State v. Ferguson
| Decision Date | 03 April 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-0038-CR.,00-0038-CR. |
| Citation | 2001 WI App 102,244 Wis.2d 17,629 N.W.2d 788 |
| Parties | STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Shane M. FERGUSON, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Wisconsin Court of Appeals |
On behalf of the defendant-appellant, the cause was submitted on the briefs of Melinda Swartz, assistant state public defender.
On behalf of the plaintiff-respondent, the cause was submitted on the brief of James E. Doyle, attorney general, with William L. Gansner, assistant attorney general.
Before Fine, Schudson and Curley, JJ.
¶ 1.
Shane Ferguson appeals from a judgment convicting him of manufacturing a controlled substance, marijuana, contrary to WIS. STAT. §§ 961.14(4)(t) and 961.41(1)(h)2.2 Ferguson argues that the trial court erred in denying his suppression motion. He contends that the police were not engaged in a community caretaker function when they jimmied the lock on his bedroom door, entered, and looked in a closet where they found marijuana plants growing. Under the unique facts presented here, we are satisfied that the police were serving in their role as community caretakers when they conducted the search. Thus, we affirm.
¶ 2. Although many of the events leading to Ferguson's arrest were disputed, the facts found by the trial court at the motion to suppress are as follows. On January 29, 1999, the West Allis Police Department received a 911 call regarding a fight at an apartment building on West Mitchell Street. At approximately 10:15 p.m., members of the West Allis Police Department answered the call. Before entering the building, the police encountered Deidre Foster, who, it was learned later, was eighteen years old. She was irate, angry and intoxicated.
¶ 3. Since the call initiated from Apartment 3, several officers went to that apartment to investigate the complaint. They knocked on the apartment door several times, but no one answered. While they were standing outside the door, Foster appeared, unlocked the door and stated something to the effect, "if I'm going to get arrested then everyone is." Foster then entered the apartment and yelled that the police were there and that everyone should come out.
¶ 4. The police followed Foster into her apartment. Upon entering the apartment, the police saw two teenagers in the living room. The police observed that the two teenagers appeared to have been consuming alcoholic beverages, but the police did not believe they were highly intoxicated. The police confirmed that the two teenagers were underage. The police also noticed numerous open beer bottles and several empty gallon bottles of hard liquor strewn around the apartment. The officers surmised that a lot of alcohol had recently been consumed in the apartment. One of the police officers asked Foster if they could take a look around and she agreed. This search led the officer to the bathroom, where he found a highly intoxicated young man lying on the floor. He was sick and had been vomiting. This individual, too, was underage. The young man was so unsteady on his feet as a result of his alcohol consumption that the police had to physically assist him in walking.
¶ 5. A further search of the apartment revealed a locked bedroom door. It had a push-button type lock which is engaged by pushing a button from inside the room. As a result, the police strongly suspected that someone was in the room. Foster told the officers that the room belonged to Ferguson and that he was at work, but when the police called Ferguson's place of employment, they learned that he had not been to work for several days. The police then became concerned that Ferguson might be in the room, highly intoxicated, like the teenager found in the bathroom, and that he might need assistance. While the police were contemplating what to do, one of the two teenagers found in the living room volunteered that three people were in the bedroom. Fearing that additional underage persons were in the bedroom, either ill or passed out from consuming intoxicants, the police began knocking on the door and yelling for whoever was in the room to come out. Despite numerous knocks on the door and loud yelling, no one responded. After about thirty minutes, the police finally jimmied the door open. Upon entering, the police observed that the room was very messy, with piles of clothing on the floor, and that there were people, including Ferguson, in the bed. Thinking that someone could have been hidden in the closet and passed out, one of the officers opened the closet door and discovered the marijuana plants.
