State v. Hagedorn

• Decision Date: 25 July 1996
• Docket Number: No. 21739,21739
• Citation: 129 Idaho 155,922 P.2d 1081
• Parties: STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. William HAGEDORN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

Page 1081

922 P.2d 1081

129 Idaho 155

STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. William HAGEDORN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 21739.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

July 25, 1996.

Petition for Review Denied Sept. 20, 1996.

Michael L. Henegen and Robert P. Tunnicliff, Moscow, (argued), for appellant.

Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Michael A. Henderson, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, (argued), for respondent.

PERRY, Judge.

Following a court trial, William Hagedorn was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of his girlfriend, Joann Romero, and was sentenced to a unified life term with a minimum period of confinement of thirty years. He appeals from the judgment of conviction and sentence. We affirm.

I. FACTS

On the evening of October 26, 1993, Hagedorn called 911 to report a shooting at his home in Moscow. An emergency medical team arrived and attended to the victim, who Before Hagedorn was driven to the hospital, officer Whiteley had Hagedorn remove the bloody pants. Officer Whiteley inquired where he could find Hagedorn a change of clothes; and he, not Hagedorn, went into the back bedroom to get the clothes. On the floor of the bedroom was a pile of bloody clothes and the gun which apparently had inflicted the wound to Romero, both of which the officer left undisturbed. Another officer escorted Hagedorn to the hospital, while officer Whiteley remained at the residence to continue his investigation and collect evidence from the possible crime scene. Hagedorn asked officer Whiteley to lock up when he was finished. Later that night, Hagedorn was arrested and charged with first degree murder. After a preliminary hearing, an amended information was filed amending the charge to second degree murder.

had a wound to her right side and was gasping for breath. Within minutes, officer Whiteley of the Latah County Sheriff's Office also arrived in response to the 911 call. Officer Whiteley found Hagedorn in the living room, wearing pants that were covered in blood. He spoke with Hagedorn and learned that Romero and Hagedorn lived together in the residence, that they had been drinking and arguing and that the shooting took place in the back bedroom. Romero was taken to the hospital where she died several hours later.

Hagedorn was tried, but the trial ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to reach a verdict. A second trial was scheduled. Against the advice of his counsel, Hagedorn requested that he be tried by the court, not a new jury. The district court questioned Hagedorn at length and accepted the waiver of his right to trial by jury. After considering all of the testimony presented, the district court found Hagedorn guilty of second degree murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of confinement of thirty years.

II. ISSUES

On appeal, Hagedorn raises several issues regarding whether certain evidence seized by the police at Hagedorn's home should have been admitted at trial. He argues that his motion to suppress this evidence was improperly denied. He also argues that Romero's shirt, state's exhibit 8, was inadmissible without foundational evidence explaining the alterations done to the shirt. The alterations ultimately led to the discovery of another bullet hole which supported the state's theory that two shots had been fired at Romero. Lastly, Hagedorn contends that his sentence is excessive.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Evidence Obtained Without a Warrant

Hagedorn first argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence found in the residence by officer Whiteley. Although he concedes that the initial entry of the police into his home was authorized, he argues that the seizure of the items did not occur until after officer Whiteley had exited the house to obtain from his car evidence bags and a camera and had reentered the building. Because the second entry into the residence was unauthorized and not pursuant to a warrant, Hagedorn argues that the search of the premises and subsequent seizure of items at that time denied him the protections guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment.

Warrantless searches or seizures are presumptively unreasonable unless they come within one of several judicially recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement for the seizure of evidence. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971); State v. Woolery, 116 Idaho 368, 370, 775 P.2d 1210, 1212 (1989). Plain view is a recognized exception to the warrant requirement. Horton v. California, 496 U.S. 128, 110 S.Ct. 2301, 110 L.Ed.2d 112 (1990); State v. Claiborne, 120 Idaho 581, 818 P.2d 285 (1991). The exception addresses concerns regarding the invasion of an owner's possessory interest in and dominion over the items seized. Maryland v. Macon, 472 U.S. 463, 469, 105 S.Ct. 2778, 2782, 86 L.Ed.2d 370 (1985); United States v. Jacobsen Under the plain view doctrine, a warrantless seizure can be justified where two requirements are met: (1) the officer must lawfully make an initial intrusion or otherwise properly be in a position to observe a particular area; and (2) it must be immediately apparent that the items observed are evidence of a crime or otherwise subject to seizure. See generally Horton v. California, 496 U.S. 128, 110 S.Ct. 2301, 110 L.Ed.2d 112 (1990). In reviewing an order denying a motion to suppress evidence, the appellate court will not disturb the district court's determinations of fact which are based upon substantial evidence, but we exercise free review of the lower court's decision as to whether constitutional requirements have been satisfied in light of the facts found. State v. Rusho, 110 Idaho 556, 559, 716 P.2d 1328, 1331 (Ct.App.1986).

