial court based on uncontroverted evidence in the record. The trial court ruled that the property was not abandoned, even though the last month's rent had not been paid and the defendants were living elsewhere. The Brewers had left their personal belongings in the locked house, and the landlord recognized the tenants' right to come in and remove their possessions. Had the defendants abandoned the house, they would not have had any property interest in it. This, in turn, would indicate that they had not retained any legitimate expectation of privacy in the premises. For purposes of determining the constitutionality of a search, this is the relevant inquiry. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967); People v. Sporleder, 666 P.2d 135 (Colo.1983). A defendant can challenge the validity of a search only when he has a legitimate expectation of privacy in the area searched. Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980); Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978); People v. Spies, 200 Colo. 433, 615 P.2d 710 (1980). Clearly, the defendants displayed an interest in the belongings they left in the house when they offered to move them out over the weekend. In addition, the fact that Stieha arranged to move her goods into the house only at a time when the defendants would be present shows her recognition of the tenants' continuing control over the premises and of their right to privacy. Thus, the record, including the findings of the trial court, establishes that the defendants had a continuing, legitimate expectation of privacy in the Batterson Street house at the time the police officers entered and searched the premises. ³

The People's contention that Debbie Brewer consented to the search is also without merit. Had the defendants voluntarily consented, there would be no Fourth Amendment violation. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). At the suppression hearing, both Debbie Brewer and Stieha testified that Brewer's response to the police officers' request for permission to search was: "It looks like you've already done what you wanted," or words to that effect. Only the investigating police officer thought that the defendant had answered "O.K.," or words of similar import. The trial court ruled that there had been no voluntary consent. Voluntary consent is an issue of fact to be determined by the trial court considering the totality of the circumstances. People v. Bowman, 669 P.2d 1369 (Colo.1983); People v. Elkhatib, 632 P.2d 275 (Colo.1981). Since the determination of the trial court is supported by adequate evidence in the record, it will not be disturbed on review. People v. Johnson, 653 P.2d 737 (Colo.1982).

Lastly, section 16-3-308, 8 C.R.S. (1984 Supp.) is inapplicable in this case. This statutory provision permits admission of evidence that would otherwise be suppressed where a peace officer seized the evidence as a result of a good faith mistake or technical violation. The People contend that the officers who searched the Brewers' residence made a good faith mistake in believing that Stieha had authority to consent to a search. As noted earlier, it is well settled that a landlord cannot consent to a search of a tenant's premises. Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 81 S.Ct. 776, 5 L.Ed.2d 828 (1961); People v. Boorem, 184 Colo. 233, 519 P.2d 939 (1974); Condon v. People, 176 Colo. 212, 489 P.2d 1297 (1971). And, as the trial court found, the record establishes that the officers believed the Brewers were tenants of Stieha. The good faith exception does not apply where, as here, the officers have made a mistake of law, and not of fact. People v....