State v. Edwards
| Decision Date | 19 December 2000 |
| Parties | (Mo.App. W.D. 2000) . State of Missouri, Respondent, v. William F. Edwards, Appellant. WD57870 Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Handdown Date: |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Appeal From: Circuit Court of Platte County, Hon. Owens L. Hull, Jr.
Counsel for Appellant: Bruce W. Simon
Counsel for Respondent: Philip M. Koppe
Opinion Summary: William Edwards was convicted after a bench trial of attempted manufacture of a controlled substance, in violation of Section 195.211 RSMo Cum. Supp. 1998, and was sentenced to a term of ten years imprisonment. Mr. Edwards appeals his conviction, arguing that the trial court erred and abused its discretion in admitting physical evidence seized from his home following a search pursuant to a search warrant.
AFFIRMED.
Division II holds: The evidence in this case fully supported the determination that the front driveway, front walk, and front patio areas of Mr. Edwards' home were open to the public, that Mr. Edwards had no reasonable expectation of privacy in those areas, and thus that the police were lawfully present in those areas when Mr. Edwards made his admissions. It was therefore entirely proper to use those admissions as the basis for obtaining a warrant, and the evidence discovered in the search was properly admitted.
Appellant William Edwards was convicted after a bench trial on September 8, 1999, of attempted manufacture of a controlled substance, in violation of Section 195.211 RSMo Cum. Supp. 1998, and was sentenced to a term of ten years imprisonment. Mr. Edwards appeals his conviction, arguing that the trial court erred and abused its discretion in admitting physical evidence seized from his home following a search pursuant to a search warrant. He argues that the seizure of these items was the product of an unlawful search and seizure, in violation of his rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and Article 15, Section 1 of the Constitution of the State of Missouri, in that the police had no permission to come onto his property and question him in the front patio area of his home. Consequently, he argues, the admissions he made were not admissible and the warrant issued based on these admissions was invalid. This means, he further asserts, that the evidence seized in the search pursuant to the warrant should have been excluded as fruit of the poisonous tree.
We disagree. The evidence in this case fully supported the determination that the front driveway, front walk, and front patio areas of Mr. Edward's home were open to the public, that Mr. Edwards had no reasonable expectation of privacy in those areas, and thus that the police were lawfully present in those areas when Mr. Edwards made his admissions. It was therefore entirely proper to use those admissions as the basis for obtaining a warrant, and the evidence discovered in the search was properly admitted. Affirmed.
The evidence, considered in a light most favorable to the judgment, was as follows:
On March 25, 1998, Detective Mark Braden of the Platte County Sheriff Department's narcotics unit received a fax from the TIPS hotline, stating that an anonymous informant had told them that an individual named Bill Edwards was involved in a large marijuana cultivating operation in the attic of his home, located at 19435 Fry Road. The fax said that the anonymous informant gave specific information that Mr. Edwards was a paraplegic and that he had a blue van with a handicap license.
On the following day, Detective David Kissee of the Platte County Sheriff's Department used law-enforcement databases to verify some aspects of the anonymous tip given to the TIPS hotline, including that the occupant of 19435 Fry Road was named William Edwards, and that William Edwards' driving records showed restrictions that were consistent with Mr. Edwards being confined to a wheelchair. After verifying these facts, Detective Braden and Detective Kissee decided to further follow up on the tip by going to 19435 Fry Road, accompanied by Deputy Grady Matthews and Deputy James Smith of the Platte County Sheriff's Department. Detectives Braden and Kissee were attired in plain clothes, and Deputies Matthews and Smith were in uniform. The four officers drove to the residence at 19435 Fry Road, parked in the drive-way, and proceeded along a walkway toward the front door of the residence.
While progressing along the walkway toward the front door, the officers passed an open door leading into the garage. Detective Braden knocked on the frame of the door and called out, "is anybody home?" While standing outside the door frame waiting for someone to answer, Detective Braden observed the contents of the garage, which included a green hand-held pump sprayer, boxes labeled "fertilizer," and boxes labeled "root cubes." Detective Braden recognized all of these items to be commonly used in the cultivation of plants.
