State v. Gomez
| Decision Date | 08 May 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-651.,05-651. |
| Citation | 2007 MT 111,158 P.3d 442 |
| Parties | The STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Robert Michael GOMEZ, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
For Appellant: Dean Knapton, Kalispell, Montana.
For Respondent: Mike McGrath, Attorney General; Tammy K. Plubell, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, Ed Corrigan, County Attorney, Kalispell, Montana.
¶ 1 Appellant Robert Michael Gomez (Gomez) appeals his conviction in the District Court for the Eleventh Judicial District, Flathead County, of operating an unlawful clandestine laboratory, a felony. We affirm.
¶ 2 Gomez raises the following issues on appeal:
¶ 3 (1) Did the District Court err in denying Gomez's motion to suppress evidence based on a warrantless search of:
a. the motor home, with the landlord's consent?
b. the padlocked duffel bag, pursuant to exigent circumstances?
¶ 4 (2) Did the District Court err in denying Gomez's motion in limine made pursuant to M.R. Evid. 404(b) regarding other crimes, wrongs, or bad acts?
¶ 5 (3) Did the District Court abuse its discretion by denying Gomez's objection to a State's witness testifying on redirect examination by reading portions of her prior statement?
¶ 6 (4) Did the District Court abuse its discretion by overruling Gomez's objection to the introduction of evidence on chain of custody grounds?
¶ 7 For the reasons discussed herein, we decline to address issues (2) through (4).
¶ 8 Noemi and Revard Lund (Lunds), of Kalispell, Montana, met Gomez at a local homeless shelter and hired him to do some work for them. Shortly after beginning work for the Lunds, Gomez told them that he could no longer stay at the shelter. The Lunds allowed Gomez to stay in their motor home, which they used primarily for storage, while he worked for them. Since the motor home did not have cooking facilities or running water, Gomez ate his meals and used the bathroom in the Lunds' home.
¶ 9 Rebecca Keys (Rebecca) lives in Whitefish, Montana. Rebecca also met Gomez at the homeless shelter, and they quickly formed an intimate relationship. After spending the night of May 12, 2004, with Gomez at the motor home, Rebecca left town for a long weekend. At that time, Rebecca's sister, Angela, was visiting Rebecca. Because Angela did not have a driver's license, Rebecca left her car keys with Gomez and encouraged him to entertain Angela during her absence, which he did. Gomez took Angela out on several occasions over the next several days, and, according to Angela's testimony, on one particular trip they went to a feed store where Gomez bought a big bottle of what looked like iodine, went to another store where he purchased a stack of paper matches, and then dropped off his purchases at the motor home. Gomez told Angela not to come into the motor home.
¶ 10 By May 16, 2004, Angela's son had come to stay with Angela at Rebecca's apartment. Gomez continued to frequent Rebecca's apartment, and, because Rebecca's apartment key was on the same keychain as her car key, Gomez would let himself into the apartment. This was initially fine with Angela, but when Angela's son came to visit, she became perturbed, feeling Gomez was out-staying his welcome. Upon discovering indications that Gomez had stolen some of Rebecca's money, Angela called the police. Officer Childers and Officer Peters of the Whitefish Police Department responded to Rebecca's apartment, and with Angela's permission they entered the apartment. The officers found Gomez hiding in the attic, whereupon they arrested him for trespass and removed him from the apartment.
¶ 11 Rebecca returned later that same day and gave the officers permission to search her car, which Gomez had been using. In the trunk, the officers discovered items commonly used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine. Consequently, the matter was referred to the Northwest Drug Task Force. Scott Meehan (Meehan), a detective for the task force, found lighter fluid, a duffle bag containing multi-layered liquids in bottles, an anti-freeze jug containing a suspicious liquid, a latex medical glove duct-taped to the end of a Coke bottle, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, Red Devil Lye, test strips for pools and spas, and a So-Be bottle. The drug agents then followed drug lab seizure procedures to secure and identify the items.
¶ 12 Meanwhile, when Gomez failed to appear for a few days, Noemi Lund (Noemi) went to the motor home to see if Gomez's belongings were still there and noticed that Gomez was utilizing a two-burner electric stove, which she assumed was for food preparation. When a couple more days passed without hearing from Gomez, the Lunds padlocked the motor home so Gomez would have to request access from them in order to obtain his belongings.