466 U.S. 109, 113, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 1656, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984).

Here, the district court ruled that the warrantless seizure of the items from Hagedorn's home was not the result of a search but was justified under the plain view doctrine. As an alternative basis to justify the seizure, the district court found that Hagedorn had consented to allow officer Whiteley to remain in the residence to investigate, and that Hagedorn's telling the officer to lock up after he was through was tantamount to consent to a thorough search.

The district court found that officer Whiteley had a right to enter Hagedorn's house in responding to the 911 call and that he had obtained Hagedorn's consent to enter the back bedroom to get Hagedorn a change of clothes. The district court also found that Hagedorn's bloodstained pants, the gun in the bedroom, the victim's clothing lying near the bloody spot on the floor in the bedroom and the ammunition in the open hall cupboard might have been evidence of a crime. These findings, none of which are contested by Hagedorn, satisfied the two-part test for plain view that the items be lawfully viewed and be of a potentially incriminating nature. The findings therefore support the district court's application of the plain view doctrine and render a search warrant unnecessary to justify the seizure of these items. See State v. Ramirez, 121 Idaho 319, 824 P.2d 894 (Ct.App.1991) (Seizure of property in plain view involves no invasion of privacy and requires no warrant.). The district court's order denying suppression of these items was proper.

Officer Whiteley's investigative search of Hagedorn's residence, which was not conducted subject to a search warrant, revealed a holster under the bed in the back bedroom. The holster cannot be held to have been seized under the plain view doctrine as plain view connotes that the object is observable and not hidden and not requiring that anything be moved in order to perceive the evidence. McDermott v. State, 870 P.2d 339, 345 (Wyo.1994). See also State v. Rhodes, 315 Or. 191, 843 P.2d 927, 930 (1992) (officer's action permitted him to observe what he otherwise could not have seen from a lawful vantage point). We conclude that the holster should have been suppressed. However, because no prejudice from its admission has been shown, i.e., that the error contributed to the conviction, we deem the error harmless. State v. Rodriquez, 106 Idaho 30, 33, 674 P.2d 1029, 1032 (Ct.App.1983).

Hagedorn's contention that the officer's reentry into the residence defeated the application of the plain view doctrine, calling for the suppression of the seized evidence, is without merit. In Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 98 S.Ct. 1942, 56 L.Ed.2d 486 (1978), the later entries made within hours of the initial intrusion, were "no more than an actual continuation of the first, and the lack of a warrant thus did not invalidate the resulting seizure of evidence." Id. at 511, 98 S.Ct. at 1951. See also State v. Gocken, 71 Wash.App. 267, 857 P.2d 1074, 1082 (1993); State v. Stevenson, 55 Wash.App. 725, 780 P.2d 873 (1989). We conclude that officer Whiteley's immediate reentry, upon retrieving a camera to photograph the scene and evidence bags to collect the evidence, was authorized without a warrant and did not affect the admissibility of the evidence under the plain view exception to the warrant requirement.

B. Validity of the Search Warrant

Following officer Whiteley's seizure of evidence, a search warrant for a search of the residence was obtained. The search, pursuant to the warrant, yielded further evidence. Hagedorn seeks to have the validity of the search warrant overturned in this appeal. He asserts that the warrant was issued pursuant to an affidavit which contained information obtained from the illegal search of his residence by officer Whiteley and from interviews obtained in violation of his rights. He also challenges the warrant on procedural grounds, claiming that the state failed to return the warrant in accordance with Idaho Code §§ 19-4415 and -4406.

Whether probable cause exists to support the issuance of a search warrant is determined by the magistrate from the facts set forth in affidavits and from recorded testimony in support of the...