Because the officers received no answer at the open door to the garage, they continued toward the front door of the residence. Detective Braden knocked on the front door and rang the doorbell, but received no answer. As the officers stood on the front walk trying to determine what to do next, Mr. Edwards came around from the left side of the house in his wheelchair. He stopped his wheelchair on a patio area that was in front of the house and to the right of the front door. Detective Braden asked him his identity, and he confirmed that he was "Bill Edwards." Detective Braden knelt down beside Mr. Edwards, displayed his badge and identification, and informed Mr. Edwards that he was investigating a tip that Mr. Edwards was growing marijuana in his house. Detective Braden asked Mr. Edwards if he was, indeed, growing marijuana in his house. Mr. Edwards answered "no," but, when Deputy Grady Matthews observed aloud that a "dugout" -- a small wooden case commonly used to store marijuana -- was protruding from an open "fanny pack" in Mr. Edwards' lap, Mr. Edwards said that there was about a gram of marijuana in it. He said that he used the marijuana for medicinal purposes related to his injuries.
Detective Braden testified that he then asked whether he could search Mr. Edwards' residence, and that Mr. Edwards orally gave him consent to do so. He testified that when he asked Mr. Edwards to sign a "consent to search" form, however, Mr. Edwards refused. When Detective Braden asked Mr. Edwards why he was refusing to sign the form, Mr. Edwards responded that he was "afraid of the federal forfeiture laws," and also blurted out that he had "five hundred plants of marijuana in [his] attic." Mr. Edwards also speculated aloud that his brother's ex-wife had called in the anonymous tip which implicated him in the marijuana-growing operation.
Detective Braden then informed Mr. Edwards that he intended to secure a warrant to search Mr. Edwards' residence. Detective Braden told Mr. Edwards that the latter had a choice: he could remain on the premises with a deputy present to ensure that no evidence was destroyed, or he could enter the house with an officer, retrieve any necessary personal effects, and go elsewhere while the officers executed the search warrant. Mr. Edwards chose to leave and go to his brother's house, and the officers, with his consent, accompanied him into his residence when he collected his personal effects from inside the house.
The police obtained and executed a warrant to search 19435 Fry Road. They were assisted by officers of the Platte County Sheriff's Department and by agents of the DEA Airport Task Force. Ultimately, the searchers found and seized numerous items of drug paraphernalia, $4,300.00 in United States currency, books and magazines devoted to the subject of growing marijuana, and more than 900 marijuana plants in various stages of maturity. The plants were grown and maintained using an elaborate hydroponic cultivation system, including halogen lights, timers, a carbon dioxide generator, and irrigation and nutrient systems.
Mr. Edwards was arrested and charged with attempted manufacture of a controlled substance, in violation of Section 195.211 RSMo Cum. Supp. 1998. He moved to suppress the physical evidence seized from his home, including pictures taken by the seizing officers, on the ground that the police were not lawfully on his premises when they initially talked with him, saw the dugout, and obtained admissions from him that in part formed the basis of the affidavit used to secure the warrant to search his home, and that any physical evidence seized as a result thereof was therefore excludable as "fruit of the poisonous tree."1 The court below denied Mr. Edwards' motion to suppress, and the parties proceeded to try the case before Judge Hull on September 8, 1999. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to ten years imprisonment on October 28, 1999. This appeal follows.
"Our review of a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress is limited to a determination of [the] sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the trial court's finding." State v. Kriley, 976 S.W.2d 16, 19 (Mo. App. W.D. 1998). "We will affirm the judgment of the trial court if there is sufficient evidence which would support the trial court's decision to sustain the motion to suppress on any ground alleged in the respondent's motion." Id. "We will only reverse the trial court's judgment if it is clearly erroneous." Id. "The trial court's judgment is clearly erroneous if we are left with the definite and firm impression that a mistake has been made." Id.
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