State v. Correa

• Decision Date: 09 October 2018
• Docket Number: AC 39899
• Citation: 185 Conn.App. 308,197 A.3d 393
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Ricardo CORREA

185 Conn.App. 308

197 A.3d 393

STATE of Connecticut

v.Ricardo CORREA

AC 39899

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued April 24, 2018

Officially released October 9, 2018

Laila M.G. Haswell, senior assistant public defender, with whom, on the brief, was Lauren Weisfeld, chief of legal services, for the appellant (defendant).

Michele C. Lukban, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Richard J. Colangelo, Jr., state's attorney, and Susan M. Campbell, deputy assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

Alvord, Prescott and Beach, Js.

ALVORD, J.

Following a conditional plea of nolo contendere, entered pursuant to General Statutes § 54-94a,¹ the defendant, Ricardo Correa, appeals from the judgment of conviction of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to sell in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 and 21a-277 (b), conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to sell by a person who is not drug-dependent in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 and 21a-278 (a), and conspiracy to operate a drug factory in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 and 21a-277 (c). The defendant entered his conditional plea following the court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized from a motel room he was renting. On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because: (1) a warrantless dog sniff outside the door of his motel room violated his state constitutional rights, and (2) a warrantless visual search of his motel room violated his state and federal constitutional rights. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The trial court set forth the following findings of fact in its memorandum of decision on the defendant's motion to suppress. During the early morning hours of February 5, 2013, Sergeant Christopher Broems of the Stamford Police Department was parked on Home Court, a street immediately behind the America's Best Value Inn motel (motel) on East Main Street in Stamford. Sergeant Broems, a nineteen year veteran of the Stamford Police Department who also spent three years in the New York City Police Department, had made many prior arrests at the motel for narcotics, prostitution, and other criminal activity. From the street, Sergeant Broems was surveilling the motel for evidence of possible illegal activity. He was parked approximately fifty yards away from the motel and had a clear, well illuminated view of the motel, which included two floors of numbered motel room doors that opened onto the back parking lot.

At approximately 1:20 a.m., Sergeant Broems observed a silver colored 2004 GMC Yukon pull into the motel parking lot. Only the passenger in the Yukon, who was later determined to be Eudy Taveras, exited the Yukon, while the operator remained in the vehicle with the headlights on. Taveras approached and entered room 118 of the motel, which was on the first floor, where he remained for less than one minute. Taveras returned to the vehicle, which then left the motel. Given the location, time of night, and duration of the visit, Sergeant Broems believed that he may have witnessed a narcotics transaction out of room 118. Sergeant Broems radioed to a nearby colleague, Officer Vincent Sheperis, that he intended to stop the Yukon, and then drove in the direction of the Yukon.

When the operator of the Yukon, who was later determined to be Charles Brickman, observed Sergeant Broems approaching the Yukon in his marked Stamford Police SUV, he turned off the Yukon's headlights. A short distance from the motel, Sergeant Broems stopped the vehicle. Officer Sheperis joined Sergeant Broems, acting as backup. When Sergeant Broems and Officer Sheperis approached the vehicle, they both smelled a strong odor of marijuana emanating from inside the Yukon. Sergeant Broems and Officer Sheperis removed Taveras from the vehicle, and Taveras admitted to possessing "weed." A search of Taveras revealed two glass jars with yellow tops containing marijuana, along with three other similar, but empty, yellow topped glass jars, as well as a knotted corner of a plastic sandwich bag containing heroin. On the basis of this evidence, Sergeant Broems requested a sweep of the Yukon by a canine officer trained in the detection of narcotics.

A canine officer, Cooper, and his Stamford Police Department handler, Sergeant Seth O'Brien, arrived on the scene shortly after Sergeant Broems' request. Cooper alerted to the center console of the vehicle, but the officers found no additional drugs. Brickman was found to have no drugs on his person. Brickman was issued an infraction ticket for operating a motor vehicle without headlights, and allowed to drive off in the Yukon. The officers detained Taveras.

