State v. Hall

• Decision Date: 14 July 1983
• Citation: 93 N.J. 552,461 A.2d 1155
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. James H. HALL, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

Page 552

93 N.J. 552

461 A.2d 1155

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. James H. HALL, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued Dec. 7, 1982.

Decided July 14, 1983.

Stuart Surick, Princeton, for defendant-appellant.

Debra L. Stone, Deputy Atty. Gen., for plaintiff-respondent (Irwin I. Kimmelman, Atty. Gen., attorney).

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

The issue presented by this appeal is whether the Superior Court had jurisdiction and adequate grounds to compel the defendant to submit to a lineup prior to his arrest or the filing of any charges against him. We now hold that the Superior Court has jurisdiction to issue process compelling a suspect to submit to a lineup prior to the filing of criminal charges upon a showing of less than probable cause, provided certain evidential standards and protective procedures are satisfied.

I

In the early morning hours of February 3, 1978 an armed robbery took place at the home of James Bailey, in Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey. Bailey and his girlfriend, Stacey Dillon, had just arrived at the home when two male intruders appeared, one white and the other black. The white male demanded that Bailey produce ten pounds of marijuana that he believed was in the house. Bailey explained that he did not have the marijuana, but that Michael Huff, from whom he had purchased nine ounces of marijuana, had the contraband.

After Bailey turned over the nine ounces of marijuana that he did possess, the intruders began an extensive search of the home. They cut the wires from several stereo components, ripped a television from its casings and tore a telephone from the wall. At this time one of the intruders also took Bailey's wallet. The black man then took Dillon into a front room and tied her hands. Later she was taken into the bedroom and tied to Bailey. As the intruders were leaving, one of the men told Bailey that they would return Bailey's television and stereo when they received money owed to them by Michael Huff.

Dillon and Bailey freed themselves and telephoned the latter's roommate, Louis Campanelli. They did not immediately call the police because the incident involved drugs. After learning of the robbery, Campanelli, Huff and two other friends arrived at the house. The police were then called. When the police arrived, the two victims gave complete descriptions of the intruders.

Subsequent police investigation of the episode revealed that the defendant, James H. Hall, Jr., might have been one of the intruders. A week after the robbery Detective Joseph Booket of the Aberdeen Township Police Department called the victims and requested that they come to police headquarters to assist in the preparation of a composite sketch of the two perpetrators. Dillon, who had been able to observe the white intruder from a distance of five feet during the robbery, was unable to identify defendant from a series of photographs of potential suspects. Bailey made an equivocal identification of defendant's photo, noting that he could not be absolutely sure because the man's hair in the photo was a "lot shorter" than it was on the night in question. Based upon this tentative identification, the Monmouth County prosecutor moved for an order compelling defendant to appear in a lineup. Over defendant's objections and following a hearing, the trial court granted the motion and scheduled a lineup. ¹

After viewing the court-ordered lineup, Dillon twice identified defendant as one of the men who robbed her. Bailey also viewed the lineup and positively identified defendant. Immediately after the lineup the police swore out a criminal complaint against Hall. Defendant was charged in a five-count indictment with entering with intent to steal, robbery of goods valued in excess of $500, armed robbery, assault with an offensive weapon, and possession of a dangerous weapon.

Defendant was found guilty by a jury on all counts with the exception of assault with a deadly weapon. Thereafter, defendant moved unsuccessfully for a new trial, arguing that the court-ordered lineup was improper and that the jury verdict was tainted. The Appellate Division affirmed the convictions. 183 N.J.Super. 224, 443 A.2d 767 (1982). The Court granted the petition for certification limited to the issue of the validity of the order compelling the lineup. 91 N.J. 195, 450 A.2d 529 (1982).

II

Defendant challenges the jurisdiction of the trial court to issue an order compelling an unarrested and uncharged suspect to appear for a lineup. He relies upon State v. Schweitzer, 171 N.J.Super. 82, 407 A.2d 1276 (Law Div.1979), which held that the Superior Court lacked jurisdiction to subject an individual to a pre-charge or pre-arrest detention. In its decision below the Appellate Division expressly overruled Schweitzer, finding untenable its "parochial view that both subject matter and personal jurisdiction in the judicial branch are marked at their extremities by the indictment and the imposition of sentence." 183 N.J.Super. at 228, 443 A.2d 767. The Appellate Division ruled that under N.J. Const. (1947), Art. VI, § III, pars. 2 and 3 ² the Superior Court possessed jurisdiction over criminal matters including ordering a suspect to appear for a lineup. Id. at 229, 443 A.2d 767.

