State v. Beane
| Decision Date | 21 July 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 20090011.,No. 20090015.,20090011.,20090015. |
| Citation | 770 N.W.2d 283,2009 ND 146 |
| Parties | STATE of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellant v. Donald BEANE, Defendant and Appellee. |
| Court | North Dakota Supreme Court |
Nathan Kirke Madden, Assistant State's Attorney, Williams County State's Attorney Office, Williston, N.D., for plaintiff and appellant.
Donald Beane, defendant and appellee; no appearance.
[¶ 1] The State appeals from a district court order granting in part Donald Beane's motion to suppress evidence found during two searches that led to charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Because we conclude the law enforcement officers' actions in this case did not violate Beane's Fourth Amendment rights, we reverse the challenged part of the court's order.
[¶ 2] During summer 2007, two Williston parole and probation officers, Darin Cote and Lloyd Haagenson, learned that there were parole violation and aggravated assault warrants for the arrest of Tanner Wold, who was believed to have recently moved from Bismarck to the Williston area. On August 29, 2007, Haagenson received a phone call from Wold's former girlfriend, who told him that she had seen Wold "driving around" with Beane in Williston. Later that day Cote and Haagenson located Beane and his vehicle in the parking lot of a local business. Beane told the officers that he had dropped Wold off a couple of blocks away. The officers looked for Wold in the area where Beane had said he dropped him off, but the officers could not find Wold.
[¶ 3] On September 3, 2007, Cote and Haagenson received an anonymous tip that Wold was at Beane's residence. The officers went there, and Cote described what occurred:
[W]e parked off the property, walked on to the property, walked up to the door of Mr. Beane's place. Right when I was just getting ready to knock at the door, I was up in front of the door. Lloyd was down on the side of the house next to a — I think it was a vehicle parked — I can't remember if it was a pick-up or a car parked there.
Right before I knocked, Mr. Beane then walked out from the garage which is not connected to the residence. I identified him as Donald Beane from earlier, dealing with him a couple days before that. Informed Mr. Beane who we were. We had showed him our badges that were displayed openly around our neck. We have necklaces with badges on it. He knew who we were. Asked him if Tanner Wold was at the residence. He said he didn't even know who we were talking about. I then informed him that we had talked to him just a couple days ago, and he had told us that he had dropped ... Mr. Wold off.
At that time I noticed that Mr. Beane had a pocket knife in his right front pocket by a clip display that holds it onto your pocket. I then told him to show me his hands, `cause his hands were in the vicinity of his front right pocket. He didn't comply. I let P.O. Haagenson know `cause it was blind to him, being on the other side of him to the left of Mr. Beane, that he had a knife.
I again asked him to show me his hands. He took an aggressive step backwards, put his hand towards his pocket. Then he was pushed up against the vehicle, again told to take his hand out of his pocket, which was in his pocket at this time, his right hand being his right front pocket. Ah, he failed to do — comply with our request. He was assisted to the ground by P.O. Haagenson and I. After a slight struggle with him for approximately 30 seconds, he was handcuffed, detained. The knife was then taken. A Terry pat was done then to determine if he had any other weapons. We asked him; he said no, he didn't. Then we did the Terry pat.
While doing the Terry pat there were some other objects found. In one of the pockets there was a — a — he wouldn't tell us what it was in his pocket, it [sic] could feel a bulge. Wouldn't tell us what it was; took it out. It was a blue container with hinges on it. Opened it up to see if there was any kind of weapons in it. Realized then it was a scale, had residue on it.
[¶ 4] Beane was arrested and charged with class C felony possession of drug paraphernalia and class C felony possession of a controlled substance. Three weeks after Beane was released on bond, Beane's home was searched under the authority of a condition of the bond, and contraband was discovered. This resulted in three additional charges of class C felony possession of drug paraphernalia, class A misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia relating to methamphetamine, and class A misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia relating to marijuana.
[¶ 5] With the assistance of an attorney, Beane moved to suppress the evidence discovered during the two searches on the ground that the searches were unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. See U.S. Const. amend. IV. Following an evidentiary hearing, the district court did not find that the officers' testimony lacked credibility. Rather, the court ruled Beane's actions did not invite "his take-down and removal of the folding knife from his pocket," and even if they did, "once Beane was handcuffed, the danger was over and additional search was not justified." Concluding "the officers were over-reaching based on search not justified by officer safety or reasonable suspicion," the court suppressed the evidence found in the container in Beane's pocket. However, the court did not suppress the evidence found during the second search. The court concluded the evidence was discovered during a search "based upon a lawful bond condition" and was not "fruit of the poisonous tree." The State appealed the part of the court's order suppressing the evidence found in the container in Beane's pocket.