Taveras informed Sergeant O'Brien that he lived with his grandmother nearby on Charles Street in Stamford. At that point, Sergeant Broems, Officer Sheperis, and Sergeant O'Brien went to the grandmother's home on Charles Street, where they spoke with Taveras' brother. Taveras' grandmother signed a consent form allowing the officers to search Taveras' bedroom. In Taveras' bedroom, the officers found numerous plastic bags with the corners cut off, consistent with narcotics packaging, along with other bags containing an off white powder residue.

The officers then returned to the motel. They spoke with the manager of the motel, who advised them that several days earlier, the defendant had rented room 118 for the week, until February 8, 2013, paying $430 in cash.² The manager provided the officers with documentation concerning room 118, including a photocopy of the defendant's driver's license. The guest registration card for room 118 also included the name of a second individual, Victor Taveras. Although the officers were not certain who Victor Taveras was, Sergeant O'Brien testified that they believed that he most likely was Eudy Taveras.

After speaking with the manager, the officers went together to knock on the door of room 118. The officers observed a light on in the room, but no one answered the door. Sergeant O'Brien then retrieved Cooper and conducted a narcotics sweep, which included several passes along the first floor walkway where room 118 is located. On each pass, Cooper consistently alerted to the presence of narcotics at the door to room 118.

It was then approximately 3 a.m. on February 5, 2013, a little over ninety minutes since Sergeant Broems first observed Taveras enter and exit room 118. At this point, on the basis of all that had transpired since observing Taveras enter and exit room 118, Sergeant Broems decided to apply for a warrant to search room 118. The officers decided that Sergeant Broems and Officer Sheperis would return to Stamford Police headquarters to prepare the search warrant and to process Taveras for his drug charges, and Sergeant O'Brien would remain behind on Home Court, in the same area where Sergeant Broems was parked earlier, to surveil room 118 for any possible activity. Very shortly after the officers split up, however, just as Sergeant O'Brien was getting into position to surveil room 118, he observed the defendant on foot near the motel at the corner of Home Court and East Main Street, walking away from the motel. Sergeant O'Brien, who recognized the defendant, immediately radioed for Sergeant Broems and Officer Sheperis to return to the motel to stop the defendant.

While walking on Home Court, the defendant made eye contact with Sergeant O'Brien, who was in a marked police SUV. After the defendant made eye contact with Sergeant O'Brien, the defendant changed his direction and began walking east on East Main Street. About 100 yards from the motel, Sergeant O'Brien approached the defendant, stepped out of his police vehicle, and, addressing the defendant as "Ricky," told the defendant that he needed to speak with him. Initially, the defendant was cooperative. Sergeant Broems arrived on the scene, and the defendant was searched. The officers found that the defendant was carrying a large wad of cash, amounting to over $3600, in his pocket, along with a key to a room at the motel. Sergeant O'Brien informed the defendant that Taveras was taken into custody, and that "the jig is up." The defendant responded, "nothing in the room is mine." The defendant agreed to open the door to room 118 for the officers. When the officers and the defendant reached the threshold of room 118, however, the defendant changed his mind and refused to grant them entry. The officers informed the defendant that if he did not consent to a search of the room, they were going to obtain a search warrant.

The defendant informed Sergeant Broems that there was no one in the room. To ensure that there was no one else inside the room that might destroy evidence before the officers could obtain a search warrant, however, Sergeant Broems used the defendant's room key to open the door. After opening the door, Sergeant Broems announced "Police!" and looked inside the room for approximately fifteen to thirty seconds.³ Once he was satisfied that the room contained no occupants, Sergeant Broems closed the door. While the door was open, neither Sergeant Broems, nor any other officer or Cooper, set foot in or otherwise physically entered room 118. When he did not observe anyone in the room, Sergeant Broems "cleared" room 118. Although he did not enter the room, or take any steps to seize any evidence located inside the room, Sergeant Broems did observe a large black digital scale on a table, as well as a plastic sandwich bag lying on the floor nearby. The officers advised the defendant that he was free to leave the motel, and the defendant left.

Following the defendant's departure, other officers of the Stamford Police Department arrived at the motel. Those officers were assigned to watch room 118 while the investigating officers prepared an application for a search warrant, with Sergeant O'Brien and Officer Sheperis acting as affiants. Several hours later, at 9:20...