Rhodes v. State

Decision Date19 January 2016
Docket NumberNo. 49A02–1503–CR–173.,49A02–1503–CR–173.
Parties Chauncy RHODES, Appellant–Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Plaintiff.
CourtIndiana Appellate Court

Suzy St. John, Marion, County Public Defender, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Chandra K. Hein, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

May

, Judge.

[1] Chauncy Rhodes appeals his conviction of Class D felony possession of marijuana with a prior conviction of possession of marijuana.1 As the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted evidence obtained from an inventory search of Rhodes' vehicle, we reverse.

Facts and Procedural History2

[2] On August 18, 2014, Officer Dustin Greathouse saw Rhodes driving over the speed limit. Officer Greathouse initiated a traffic stop, and Rhodes parked his vehicle in a nearby driveway. Rhodes initially told Officer Greathouse he pulled into the driveway because his cousin lived there; Rhodes later admitted he was trying to avoid Officer Greathouse because Rhodes was driving with a suspended license.

[3] Officer Greathouse arrested Rhodes for driving with a suspended license and decided to tow the car. Before he towed the car, Officer Greathouse conducted an inventory search of the glove box, trunk, and passenger compartment. He found “numerous personal items,” (Tr. at 13

), and “miscellaneous items,” (id. at 49), for which he did not create a record. Officer Greathouse also found a half-eaten pizza, a pizza delivery bag, and a jar of money. In the glove box, Officer Greathouse found a “red metal grinder,” (id. at 49), containing “a small amount of marijuana.” (Id. ) At some point before the car was towed, someone from the house came outside to ask if everything was okay and to “make sure the car was not going to be left in the driveway.” (Id. at 11.)

[4] Before his bench trial, Rhodes filed a motion to suppress the items found as part of the inventory search on the ground the search violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution

. After a hearing, Rhodes' motion was denied. He objected to the admission of the same evidence during trial, and his objection was overruled. The trial court found Rhodes guilty of Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana and Class A misdemeanor driving while suspended.3 It enhanced the marijuana possession conviction to a D felony based on Rhodes' prior conviction of marijuana possession after Rhodes stipulated to the prior conviction.

Discussion and Decision

[5] Rhodes did not seek interlocutory review of the denial of his motion to suppress but instead appeals following trial. This issue is therefore “appropriately framed as whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the evidence at trial.” Lundquist v. State, 834 N.E.2d 1061, 1067 (Ind.Ct.App.2005)

. Our review of rulings on the admissibility of evidence is essentially the same whether the challenge is made by a pre-trial motion to suppress or by trial objection. Id. We do not reweigh the evidence, and we consider conflicting evidence most favorable to the trial court's ruling. Id. However, we must also consider the uncontested evidence favorable to the defendant. Id.

[6] The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires law enforcement officials to obtain a valid warrant before conducting searches or seizures. State v. Straub, 749 N.E.2d 593, 597 (Ind.Ct.App.2001)

. However, “on occasion the public interest demands greater flexibility than is offered by the constitutional mandate” of a warrant. Rabadi v. State, 541 N.E.2d 271, 274 (Ind.1989). The exceptions to the warrant requirement are “few in number and carefully delineated.” United States v. United States Dist. Court for Eastern Dist. Of Mich., Southern Division, 407 U.S. 297, 313, 92 S.Ct. 2125, 32 L.Ed.2d 752 (1972).

[7] One exception to the warrant requirement is an inventory search of a properly impounded vehicle. Fair v. State, 627 N.E.2d 427, 430 (Ind.1993)

. The purposes of an inventory search are: “1) protection of private property in police custody; 2) protection of police against claims of lost or stolen property; and 3) protection of police from possible danger.” Gibson v. State, 733 N.E.2d 945, 956 (Ind.Ct.App.2000). The test of constitutionality for an inventory search is reasonableness. Id. Our Indiana Supreme Court laid out in Fair the test for reasonableness with regard to an inventory search:

In determining the reasonableness of an inventory search, courts must examine all the facts and circumstances of a case.... This examination typically encompasses two overlapping sets of circumstances. First, the propriety of the impoundment must be established because the need for the inventory arises from the impoundment. Second, the scope of the inventory must be evaluated. Where either is clearly unreasonable, the search will not be upheld. In borderline cases, however, the ultimate character of the search is often most clearly revealed when both the necessitousness of the impoundment and the scrupulousness of the inventorying are viewed together.

