People v. Mays

• Decision Date: 16 October 1998
• Docket Number: No. D028210,D028210
• Citation: 79 Cal.Rptr.2d 519,67 Cal.App.4th 969
• Parties: , 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8396, 98 Daily Journal D.A.R. 11,663 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. James Anthony MAYS, Defendant and Respondent.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 519

79 Cal.Rptr.2d 519

67 Cal.App.4th 969, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8396,

98 Daily Journal D.A.R. 11,663

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. James Anthony MAYS, Defendant and Respondent.

No. D028210.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1, California.

Oct. 16, 1998.

Review Denied Jan. 13, 1999.

Paul J. Pfingst, District Attorney, Thomas F. McArdle and Peter J. Cross, Deputy District Attorneys, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Plourd & Steigerwalt, Christopher J. Plourd and Beth L. Steigerwalt, San Diego, for Defendant and Respondent.

KREMER, P.J.

The People appeal an order dismissing criminal charges against James Anthony Mays after the court granted Mays's motion to suppress evidence under PENAL CODE SECTION 1538.5¹. The People contend the court erred in finding law enforcement officers failed to comply with Fourth Amendment knock-notice requirements during a parole search of Mays's home. We agree and accordingly reverse the order.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In early April 1996, Diane Weaver notified San Diego police officers that two diamond rings, one belonging to her mother-in-law Ruth Weaver, had been stolen from her home. Weaver reported that between March 23 and March 30, 1996, numerous people had been in her home doing repairs and other contract work. One of the workers was Mays, who was on parole. Mays's parole agent, Cedric Murphy, suspected Mays was involved in the theft. As a condition of his parole, Mays agreed law enforcement officers could search his residence and property without a warrant.

On April 5, 1996, Murphy and several uniformed police officers went to Mays's residence to conduct a parole search. ² Mays's mother-in-law, Katherine Riley, heard a loud knock at the front door and heard the officers say they wanted entrance. Riley opened the door and recognized Murphy who explained there was going to be a search in accordance with the terms of Mays's parole. Riley permitted the officers to enter.

Riley said Mays was alone in the bedroom, pointing out the location. The bedroom door was closed. Without knocking on the door or announcing their presence, the officers went into the bedroom where they found Mays asleep. Mays was wearing Ruth Weaver's ring on a chain around his neck.

An amended information charged Mays with grand theft of personal property (§ 487, subd. (a)) and receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a)). The information alleged Mays was presumptively ineligible for probation (§ 1203, subd. (e)(4)), had two prior convictions within the meaning of section 667.5, subdivision (b) and had six prior serious felony convictions within the meaning of section 667, subdivisions (b) through (i).

After trial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict and the court declared a mistrial. Mays then moved to suppress evidence under section 1538.5 on the ground the officers failed to comply with knock-notice requirements before entering the front door of the residence and before entering his bedroom. The court granted the suppression motion and dismissed the information under section 1385.

DISCUSSION

I Standard of Review

In reviewing a ruling on a motion to suppress evidence, we defer to the trial court's findings of fact, whether express or implied, if those findings are supported by substantial evidence. We independently determine the relevant legal principles and apply those principles in evaluating the reasonableness of the search based on the facts as found by the trial court. (People v. Williams (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1268, 1301, 248 Cal.Rptr 834, 756 P.2d 221; People v. Aguilar (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 632, 637, 55 Cal.Rptr.2d 716.)

II Knock-notice During Initial Entry

In support of his suppression motion, Mays argued, and the court agreed, the officers had not announced their purpose until after Riley opened the front door in response to their knocks. The People contend the court erred in finding the officers' announcement of purpose must precede the opening of the door in order to satisfy constitutional and statutory knock-notice requirements. We agree.

The term "knock-notice" refers to the requirement of section 1531 ³ and its federal counterpart (18 U.S.C., § 3109) that a law enforcement officer, before entering a house to execute a search warrant, give notice of his or her authority and purpose and be refused admittance either actually or constructively. (People v. Howard (1993) 18 Cal.App.4th 1544, 1546, fn. 1, 23 Cal.Rptr.2d 212.) ⁴ The knock-notice requirement is part of the reasonableness inquiry under the federal constitution's Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures. (Wilson v. Arkansas (1995) 514 U.S. 927, 115 S.Ct. 1914, 131 L.Ed.2d 976; People v. Zabelle (1996) 50 Cal.App.4th 1282, 1286, 58 Cal.Rptr.2d 105.) Thus, before entering a residence, police officers must (1) knock or use other means reasonably calculated to give adequate notice of their presence to the occupants, (2) identify themselves as police officers, and (3) explain the purpose of their demand for admittance. (§ 1531; People v. Ramsey (1988) 203 Cal.App.3d 671, 680, 250 Cal.Rptr. 309; see also Duke v. Superior Court (1969) 1 Cal.3d 314, 319, 82 Cal.Rptr. 348, 461 P.2d 628 [addressing entry under section 844 requiring knock-notice to execute arrest warrant].) The identification and statement of purpose need only be given to the person apparently in control of the premises. (People v. Bencomo (1985) 171 Cal.App.3d 1005, 1018, 217 Cal.Rptr. 826.)