¶ 13 From his investigation, Meehan became concerned about whether Gomez may have been manufacturing methamphetamine in the Lunds' motor home. On May 19, 2004, Meehan met with the Lunds and received their permission to search the motor home. The Lunds removed the padlock. Upon entering the motor home, Meehan saw various items which appeared to have recently been used to manufacture methamphetamine. He immediately backed out of the motor home and called for a drug lab team.
¶ 14 Due to the potential danger that can arise at a methamphetamine laboratory and their belief that methamphetamine had recently been manufactured inside the motor home, the officers donned "hazmat" protective suits with respirators. The officers also exercised extraordinary caution in removing the lab materials in individual pieces, meticulously identifying each piece, including an electric cooktop stove with a white powdery substance spilled and crusted over the burners, jugs and jars containing unknown liquids, propane canisters, coffee filters, rubber gloves, and a quart of lighter fluid. Bedding in the motor home was lying adjacent to the lab materials. Observing that the bedding was very porous and believing that it was contaminated due to its proximity to the chemicals, the officers decided to remove the bedding to destroy it. An officer then picked up a padlocked black duffle bag that was sitting on or with the bedding, and in doing so, the officers heard the sounds of clanging metal or glass and sloshing liquid within the bag. They became extremely concerned about the potential presence of dangerous chemicals and immediately removed the bag from the motor home and placed it on a tarp on the ground. Without obtaining a search warrant and within about one minute after discovering it, the officers cut the lock and opened the bag, finding a jar of gray crystals that Meehan believed to be iodine crystals, a jar with a red substance labeled muriatic acid, pool and spa tester strips, a multi-layered liquid, and an unknown liquid.
¶ 15 Gomez was ultimately charged by an amended information with one count of operation of an unlawful clandestine laboratory and one count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs. The possession charge was later dismissed on the State's motion. Gomez filed a motion to suppress the items seized from the motor home on the grounds the search violated the United States and Montana Constitutions. A hearing scheduled on the motion was vacated when the parties reached a plea agreement and Gomez entered a guilty plea to the charge. However, Gomez later sought to withdraw his plea, which was granted by the District Court. A hearing on Gomez's suppression motion and his motion to exclude evidence of other crimes and wrongs was then scheduled for April 8, and a jury trial was scheduled for April 18, 2005.
¶ 16 At the hearing, Gomez advised the court that he was withdrawing his suppression argument, based upon the Lunds not having authority to consent to the search of the motor home's bedroom, and would instead argue only that the warrantless search of the padlocked duffle bag was unconstitutional. After hearing, the District Court, noting the impending trial, issued a written order denying Gomez's motions and indicated that a fuller rationale would follow, but which apparently was never provided. A jury trial was conducted on April 18 through April 20, 2005, during which Gomez filed two objections. The first was to a witness reading a portion of her prior statement, which the court overruled because defense counsel had previously cross-examined the witness from the same statement, and, secondly, that the State had not established a sufficient chain of custody foundation for several exhibits, which was also overruled. Gomez was found guilty of operating an unlawful clandestine laboratory and was thereafter sentenced to thirty years in the Montana State Prison with fifteen years suspended. He appeals.
¶ 17 This Court reviews a district court's denial of a motion to suppress to determine whether the court's findings of fact are clearly erroneous and whether its interpretation and application of the law is correct. State v. DeWitt, 2004 MT 317, ¶ 21, 324 Mont. 39, ¶ 21, 101 P.3d 277, ¶ 21. A district court's findings of fact are clearly erroneous if: (1) they are not supported by substantial evidence; (2) the district court misapprehended the effect of the evidence; or (3) the district court made a mistake. DeWitt, ¶ 21.
¶ 18 We review a district court's evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion. State v. McCaslin, 2004 MT 212, ¶ 15, 322 Mont. 350, ¶ 15, 96 P.3d 722, ¶ 15. A district court abuses its discretion if it acts arbitrarily without conscientious judgment or exceeds the bounds of reason. McCaslin, ¶ 15.
¶ 19 (1) Did the District Court err in denying Gomez's motion to suppress evidence based on a warrantless search of:
a. the motor home, with the landlord's consent?
¶ 20 Gomez contends that a landlord has no authority to grant permission for a search of a suspect's residence. Therefore,...
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