State v. Edman

• Decision Date: 23 August 2005
• Docket Number: No. 25033.,25033.
• Citation: 879 A.2d 544,90 Conn.App. 820
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Eric EDMAN.

879 A.2d 544

90 Conn.App. 820

STATE of Connecticut v. Eric EDMAN.

No. 25033.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued April 19, 2005.

Decided August 23, 2005.

Hugh F. Keefe, with whom was Nancy A. Fitzpatrick, New Haven, for the appellant (defendant).

Robert J. Scheinblum, assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Scott J. Murphy, state's attorney, and Kathleen E. McNamara, senior assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

SCHALLER, GRUENDEL and HENNESSY, Js.

GRUENDEL, J.

The principal issue raised in this appeal is whether the trial court improperly denied a motion to suppress evidence seized from the defendant's home where the defendant asserted in his motion that the underlying search and seizure warrant had been issued by a magistrate¹ who was not neutral and detached as required by the fourth amendment to the United States constitution and article first, § 7, of the constitution of Connecticut. Because we agree that, under the unique circumstances of this case, the issuing judge did not qualify as the neutral and detached magistrate guaranteed by the federal constitution, we reverse the judgment of the trial court.²

The record reveals the following undisputed facts and procedural history. On December 21, 2001, Judge William L. Wollenberg was presented with an affidavit for a search warrant of the residence of the defendant, Eric Edman. The affidavit detailed the circumstances from which law enforcement officials had concluded that there were narcotics at that location. Finding probable cause to support a search, Judge Wollenberg issued a search and seizure warrant. The next day, police officers executed the warrant at the defendant's residence, seizing illegal narcotics and controlled substances, including Oxy-Contin and anabolic steroids. As a result of the search, the defendant was arrested and charged with numerous drug-related offenses.

Before trial, the defendant filed a motion to suppress the seized evidence on the ground that "[t]he relationship between the defendant and ... Judge Wollenberg... was such that a finding can not be made that the issuance of [the] search warrant was made by a neutral and detached magistrate."³ At the February 21, 2003 suppression hearing, the defendant advised the court that he intended to testify as to his relationship with Judge Wollenberg.⁴ The court asked immediately to see counsel in chambers. Upon returning to the courtroom, the court stated: "[Defense counsel] had indicated he wanted testimony. We had some discussion regarding that. What the court would like to do is accept an affidavit in lieu of testimony.... And I will defer a decision on this particular motion until I have the affidavit in hand and we have an opportunity to then have oral argument based on the affidavit."

On March 21, 2003, the day the suppression hearing resumed, the defendant submitted a forty-one paragraph affidavit describing his relationship with Judge Wollenberg. In that affidavit, the defendant attested that he and Judge Wollenberg had met sometime in 1996 or 1997, while the defendant was working as a special deputy sheriff at the courthouse in Bristol, and that before issuing the search warrant in 2001, Judge Wollenberg had asked the defendant to help him move his office belongings on three occasions, stating on the last occasion that "he [did] not trust anyone else"; discussed with the defendant his "personal beliefs about whether he was satisfied in his overall role and the nature of his assignment" at the geographical area courthouse in New Britain and "whether he was given a sufficient caseload as a criminal judge by the presiding judge"; intervened on the defendant's behalf to prevent his transfer to another courthouse; endorsed the defendant's promotion to chief judicial marshal, a position that he ultimately attained; asked the defendant to resign from that position (which he did) because of a prior criminal record, insisting that it was his only option, but assisted the defendant with that predicament by discussing with him the "details of [his] past conviction and possible defenses that could have been raised at that time," contacting the state board of pardons on his behalf and reviewing documentation he submitted to the board; discussed pending cases with the defendant, both in chambers and in court, even allowing him "to approach in open court ... to converse with him about various dispositions and matters in front of the court"; asked the defendant, after a deputy marshal in the courthouse had been arrested, whether he knew if any sheriffs in the courthouse were breaking the law, and whether he would "`look around and see what [he] could find'"; discussed personal issues with the defendant, including issues concerning the judge's family, finances, real estate investments, health concerns, influence in the state legislature, and opposition to "the judicial appointment of another judge ... while he was on the judiciary committee"; played golf with the defendant on one occasion and sat at the same table as the defendant at various dinner receptions; and learned from the defendant two weeks before he issued the search warrant that the defendant "was considering filing a legal action against every individual that was involved with [his] having to give up [his] position, including any judge as a potential defendant." The defendant further attested that when the police executed the search warrant, they informed him that it was Judge Wollenberg who had signed the warrant and that he had been "`sick to his stomach'" for having had to do so.⁵