Here, as the trial court found, the officers stated their purpose to Riley, the owner of the residence, after she opened the door in response to their knocks. However, contrary to Mays's argument in the trial court, the officers were not required to explain the purpose of their demand for admittance before the door was opened, but only before they entered the residence. (See People v. Lamas (1991) 229 Cal.App.3d 560, 570, 282 Cal.Rptr. 296; People v. Ramsey, supra, 203 Cal.App.3d at pp. 680-681, 250 Cal.Rptr. 309.)

Mays takes a new position on appeal. Conceding the officers knocked, identified themselves and demanded entry, he contends they failed to explain their purpose before entering the residence. However, a knock-notice issue not specifically raised in the trial court is waived. (People v. Watkins (1994) 26 Cal.App.4th 19, 32, 31 Cal.Rptr.2d 452, citing People v. King (1971) 5 Cal.3d 458, 464, 96 Cal.Rptr. 464, 487 P.2d 1032.) In any event, the uncontradicted evidence shows that when Murphy and several uniformed police officers knocked on the door of Mays's residence and said they wanted entrance, Riley opened the door and recognized Murphy who explained he was there to conduct a parole search. Riley stepped aside and the officers entered the house. Having announced their purpose "to a person who appeared to be in control of the premises and who authorized their entry," the officers complied with knock-notice requirements. (People v. Murphy (1974) 42 Cal.App.3d 81, 88, 116 Cal.Rptr. 889.)

III Knock-notice at Interior Door

The People contend the court erred in finding the officers failed to comply with knock-notice requirements when they entered Mays's closed bedroom door without knocking and announcing their presence. They urge us to follow those appellate court decisions holding that knock-notice requirements do not apply at interior doors.

The issue of whether law enforcement officers must comply with knock-notice requirements at a closed inner door is not settled among appellate courts. Some courts have held knock-notice is required at inner doors as well as outer doors (People v. Webb (1973) 36 Cal.App.3d 460, 111 Cal.Rptr. 524; People v. Glasspoole (1975) 48 Cal.App.3d 668, 121 Cal.Rptr. 736; People v. Pipitone (1984) 152 Cal.App.3d 1112, 201 Cal.Rptr. 18) while others have held knock-notice applies only to initial entry to a house and need not be repeated at inner doors (People v. Livermore (1973) 30 Cal.App.3d 1073, 106 Cal.Rptr. 822; People v. Pompa (1989) 212 Cal.App.3d 1308, 261 Cal.Rptr. 417; People v. Howard, supra, 18 Cal.App.4th 1544, 23 Cal.Rptr.2d 212; People v. Aguilar, supra, 48 Cal.App.4th 632, 55 Cal.Rptr.2d 716; see also United States v. Bustamante-Gamez (9th Cir.1973) 488 F.2d 4; United States v. Crawford (9th Cir.1981) 657 F.2d 1041).

Courts requiring knock-notice at interior doors have relied primarily on statutory language referring to "any outer or inner door." (See, e.g., People v. Webb, supra, 36 Cal.App.3d at p. 465, 111 Cal.Rptr. 524.) However, the court's reasoning on this point in People v. Howard, supra, 18 Cal.App.4th at pages 1549-1550, 23 Cal.Rptr.2d 212, is both instructive and persuasive.

"If the Webb court is correct in its interpretation of 'the explicit terms' of section 1531, then as a matter of consistent grammatical construction knock-notice must precede not only the 'break[ing] open' of 'any outer or inner door or windows of a house' but also the 'breaking open' of 'any part of a house' as well as 'anything therein.' '[A]ny part of a house' would include closets, crawl spaces, a furnace, etc. '[A]nything therein' would include everything therein which one could 'break open' such as wardrobes, chests of drawers, cupboards, sideboards, bathroom and kitchen drawers, refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, microwaves, washers, dryers, covered [bookcases], trunks, suitcases, safes, jewelry boxes, just plain boxes, items (such as television sets) which one must 'break open' to locate the serial numbers, etc., etc., etc.

" ... Numerous other examples, equally absurd, may easily be conjured up by even the most inert imaginations. Given that we are enjoined in construing statutes to avoid absurd consequences [citation], we believe it is more reasonable to construe section 1531's demand for knock-notice before 'break [ing] open' as applying to the house itself and not its subareas and contents." (People v. Howard, supra, 18 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1549-1550, 23 Cal.Rptr.2d...