State v. Breuer

• Decision Date: 25 March 1998
• Docket Number: No. 96-1802,96-1802
• Citation: 577 N.W.2d 41
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Andrew M. BREUER, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 41

577 N.W.2d 41

STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Andrew M. BREUER, Appellant.

No. 96-1802.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

March 25, 1998.

Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Dennis D. Hendrickson, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Karen Doland, Assistant Attorney General, Patrick C. Jackson, County Attorney, and Ronald Robertson, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

Considered by McGIVERIN, C.J., and HARRIS, LAVORATO, NEUMAN, and TERNUS, JJ.

McGIVERIN, Chief Justice.

The controlling issue in this case is whether the district court erred in overruling defendant's motion to suppress from evidence at trial marijuana found in his apartment by a deputy sheriff who had gone to defendant's apartment to question defendant regarding an unrelated matter. Specifically, the issue concerns whether a person's right to be free from unreasonable searches under the United States and Iowa constitutions precludes, under the record in this case, a police officer from opening an unlocked downstairs apartment building door and entering the building without a warrant to reach an upstairs apartment door.

The district court concluded that defendant did not have a legitimate expectation of privacy in the area leading from the outer door of the apartment building to his upstairs apartment door and thus the deputy did not need a warrant to enter the building. The court further concluded that defendant later lawfully allowed the deputy into his apartment by giving consent and that the deputy therefore lawfully seized the marijuana which was in the deputy's "plain view" upon entry. The court therefore overruled defendant's pretrial motion to suppress the marijuana and associated items from evidence at trial.

On defendant's appeal, the court of appeals reversed the district court's ruling and defendant's conviction for possession of a controlled substance. On further review, we vacate the court of appeals decision and affirm the district court's judgment, but for reasons other than those articulated by the district court.

I. Background facts and proceedings.

On May 5, 1996, at approximately 9:25 p.m., deputy sheriff William Dideriksen received a complaint that a black S-10 pickup truck had been driven recklessly on a public street in Middleton. The complainant advised that the owner and driver of the truck might live by the railroad tracks near Boundary Street in Middleton. Dideriksen proceeded to that location and observed a pickup truck parked on High Street matching the description listed in the complaint. Dideriksen ran a check of the pickup's license plate and learned that the vehicle was registered to defendant, Andrew M. Breuer. He also had information that defendant possibly lived in an upstairs apartment at 300 High Street. Dideriksen did not know Breuer prior to this incident.

The residence at 300 High Street consists of a large house that is divided into two apartments. The building has a porch with two doors. The left door leads to defendant's upstairs apartment. The entryway to defendant's apartment consists of an outer screen door with a wooden inside door. Inside the doorway is a stairway that leads to defendant's upstairs apartment. Defendant cleans the stairway/hallway and pays the utilities for the lights in the stairway. According to defendant, guests usually ring the doorbell and wait for defendant to greet them at the front door of the apartment building.

Upon arriving at defendant's apartment building, deputy Dideriksen rang the doorbell next to the screen door but received no response. The wooden inside door was open. Dideriksen opened the unlocked screen door, walked upstairs to the second floor apartment and knocked on the door at the top of the stairs. Breuer answered the door. As Breuer opened the door, Dideriksen noticed a strong odor of burning marijuana coming from inside the apartment. Dideriksen told Breuer that he was there regarding a driving complaint and asked if he could come inside the apartment. Breuer allowed Dideriksen inside the apartment.

Once inside the apartment, Dideriksen warned Breuer about the complaint concerning his driving. While speaking to Breuer, Dideriksen also observed a green substance in an ashtray sitting on the coffee table which he thought to be marijuana. Four other people were also present in the living room area of the apartment. Dideriksen asked Breuer what he and the others were doing and Breuer responded by saying that he had "just smoked a joint." Dideriksen asked Breuer where the rest of the drugs were and Breuer produced a plastic bag containing a green, leafy substance and a plate containing seeds, roaches and rolling papers. Breuer stated that these items belonged to him.

