State v. Collins

• Decision Date: 02 February 2016
• Docket Number: No. COA15–540.,COA15–540.
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina, Plaintiff, v. Shamele COLLINS, Defendant.

245 N.C.App. 288

782 S.E.2d 350

STATE of North Carolina, Plaintiff,

v.Shamele COLLINS, Defendant.

No. COA15–540.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

Feb. 2, 2016.

Attorney General, Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General, Douglas W. Corkhill, for the State.

Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., Charlotte, by Andrew A. Kasper, for defendant-appellant.

ZACHARY, Judge.

Shamele Collins (defendant) appeals from judgment entered on his pleas of guilty to trafficking in cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting, delaying, or obstructing a law enforcement officer. Defendant reserved his right to appeal the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained at the time of his arrest. On appeal defendant argues that the trial court erred by denying his suppression motion, on the grounds that the evidence was obtained during an unlawful search that violated defendant's rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and that the trial court violated defendant's right to be present during his sentencing. We find no error in the trial court's denial of defendant's suppression motion, but vacate the judgment and remand for resentencing.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

On 13 December 2012, defendant was arrested on charges of trafficking in cocaine by possession of more than 28 but less than 200 grams of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to sell and deliver, possession of cocaine within 1000 feet of an elementary school, maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of keeping and selling a controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting an officer. On 16 December 2013, the Grand Jury of Forsyth County indicted defendant for trafficking in cocaine by possession of more than 28 but less than 200 grams of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to sell and deliver, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting an officer. On 29 August 2014, defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence obtained at the time of defendant's arrest, on the grounds that the evidence was acquired as the result of an unlawful search that violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

A hearing was conducted on defendant's suppression motion on 8 September 2014. Evidence elicited at the hearing tended to show the following: Winston–Salem Police Officer J.G. Gordon testified that on 13 December 2012 he was dispatched to an apartment on Franciscan Drive in Winston–Salem in order to assist the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Division (ALE) in serving a warrant on Jessica Farthing, who lived at the Franciscan Drive apartment. When Officer Gordon entered the apartment he smelled burned marijuana. Officer Gordon assisted the ALE officers by running a computer check of the names of those present in the apartment. Defendant initially told the officers that his name was "David Collins," but Officer Gordon was unable to find a listing in the online database for a person named "David Collins" with biographical information that matched defendant's. ALE officers then found identification in the apartment with the name "Shamele Collins." Officer Gordon used an online photograph to confirm that defendant was actually Shamele Collins, and learned that the State of New York had an outstanding warrant for defendant's arrest and extradition on a narcotics charge.

Officer C. Honaker of the Austin, Texas, Police Department testified that on 13 December 2012 he was employed as a Winston–Salem Police Officer and had been dispatched to the Franciscan Drive apartment to aid in the arrest of Ms. Farthing. When Officer Honaker entered the apartment he noticed a "moderate to strong odor of burnt marijuana" inside. Officer Honaker and another law enforcement officer conducted a protective sweep of the apartment and found defendant and another man hiding upstairs. Officer Honaker placed defendant in handcuffs and conducted an external search of defendant's clothing and pockets, but did not find any contraband. Officer Honaker then escorted defendant downstairs and directed him to sit on the couch.