[¶ 6] The district court had jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 8, and N.D.C.C. § 27-05-06. The State's appeal was timely under N.D.R.App.P. 4(b). Although the prosecutor's statement accompanying the notice of appeal merely parrots the language of N.D.C.C. § 29-28-07(5), we conclude the appeal is properly before us because a "review of the facts clearly demonstrates the relevance of the evidence suppressed." State v. Gay, 2008 ND 84, ¶ 10, 748 N.W.2d 408. This Court has jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, §§ 2 and 6, and N.D.C.C. § 29-28-07.
[¶ 7] The State argues the district court erred in suppressing the contraband found in the container in Beane's pocket.
[¶ 8] In reviewing a district court's decision on a motion to suppress evidence, we affirm the decision if "there is sufficient competent evidence fairly capable of supporting the trial court's findings, and the decision is not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence." City of Fargo v. Thompson, 520 N.W.2d 578, 581 (N.D.1994). We resolve conflicts in testimony in favor of affirmance because the district court is in a superior position to assess the credibility of witnesses and to weigh the evidence. State v. Tollefson, 2003 ND 73, ¶ 9, 660 N.W.2d 575. "Questions of law, such as the ultimate conclusion of whether the facts support a reasonable and articulable suspicion, are fully reviewable on appeal." State v. Parizek, 2004 ND 78, ¶ 7, 678 N.W.2d 154.
[¶ 9] In State v. Harlan, 2008 ND 220, ¶ 6, 758 N.W.2d 706, we explained:
The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, § 8, of the North Dakota Constitution protect individuals from unreasonable governmental searches and seizures. State v. Gregg, 2000 ND 154, ¶ 22, 615 N.W.2d 515. A law enforcement officer may conduct a frisk or a pat-down search of a person only when the officer has a reasonable and articulable suspicion that the individual is armed and dangerous. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 30, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). A pat-down search is justified only for the protection of the police officer or others nearby. Id. at 29, 88 S.Ct. 1868. There is no requirement that the officer know with certainty that the individual is armed, but a reasonably prudent person under the circumstances must be warranted in the belief that his or her safety or that of others is endangered. Id. at 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868. The scope of a constitutionally valid pat-down search is limited to the patting of a suspect's outer clothing for such concealed objects that might be used as weapons. Id. at 30, 88 S.Ct. 1868. A pocket search is justified when the patting "reveals the presence of an object of a size and density that reasonably suggests the object might be a weapon." State v. Heitzmann, 2001 ND 136, ¶ 13, 632 N.W.2d 1 (citing State v. Zearley, 468 N.W.2d 391, 392 (N.D. 1991)). Thus, the police officer must have an articulable and reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and dangerous. Id. (citing State v. Zearley, 444 N.W.2d 353, 359 (N.D.1989)).
[¶ 10] The officers' entry onto Beane's property to ask him whether Wold was staying there did not violate Beane's Fourth Amendment rights. This Court has observed that "police with legitimate business may enter certain areas surrounding a home where persons may have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as curtilage, but which are `impliedly open to use by the public.'" State v. Winkler, 552 N.W.2d 347, 352 (N.D.1996) (internal citation omitted). Consequently, the Fourth Amendment "is not implicated by entry upon private land to knock on a citizen's door for legitimate police purposes unconnected with a search of the premises." United States v. Taylor, 458 F.3d 1201, 1204 (11th Cir.2006). "Officers are allowed to knock on a residence's door or otherwise approach the residence seeking to speak to the inhabitants just as any private citizen may." Estate of Smith v. Marasco, 318 F.3d 497, 519 (3d Cir.2003). See also State v. Jenkins, 143 Idaho 918, 155 P.3d 1157, 1160 (2007) (); 1 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 2.3(f), at...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Holly
...fairly capable of supporting the trial court's findings, and the decision is not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence.” State v. Beane, 2009 ND 146, ¶ 8, 770 N.W.2d 283. Conflicts in testimony are resolved in favor of affirmance, as the trial court is in a superior position to as......
- State v. Gefroh, 20100391.
- State v. Mittleider
- State v. Sommer, 20100348.