Dideriksen told Breuer that he would have to conduct a search and asked if there were any other drugs or paraphernalia in the apartment. Breuer then produced another marijuana cigarette. Dideriksen seized the marijuana and related items and issued defendant a citation for possession of a controlled substance. See Iowa Code § 124.401(3) (1995). ¹

Later, a trial information was filed charging Breuer with possession of a controlled substance, to wit: marijuana. Breuer pled not guilty to the charge and filed a pretrial motion to suppress the marijuana and other items seized from his apartment. See Iowa R.Crim. P. 10(2)(c), 11(1). Breuer argued that he had an expectation of privacy in the stairway of his apartment building, and that deputy Dideriksen's warrantless entry into the apartment building violated his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution. He thus argued that Dideriksen's alleged illegal warrantless entry into the building invalidated his consent allowing Dideriksen into his apartment.

After an evidentiary hearing on the motion, the district court determined that Breuer did not have a legitimate expectation of privacy in the stairway area leading from the outer door of the apartment building to his apartment. The court reasoned that salesmen and other persons had access to the stairway and that a police officer should not be restricted to a different standard. The court therefore concluded that deputy Dideriksen had a right to enter the outer door of Breuer's apartment building and to proceed up the stairway to Breuer's apartment door without a warrant. The court further determined that Breuer consented to Dideriksen's entrance into his apartment and that the subsequent seizure of the marijuana and other items was therefore lawful. The court overruled Breuer's motion to suppress the evidence seized in his apartment.

Breuer waived his right to a jury trial. A bench trial was held on a stipulated record consisting of the minutes of testimony that accompanied the trial information and the evidence adduced at the motion to suppress hearing. The district court convicted Breuer as charged and imposed sentence.

Breuer appealed his conviction, asserting that the district court erred in overruling his motion to suppress. We transferred the case to the court of appeals which reversed the district court's ruling and judgment.

We granted the State's application for further review. See Iowa R.App. P. 402. We vacate the decision of the court of appeals and affirm the district court's judgment.

II. Standard of review.

In assessing alleged violations of constitutional rights, our standard of review is de novo; we make an independent evaluation of the totality of the circumstances as shown by the entire record. State v. Howard, 509 N.W.2d 764, 767 (Iowa 1993). In reviewing the district court's ruling on Breuer's motion to suppress, we consider both the evidence presented during the suppression hearing and that introduced at trial. State v. Jackson, 542 N.W.2d 842, 844 (Iowa 1996). The adverse ruling on Breuer's motion to suppress preserved error for our review. State v. Brown, 309 N.W.2d 425, 426 (Iowa 1981).

III. Background law.

On appeal, defendant Breuer contends that deputy Dideriksen's actions in opening the unlocked outer door of the apartment building and walking up the stairway to his apartment door constitute an illegal search in violation of both the United States and Iowa constitutions' search and seizure clauses. "[T]he language of those clauses is substantially identical and we have consistently interpreted the scope and purpose of article I, section 8, of the Iowa Constitution to track with federal interpretations of the Fourth Amendment." State v. Showalter, 427 N.W.2d 166, 168 (Iowa 1988). He thus argues that the illegal search invalidated his consent allowing deputy Dideriksen into his apartment. ² See United States v. Howard, 828 F.2d 552, 556 (9th Cir.1987) (consent to search premises after officers' illegal entry into residence was tainted and therefore invalid).

The State contends that Dideriksen's actions do not constitute a search because Breuer did not have a legitimate expectation of privacy in the stairway area of his apartment building. Therefore, the State argues that deputy Dideriksen did not need a warrant to open the unlocked outer door and proceed up the stairway to defendant's apartment door. Before considering the merits of the parties' arguments, we find it helpful to review the law concerning unreasonable searches.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend. IV; see also Iowa Const. art. I, § 8. We have stated:

The essential purpose of the proscriptions of the Fourth Amendment "is to impose a standard of 'reasonableness' upon the exercise of discretion by government officials, including law enforcement agents in order 'to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasion....' "

State v. Loyd, 530 N.W.2d 708, 711 (Iowa 1995) (quoting ...