Based on the outstanding warrant for defendant's arrest, the odor of marijuana about defendant's person, and the fact that the defendant gave the officers a false name, Officer Honaker decided to conduct a "strip search" of defendant. Officer Honaker, assisted by Officer J.B. Gerald, moved defendant from the living room into the dining room in order to "secure his privacy" because "there were other people in the living room." Officer Honaker, Officer Gerald, and defendant were the only ones in the dining area. Officer Honaker informed defendant that he was going to conduct a strip search and removed defendant's handcuffs in the hopes that defendant would cooperate with the search. Defendant, however, refused to consent to the search. Defendant was wearing shoes and pants, but no shirt. When Officer Honaker attempted to remove the belt from defendant's pants, defendant struggled, preventing a search. Officer Honaker then lowered defendant to the ground and reattached the handcuffs. At that time, Officer Honaker observed a residue on the ground where defendant had been standing, which Officer Honaker described as a "small crystalline white, off-white rock substance" that appeared to be cocaine. Officer Honaker informed the trial court that he saw the white powder on the floor prior to removing any of defendant's clothing. After Officer Honaker noticed the white crystalline material, he "completed a strip search of [defendant's] person." When Officer Honaker lowered defendant's pants, he "noticed that [defendant's] butt cheeks were clenched," so Officer Honaker lowered defendant's boxers and "saw a plastic baggie with white residue in it—the buttocks crack." Officer Gerald also observed "what appeared to be cocaine in [defendant's] buttocks area." Officer Honaker ultimately removed "several plastic baggies ... two of which contained an off-white substance" and "a third baggie that contained a green vegetable-like substance consistent with marijuana" from between defendant's buttocks. After he conducted the search, Officer Honaker "realized there was also some [white powder] beneath where [defendant] was sitting on the sofa" as well as a trail of white material " coming down the stairs to the sofa where [defendant] was sitting." Defendant was arrested for offenses arising from his possession of drugs, for resisting an officer, and for the outstanding New York warrant.

At the close of the hearing, the trial court announced its ruling denying the defendant's suppression motion. Later that day, defendant entered pleas of guilty to the charged offenses, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress evidence. The trial court consolidated the convictions for purposes of sentencing and orally rendered a judgment sentencing defendant to thirty-five to forty-two months imprisonment. Defendant gave notice of appeal in open court. On 8 September 2014, the trial court entered a written judgment sentencing defendant to thirty-five to fifty-one months imprisonment. On 10 September 2014, the trial court entered an order memorializing its denial of defendant's suppression motion.

II. Standard of Review

Defendant first argues on appeal that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence seized at the time of his arrest. The standard of review of a trial court's ruling on a defendant's suppression motion is well-established:

The scope of appellate review of a trial court's order granting or denying a motion to suppress evidence "is strictly limited to determining whether the trial judge's underlying findings of fact are supported by competent evidence, in which event they are conclusively binding on appeal, and whether those factual findings in turn support the judge's ultimate conclusions of law." ... If the trial court's findings of fact are supported by competent evidence, they are conclusive on appeal.

State v. Fowler, 220 N.C.App. 263, 266, 725 S.E.2d 624, 627 (2012) (quoting State v. Cooke, 306 N.C. 132, 134, 291 S.E.2d 618, 619 (1982), and citing State v. Barnard, 184 N.C.App. 25, 28, 645 S.E.2d 780, 783 (2007), aff'd,

362 N.C. 244, 658 S.E.2d 643 (2008) ). " However, when, as here, the trial court's findings of fact are not challenged on appeal, they are deemed to be supported by competent evidence and are binding on appeal. Conclusions of law are reviewed de novo and are subject to full review." State v. Biber, 365 N.C. 162, 168, 712 S.E.2d 874, 878 (2011) (citing State v. Baker, 312 N.C. 34, 37, 320 S.E.2d 670, 673 (1984) (internal citation omitted)). In this case, defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the trial court's findings of fact, which are therefore conclusively established on appeal. The issue presented on appeal is whether the trial court's unchallenged findings of fact support its conclusion of law that "the search conducted [of defendant] was a reasonable lawful search and the defendant's rights under the 4th and 5th Amendments [to the Constitution] were not violated."

Defendant also argues that the trial court erred as a matter of law by entering a judgment that imposed a longer prison sentence than the trial court had announced when it orally rendered judgment in court. Questions of law are reviewed de novo by this Court. State v. Khan, 366 N.C. 448, 453, 738 S.E.2d 167, 171 (2013) (citing In re Greens of Pine Glen Ltd. P'ship, 356 N.C. 642, 647, 576 S.E.2d 316, 319 (2003) ).

III. Denial of Defendant's Suppression Motion

At the time of defendant's arrest, he was in possession of two bags of cocaine and a bag containing marijuana, all of which were seized by Officer Honaker. These items were found between defendant's buttocks when defend...