State v. Hinton

• Citation: 216 N.J. 211,78 A.3d 553
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff–Appellant and Cross–Respondent, v. Gene HINTON, Defendant–Respondent and Cross–Appellant.
• Decision Date: 24 October 2013
• Court: United States State Supreme Court (New Jersey)

216 N.J. 211

78 A.3d 553

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff–Appellant and Cross–Respondent,

v.Gene HINTON, Defendant–Respondent and Cross–Appellant.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued May 14, 2013.

Decided Oct. 24, 2013.

Emily R. Anderson, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for appellant (Jeffrey S. Chiesa, Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney).

Matthew Astore, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for respondent (Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney; Mr. Astore and Anthony J. Cariddi, Designated Counsel, on the briefs).

Alexander R. Shalom argued the cause for amicus curiae American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey Foundation (Edward L. Barocas, Legal Director, attorney).

Justice PATTERSON delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this appeal, the Court determines whether, after a court officer executed a warrant of removal that had been issued in an eviction proceeding, defendant Gene Hinton had a constitutionally protected reasonable expectation of privacy in the apartment he had previously shared with his mother.

In March 2009, defendant's mother, the legal tenant of the apartment, died. On a date not revealed in the record, the apartment's owner, evidently unaware of the tenant's death, instituted an action to summarily dispossess her for nonpayment of rent. The eviction action proceeded and the court issued a warrant of removal pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:18–57. The warrant directed a court officer to dispossess the tenant and restore full possession of the apartment to the landlord after the expiration of a three-day grace period. The warrant further ordered the tenant to immediately vacate the premises pending an imminent dispossession. A week after the warrant was left at the apartment, a court officer entered the apartment to conduct a safety inspection and change the locks. During the inspection, the court officer saw a shoe box containing envelopes of heroin and a bag of currency on the bed in defendant's bedroom. He summoned police. Upon their arrival, police officers entered the apartment without a warrant and seized the shoe box. Officers arrested defendant upon his arrival at the apartment.

Defendant was indicted for several drug possession offenses. Prior to trial, he moved to suppress the evidence found at the apartment. The trial court denied the motion to suppress and, after a bench trial, convicted defendant of two third-degree offenses. The Appellate Division reversed defendant's conviction. It held that defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his mother's apartment and that the police had conducted a warrantless search that violated defendant's constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure. We granted the parties' cross-petitions for certification.

We reverse the Appellate Division's judgment. We hold that at the advanced stage to which the eviction had proceeded, defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy under federal or state constitutional norms. Defendant was served with official notice that a court officer would soon enter the premises and repossess it on the landlord's behalf. If, notwithstanding that notice, defendant maintained a subjective expectation of privacy in the apartment and the items in dispute, his expectation was objectively unreasonable. Accordingly, the officers did not conduct a search prohibited by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I, Paragraph 7 of the New Jersey Constitution.

We remand the matter to the Appellate Division for consideration of the constitutionality of the officers' seizure of the disputed evidence and for review of the other issues raised by defendant that the panel did not determine in light of its earlier judgment.

I.

The factual record considered by the trial court and reviewed on appeal was developed in the May 25, 2010 suppression hearing conducted by the trial judge. The State presented three witnesses: Special Civil Part Officer Ricardo Pratt of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Newark Police Officer Carmen Rivera and Newark Police Sergeant Thomas Roe. Defendant did not testify or present witnesses at the hearing.

The setting of this case was an apartment owned by the Newark Housing Authority. Defendant's mother, Essie Hinton, was the “occupant or at least the lease holder” of the apartment from an undetermined date until her death in March 2009. On a date that is not revealed in the record, the landlord commenced a summary dispossession action. On March 31, 2009, a Superior Court judge issued a warrant of removal with respect to the Hinton apartment, addressed to Ms. Hinton as “tenant.” The warrant of removal instructed a Special Civil Part Officer to “dispossess the tenant and place the landlord in full possession of the premises.” It directed the officer to “remove all persons and property from the ... premises within three days after receiving this warrant.” The warrant also advised of the consequences of the failure to vacate: “[i]f you fail to move within three days, a court officer will thereafter remove all persons from the premises at any time between the hours of 8:30 A.M. and 4:30 P.M.” on April 10, 2009, and, “[t]hereafter, your possessions may be removed by the landlord, subject to applicable law (N.J.S.A. 2A:18–72 et seq.).” The warrant of removal further instructed the tenant:

You may be able to stop this warrant and remain in the premises temporarily if you apply to the court for relief. You may apply for relief by delivering a written request to the Clerk of the Special Civil Part and to the landlord or landlord's attorney. Your request must be personally delivered and received by the Clerk within three days after this warrant was served or you may be locked out. Before stopping this warrant, the court may include certain conditions, such as the payment of rent.

The warrant provided that only a court officer could execute it, and barred a landlord “to padlock or otherwise block entry to a rental premises while a tenant who lives there is still in legal possession.”

On April 6, 2009, Special Civil Part Officer Pratt served the warrant. He “gave the tenant or the defendant, the owner of the apartment, Ms. [Essie] Hinton ... 72 hours['] notice from April 6th of 2009 and she was to vacate the apartment by April 10th, 2009.” Special Civil Part Officer Pratt served the warrant by placing it under the door, his customary practice when a resident fails to respond to a knock on the door. Special Civil Part Officer Pratt knew of no tenant other than Ms. Hinton, whose name was listed on the warrant. He testified that defendant's name was not associated with the apartment.

Special Civil Part Officer Pratt further testified that when he confronts a situation in which a tenant does not vacate the premises within three days after service of a warrant of removal, his practice is “to go there and remove any persons within the apartment so that [he] may change locks and ... place the landlord in possession of the apartment.” In addition to padlocking the door, Special Civil Part Officer Pratt's routine is to “go through the entire apartment.” His responsibility is “to check under the beds, ... check inside the closets, and ... make sure there[ are] no fire hazards or any persons hiding in the apartment.” Although the warrant permitsthe landlord to remove property inside the apartment, Special Civil Part Officer Pratt's “authorization has nothing to do with the property inside the apartment other than making sure that it's safe” and verifying there are “no fire hazards.”

Special Civil Part Officer Pratt followed that practice on the afternoon of April 13, 2009, one week after he served the notice at the Hinton apartment. He performed what he characterized as a “non-payment-of-rent eviction for Newark Housing Authority.” Special Civil Part Officer Pratt signed and dated the warrant. He went to the apartment with a repairman, who was given keys to the building by the building manager and was assigned to change the locks. Special Civil Part Officer Pratt entered the apartment and initially determined that the living room and bathroom were clear. He proceeded to the bedroom, where he “saw a shoe box in the middle of the bed” containing what he thought were illegal drugs. Special Civil Part Officer Pratt testified that in the “wide open” shoe box “there was one of these packages that was opened[ a]nd some of the little envelopes that [he] recognize [d] as heroin [were] spilling out into the shoe box.” Furthermore, Special Civil Part Officer Pratt testified that there were more envelopes in a blue bag and another bag with “a large amount of currency” on the bed.

Special Civil Part Officer Pratt called the Newark Police Department and told them what he had found. He then instructed the repairman to continue to change the locks. When that job was completed, Special Civil Part Officer Pratt locked the door, left the apartment and waited outside for the officers to arrive.

Officer Rivera, with Officer Ana Colon, responded to Special Civil Part Officer Pratt's call within five to ten minutes. They knew from the phone call that Special Civil Part Officer Pratt had found what he thought to be drugs inside the apartment and their “purpose was to verify that it was true.” When Officers Rivera and Colon arrived, Special Civil Part Officer Pratt informed them that “he had a warrant to padlock the door due to the fact that ... the resident had passed, died two weeks prior.” Special Civil Part Officer Pratt explained to the officers that he had entered the apartment “to ensure that there ... were no animals or persons inside before he padlocked the door,” and that in the course of his inspection “he came across the shoe box containing [heroin] and money.” He showed the officers the warrant of removal, which did not authorize them to search the apartment. By Officer Rivera's admission, the officers had sufficient time to obtain a search warrant...