¶ 6. Ferguson was charged with the manufacture of marijuana. He waived his preliminary hearing and filed a motion to suppress. After hearing the testimony of several witnesses, the trial court found that the police properly entered the bedroom and that the search of the closet was also reasonable. The trial court held that, although the police searched the bedroom and closet without a warrant, they did so in their capacity as community caretakers. Ferguson then pled guilty and was sentenced to a stayed sentence of one year and was placed on two years' probation.
¶ 7. Ferguson contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. He claims that the State failed to establish, by a clear preponderance of the evidence, that the search was a justifiable governmental action. Ferguson argues that he had exercised his right to privacy by closing and locking the door, and that the search was illegal because the police lacked a warrant to search either his bedroom or his closet.3 In support of his position, Ferguson notes that, despite the presence of the police in the apartment for at least thirty minutes, the police failed to make any attempt to obtain a search warrant for his bedroom or the closet. Ferguson also disputes the trial court's finding that the officers' warrantless entry into Ferguson's bedroom and closet was justified under the community caretaker exception. He states that the police were conducting an investigation of underage drinkers, which was essentially a criminal investigation, and thus, the police were not acting in a community caretaker capacity. Further, he notes that the police never called for paramedics, nor did they personally render medical assistance to anyone, thus negating any claim of acting in a community caretaker role. Ferguson equates his situation with that in State v. Dull, 211 Wis. 2d 652, 565 N.W.2d 575 (Ct. App. 1997), where this court concluded that the circumstances did not permit the warrantless entry into the defendant's home or bedroom. We are not persuaded by Ferguson's arguments.
cert. denied, 504 U.S. 978 (1992). However, the trial court's findings of fact will be upheld unless they are contrary to the great weight and clear preponderance of the evidence. State v. Richardson, 156 Wis. 2d 128, 137, 456 N.W.2d 830 (1990). After reviewing the record, we conclude that the trial court's findings are not contrary to the great weight and clear preponderance of the evidence.
[2, 3]
¶ 9. A warrantless search of a house is presumptively unreasonable as both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. Some exceptions to this rule do exist, however.
"Our laws recognize that, under special circumstances, it would be unrealistic and contrary to public policy to bar law enforcement officials at the doorstep." Therefore, a handful of exceptions have been "jealously and carefully drawn" to balance the interests of the individual with those of the State.
State v. Paterson, 220 Wis. 2d 526, 532-33, 583 N.W.2d 190 (Ct. App. 1998) (citations omitted).
¶ 10. It is undisputed that the seizure of the contraband was a seizure "within the meaning of the fourth amendment," but the State contended, and the trial court agreed, that the officers' actions fell under the community caretaker exception. The community caretaker exception originated in Cady v. Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433, 447 (1973). There, the Supreme Court approved the warrantless search of a vehicle because the police were engaged in "what, for want of a better term, may be described as community caretaking functions, totally divorced from the detection, investigation, or acquisition of evidence relating to the violation of a criminal statute." Id. at 441.
¶ 11. Our supreme court first recognized the "community caretaker" exception in Bies v. State, 76 Wis. 2d 457, 251 N.W.2d 461 (1977). Later, a test for applying the community caretaking exception to the Fourth Amendment was announced in State v. Anderson, 142 Wis. 2d 162, 417 N.W.2d 411 (Ct. App. 1987), rev'd on other grounds, 155 Wis. 2d 77, 454 N.W.2d 763 (1990).
[4]
¶ 12. After applying the Anderson test, we are satisfied that the police actions here qualified as "community caretaker." A search, to qualify as a community caretaker exception, requires an examination of three factors:
We conclude that when a community caretaker function is asserted . . . the trial court must determine: (1) that a seizure within the meaning of the fourth amendment has occurred; (2) if so, whether the police conduct was bona fide community caretaker activity; and (3) if so, whether the public need and interest outweigh the intrusion upon the privacy of the individual.
As to the last factor—weighing the public need and interest against the intrusion—relevant considerations include: (1) the degree of the public interest and the exigency of the situation; (2) the attendant circumstances surrounding the seizure, including time, location, the degree of overt authority and force displayed; (3) whether an...
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