State v. Heylmun
Decision Date | 29 August 1985 |
Docket Number | CA-CR,No. 2,2 |
Citation | 708 P.2d 778,147 Ariz. 97 |
Parties | The STATE of Arizona, Appellant, v. Edgar Baldwin HEYLMUN, Appellee. 3352. |
Court | Arizona Court of Appeals |
On September 6, 1982, a search warrant was issued and subsequently executed at appellee's residence. Various items were seized, including letters, sexually explicit photographs depicting children, negatives, books, typewriters and cameras. Appellee was later indicted on 11 counts--three counts of sexual abuse, four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of child molestation, one count of commercial sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of furnishing obscene or harmful items to minors.
The affidavit in support of the search warrant reads as follows:
In March 1983 appellee moved to suppress the items seized in the search, and the trial court granted the motion in November 1983, stating in his order as follows:
The state has appealed from that ruling, contending that Arizona courts have jurisdiction to issue search warrants for evidence of crimes committed in other jurisdictions. We find that the court had jurisdiction to issue the warrant and reverse.
The applicable ground for issuance of the search warrant in this case is A.R.S. § 13-3912 which reads as follows "A search warrant may be issued upon any of the following grounds:
....
A search warrant is defined in A.R.S. § 13-3911 as "an order in writing issued in the name of the state of Arizona, signed by a magistrate, directed to a peace officer, commanding him to search for personal property, persons or items described in § 13-3912." Nothing in either that definition nor in any of the other provisions relating to search warrants, A.R.S. §§ 13-3911 through 13-3925, indicates in any way that jurisdiction to search is limited to crimes committed in Arizona. The basis for the trial court's ruling is the definition of "offense" in A.R.S. § 13-105(18) which refers to conduct punishable by fine or imprisonment as "provided by any law of this state...." Not only does § 13-105 expressly state that its definitions are to apply "unless the context otherwise requires ...", meaning they are not to be applied mechanistically and rigidly, but also the language of the definition itself does not necessarily limit a magistrate's jurisdiction to issue search warrants to evidence of crimes committed in Arizona.
The definition refers to conduct punishable as provided by state law. That can be read either as restricting jurisdiction to evidence of conduct occurring in Arizona which can be prosecuted under a specific Arizona statute or as permitting searches for evidence of conduct which, if it occurred in Arizona, would be subject to prosecution here. Mendelsohn v. Superior Court, 76 Ariz. 163 at 169, 261 P.2d 983 at 987 (1953); see also A.R.S. § 13-104. "In construing the language in a statute, the rules of construction require that a court examine the context, subject matter, effects, consequences and the spirit and reason of the law." State v. Armendariz, 127 Ariz. 422 at 426, 621 P.2d 928 at 932 (App.1980).
An examination of the various grounds upon which a search warrant may...
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...located in the issuing state if it constitutes evidence of a crime committed in another jurisdiction. See State v. Heylmun, 147 Ariz. 97, 708 P.2d 778, 780 (Ct.App.Ariz.1985)(“Nothing in either [definition in the Arizona statutes regarding search warrants] indicates in any way that jurisdic......
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