We concur with the Appellate Division's conclusion that the State and federal constitutions authorize the judiciary to order a lineup in these circumstances. We determine, however, that the jurisdiction of a court to issue process authorizing a pre-charge or pre-arrest detention in conjunction with a criminal investigation is founded on the judiciary's constitutional powers over searches and seizures. N.J. Const. (1947), Art. I, par. 7 and U.S. Const., Amend. IV. ³

We believe that an application to detain a suspect for the purpose of conducting a lineup must be considered as "the functional equivalent of an application for[ ] issuance ... of a search warrant." In re Fingerprinting of M.B., 125 N.J.Super. 115, 122, 309 A.2d 3 (App.Div.1973) (application for an order compelling fingerprinting of an entire class of public school students during a criminal investigation); see also In re Morgenthau, 188 N.J.Super. 303, 457 A.2d 472 (App.Div.1983); State v. Foy, 146 N.J.Super. 378, 369 A.2d 995 (Law Div.1976), app. dism. 153 N.J.Super. 503, 380 A.2d 301 (App.Div.1977); Matter of Abe A., 56 N.Y.2d 288, 437 N.E.2d 265, 452 N.Y.S.2d 6 (N.Y.1982) (judicial authority to compel investigatory detention rests on court's power to issue search warrants); People v. Marshall, 69 Mich.App. 288, 244 N.W.2d 451 (Mich.Ct.App.1976) (same); cf., Wise v. Murphy, 275 A.2d 205 (D.C.1971) (court's power to issue investigatory process rests on statutory authority); State v. Grijalva, 111 Ariz. 476, 533 P.2d 533 (Ariz.1975), cert. den. sub nom. Grijalva v. Arizona, 423 U.S. 873, 96 S.Ct. 141, 46 L.Ed.2d 104 (1975) (court's jurisdiction over pre-arrest detentions based on statutory authority). An individual who must submit to a lineup is detained by the police and visually examined by crime victims or witnesses. Because such a detention, like a search, invades an individual's privacy and, like any seizure or arrest, restrains personal liberty, the constitutional interests upon which investigatory detentions and conventional searches and seizures may intrude are similar. Davis v. Mississippi, 394 U.S. 721, 726-27, 89 S.Ct. 1394, 1397, 22 L.Ed.2d 676, 680-81 (1969); see also Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1879, 20 L.Ed.2d 889, 904 (1968); United States v. Place, --- U.S. ----, ----, 103 S.Ct. 2637, 2645, 76 L.Ed.2d ---, (1983). Further, the purpose of investigatory detentions is similar to that of conventional searches and seizures. They are undertaken to advance the investigation of criminal cases. Additionally, judicial supervision of the criminal process in the investigatory stages of a prosecution, just as in the accusatory phases, permits a salutary review of police actions and protects the constitutional rights of citizens who are suspects in criminal investigations or otherwise embroiled in the criminal process. See generally United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967); compare Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972). These considerations lead us to consider and treat such investigatory detentions as searches or seizures within the scope of the Fourth Amendment and the State Constitution. Regarded as a search or seizure, investigatory detentions are properly within the jurisdiction of the judiciary to ensure they are reasonable.

In sum, we hold that the Superior Court has jurisdiction to authorize investigative detentions. This power to authorize investigative detentions is properly founded upon the judiciary's constitutional authority governing search and seizures, N.J. Const. (1947), Art. I, par. 7 and U.S. Const., Amend. IV. ⁴ When this jurisdiction is invoked, it triggers the judicial responsibility to assess the need advanced by law enforcement for such procedures and to protect the rights of individuals to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

III

We next consider whether the constitutional rights of individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures are adequately protected by investigatory detentions that are judicially authorized upon less than probable cause and whether certain procedures must be followed in conducting such detentions. In its opinion below, the Appellate Division observed that a court-compelled lineup constituted a less severe intrusion upon privacy interests than a conventional search or seizure and that such a personal lineup could be authorized where " 'the State has established a well-founded suspicion of sufficient weight to justify compelling [a criminal suspect] to submit to an in-person line-up.' " State v. Hall, supra, 183 N.J.Super. at 231, 443 A.2d 767 (quoting from trial court decision granting...