After having reviewed the defendant's affidavit, the court denied the defendant's motion to suppress in an oral decision. As to the defendant's relationship with Judge Wollenberg, the court stated that there was nothing unusual about the alleged contacts between the two, given that both were employed by the judicial branch and assigned to the same courthouse. "Conversations and contacts are common in such situations," the court explained, as is "a marshal assisting a judge in moving personal belongings from his or her chambers." Further, the court noted, "[m]uch of the more personal relationship which the defendant claim[ed] appears to have been initiated often and most often solely by the defendant."

As to Judge Wollenberg's neutrality and detachment, the court determined that there was nothing in the record to indicate that Judge Wollenberg had a vested interest in signing the warrant. In so doing, the court expressly rejected "the defendant's claim that Judge Wollenberg might have been trying `to get the defendant' in light of the defendant's recent prior claim to sue all people, including Judge Wollenberg, in the matter regarding his failed promotion." Indeed, the court noted that "[t]he defendant, himself, claim[ed] that he sought advice from the judge on this very job situation" and that "[u]tilizing what [the defendant] calls a reasonable man standard, a reasonable man looking at impartiality might be forced to conclude, based on the defendant's assertions regarding his keen friendship with Judge Wollenberg, that the judge would be incapable of finding probable cause against the defendant." The court also determined that there was nothing in the record to indicate that Judge Wollenberg had lacked the requisite objectivity and impartiality in signing the warrant. Specifically, it stated: "Simply because the defendant and the issuing judge knew each other, spoke to each other, even were in social situations together and had extensive contacts and conversations does not provide grounds to sustain the defendant's claim raised in this motion." In accord with its determinations, the court denied the defendant's motion to suppress.

The defendant thereafter entered a conditional plea of nolo contendere to one count of possession of narcotics in violation of General Statutes § 21a-279(a) and three counts of possession of a controlled substance in violation of § 21a-279(c), reserving the right to appeal from the denial of the motion to suppress. This appeal followed.

The defendant claims that the court should have suppressed evidence seized during the search of his residence because the search warrant was not issued by a neutral and detached magistrate as required by the fourth amendment to the United States constitution. We agree.

"We first set forth our standard of review. Our standard of review of a trial court's findings and conclusions in connection with a motion to suppress is well defined. A finding of fact will not be disturbed unless it is clearly erroneous in view of the evidence and pleadings in the whole record .... [W]here the legal conclusions of the court are challenged, [our review is plenary, and] we must determine whether they are legally and logically correct and whether they find support in the facts set out in the memorandum of decision...." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Mann, 76 Conn.App. 48, 52-53, 818 A.2d 122 (2003), rev'd on other grounds, 271 Conn. 300, 857 A.2d 329 (2004), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 1711, 161 L.Ed.2d 527 (2005). The defendant challenges the court's legal conclusion that Judge Wollenberg qualified as a neutral and detached magistrate for purposes of the fourth amendment to the United States constitution.

The fourth amendment to the United States constitution⁶ requires that "no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause ...." Although not expressly stated, it also "requires that the determination of probable cause — the judgmental function of drawing inferences from evidence and deciding whether probable cause exists — be made by a neutral and detached magistrate." United States v. Turner, 558 F.2d 46, 50 (2d Cir.1977); see also Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 654 n. 11, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979). The oft-quoted rationale for those requirements was delivered by Justice Jackson in Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S....