627 N.E.2d at 431

.

[8] The inventory search was unreasonable because the State did not prove the scope of the search complied with official police policy.4 “The circumstances of the intrusion must also indicate that the search was carried out under routine department procedures which are consistent with the protection of officers from potential danger and false claims of lost or stolen property and the protection of those arrested.” Friend v. State, 858 N.E.2d 646, 652 (Ind.Ct.App.2006)

.5

[9] In Edwards v. State, 762 N.E.2d 128, 133 (Ind.Ct.App.2002)

, aff'd on reh'g, 768 N.E.2d 506 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), the State's evidence did not

include the substance of any police department policy regarding inventory searches, or even indicate there is such a policy. To show that its actions come within the inventory exception, the State must do more than offer the bald allegation of law enforcement that the search was conducted as a routine inventory. The trial court therefore had no evidentiary basis to evaluate whether the inventory search performed on Edwards' truck was in conformity with established local law enforcement policy.

[10] Edwards relied on Stephens v. State, 735 N.E.2d 278 (Ind.Ct.App.2000)

, as an example of sufficient evidence of police procedure. In Stephens, the State presented evidence in the form of

the records detail[ing] who towed the car, indicat[ing] the detective responsible for the investigation, and describ[ing] the valid traffic hazard basis for the tow. The detective conducted the search in front of two witnesses, compiled an inventory of all the contents of the vehicle, created a property sheet, and placed the items into the property room of the sheriff's department.
Edwards, 762 N.E.2d at 134

(citing Stephens, 735 N.E.2d at 282 ). We noted the preference that inventory searches be completed by an officer at the impound lot who regularly performs those types of duties. Id.

[11] Additionally, in Fair, our Indiana Supreme Court held:

The fatal defect in this search is that the provisions of the Indianapolis Police Department's inventory policy are not established in sufficient detail by the record. Officer Wager testified only that we conduct an inventory search of the car to see what kind of items are in it. If there's anything valuable that might need to be placed in the property room or otherwise noted as being in the car.” There was no testimony whatsoever that provided the particulars of the policy and, therefore, it is not possible for this Court to determine whether the seemingly suspicious circumstances which [sic] attended the search were in fact irregular. Without more, then, we can not [sic] conclude that the police department's inventory search was reasonable.

627 N.E.2d at 436

(citations to the record omitted).

[12] Officer Greathouse testified he conducted an inventory search of Rhodes' vehicle “to make sure no valuables are left inside the vehicle before it's towed[,] and if valuable items are found, we may take them and put them in the IMPD property room to be held for safekeeping.” (Tr. at 12

.) However, the only items Officer Greathouse inventoried were those items that supported the marijuana possession charge.

[13] Officer Greathouse's testimony regarding police procedure can be distinguished from that of the officer in Faust v. State, 804 N.E.2d 1242 (Ind.Ct.App.2004)

, trans. denied, and Wilford v. State, 31 N.E.3d 1023 (Ind.Ct.App.2015)

, trans. pending, in which we held an officer's testimony was sufficient to prove compliance with police procedure. In Faust, the officer's testimony was sufficient because the officer read from the procedural manual as part of his testimony. 804 N.E.2d at 1245. In Wilford, we determined

the testimony of the experienced law enforcement officers constituted more than ‘bald allegations' that they conducted a routine inventory search; rather, their testimony described the purpose of the inventory, outlined the procedures used to conduct this particular inventory, and established that IMPD policy authorizes on-site inventory searches. Even absent introduction of the formal IMPD policy on inventory searches, we think this testimony was sufficient to show that the search was part of established and routine procedures that are consistent with the community caretaking function.

31 N.E.3d at 1033

.

[14] As noted in the holding, the testimony in Wilford was significantly more detailed than the testimony offered by Officer Greathouse. In Wilford, the officer, a twenty-three year Indianapolis Police Department6 veteran, testified regarding police inventory procedure:

The first thing I do is I look under the front seat uh, I check the uh, center console, I go to the rear driver side, I check the compartment on the rear driver side. I go around the other side of the vehicle and I check the
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