State v. Clegg, 20010440-CA.
Decision Date | 29 August 2002 |
Docket Number | No. 20010440-CA.,20010440-CA. |
Citation | 54 P.3d 653,2002 UT App 279 |
Parties | STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Eddie CLEGG, Defendant and Appellant. |
Court | Utah Court of Appeals |
Margaret P. Lindsay, Provo, for Appellant.
Mark L. Shurtleff and Christine F. Soltis, Salt Lake City, for Appellee.
Before Judges BILLINGS, BENCH, and DAVIS.
¶ 1 Defendant Eddie Clegg appeals from convictions of possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. At issue is whether the trial court erred by not holding an evidentiary hearing in denying Defendant's motion to suppress. We affirm.
¶ 2 On November 22, 1999, an informant identified Defendant's trailer as a drug house. Officers Dearden, Beebe, and Barney then searched "the garbage can from off the street directly in front of [Defendant's] trailer." The officers discovered various drug paraphernalia in the search of the garbage can. The next day, Officers Dearden and Beebe executed a search warrant at Defendant's trailer. During the search, the officers seized methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Defendant was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. ¶ 3 Following a preliminary hearing, Defendant filed a motion, later supplemented, to suppress the evidence. In the motions, Defendant argued that the search of his residence violated his Fourth Amendment rights because probable cause did not support the search warrant. Defendant also argued that the search of his garbage can violated the Fourth Amendment. On October 5, 2000, the trial court denied Defendant's motion. The trial court concluded the affidavit was sufficient to support the warrant and, pursuant to State v. Jackson, 937 P.2d 545, 549-50 (Utah Ct.App.1997), Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in trash left in a garbage can on the street for collection.
¶ 4 On November 13, 2000, over a month after the court had issued its decision denying Defendant's motion to suppress, Defendant filed a "Motion for Hearing on Motion to Suppress." Defendant argued that a factual issue existed as to whether the garbage can was outside of the residential curtilage at the time of the search. The trial court denied Defendant's request for a hearing.1 Defendant then entered conditional guilty pleas, and this appeal followed.
¶ 5 Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by not conducting an evidentiary hearing on his motion to suppress because there was a "clear dispute between the parties as to whether the garbage can searched by [the] officers . . . was retrieved from off the street in front of the residence or from the curtilage of the residence." "We review a trial court's denial of an evidentiary hearing on a motion to suppress for abuse of discretion." United States v. Glass, 128 F.3d 1398, 1408 (10th Cir.1997).
¶ 6 A "defendant bears the burden of showing there are material facts in dispute, and an evidentiary hearing is only required when the motion to suppress `raise[s] factual allegations that are "sufficiently definite, specific, detailed, and nonconjectural to enable the court to conclude that contested issues of fact going to the validity of the search are in issue."'" Id. at 1408-09 (quoting United States v. Chavez-Marquez, 66 F.3d 259, 261 (10th Cir.1995) (citation omitted)). If no material fact is in dispute, then no evidentiary hearing is required. See United States v. Lilly, 983 F.2d 300, 310-11 (1st Cir.1992) ( ); United States v. Rodriguez, 69 F.3d 136, 141 (7th Cir.1995) ().
¶ 7 Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to conduct an evidentiary hearing on his motion to suppress. We disagree.
¶ 8 In his motion to suppress and the subsequent supplement, Defendant challenged (1) the sufficiency of the affidavit to establish probable cause, (2) the reliability of the informant, and (3) whether an exception permitted a warrantless search of a garbage can "situated at or near" the street.2 The trial court appropriately addressed these contentions in its memorandum decision. Only after the court denied the motion to suppress did Defendant even attempt to dispute the location of the trash can. Our review of the record reveals no abuse of discretion by the trial court. Defendant's motion to suppress contains no factual allegations going to the issue of where the trash can was located. The affidavit in support of the search warrant clearly states that "the garbage can [was removed] from off the street directly in front of . . . [Defendant's] trailer." Defendant did not challenge this statement prior to the trial court's denial of ...
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State v. Sosa-Hurtado
...given that both parties relied on the trial transcript and on the basis of that transcript, no material fact was in dispute. See State v. Clegg , 2002 UT App 279, ¶ 6, 54 P.3d 653 ("If no material fact is in dispute, then no evidentiary hearing is required.").15 Sosa-Hurtado notes that our ......
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State v. Clark
...Cf. State v. Martin, 2002 UT 34, ¶ 45, 44 P.3d 805 (denial of motion for new trial reviewed for abuse of discretion); State v. Clegg, 2002 UT App 279, ¶ 5, 54 P.3d 653 (denial of evidentiary hearing on motion to suppress reviewed for abuse of ¶ 27 Although this is the first time in which a ......
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State v. James, 2006 UT App 53 (UT 2/16/2006), Case No. 20040978-CA.
...court to hold a separate evidentiary hearing, particularly when the underlying issue was not disputed by the State. See, e.g., State v. Clegg, 2002 UT App 279,¶¶5-6, 54 P.3d 653 (reviewing the trial court's denial of motion for evidentiary hearing on motion to suppress for abuse of discreti......
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State v. Smith
...nonconjectural to enable the court to conclude that contested issues of fact going to the validity of the search are in issue.” State v. Clegg, 2002 UT App 279, ¶ 6, 54 P.3d 653 (alteration in original) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Because Defendant's motion to suppress......
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Views from the Bench
...filed, and the court determines that there is a sufficient basis to justify an evidentiary hearing. In State v. Clegg, 2002 UT App 279, 54 P.3d 653, the Utah Court of Appeals explained: A defendant bears the burden of showing there are material facts in dispute, and an evidentiary hearing i......