State v. Jackson

• Citation: 742 N.W.2d 163
• Decision Date: 06 December 2007
• Docket Number: No. A05-247.,A05-247.
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Susan Ranae JACKSON, Appellant.
• Court: Supreme Court of Minnesota (US)

742 N.W.2d 163 STATE of Minnesota, Respondent,
v.
Susan Ranae JACKSON, Appellant. No. A05-247. Supreme Court of Minnesota. December 6, 2007.

[742 N.W.2d 165]

John M. Stuart, State Public Defender, Davi E. Axelson, Assistant State Public Defender, Minneapolis, MN, for Appellant.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, Thomas R. Ragatz, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, MN, John J. Muhar, Itasca County Attorney, Grand Rapids, MN, for Respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

ANDERSON, PAUL H., Justice.

Susan Ranae Jackson was charged with two counts of second-degree controlled substance crime in violation of Minn.Stat. § 152.022, subds. 1(1), 2(1) (2006), and two counts of child endangerment in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.378, subd. 1(b)(2) (2006). Before her trial, Jackson moved to suppress evidence seized from her home on the ground that the police executed a search warrant with an invalid authorization for a nighttime search. The Itasca County District Court concluded that the issuance of the nighttime warrant for Jackson's home was not justified, but denied Jackson's motion to suppress the evidence found as a result of the search. The court based its denial of the suppression motion on the ground that the nighttime search warrant violation was statutory rather than constitutional and that under the facts and circumstances of this case, the statutory violation did not require suppression of the evidence. At trial, the court found Jackson guilty on all four counts. The court entered convictions on one controlled substance count and the two child endangerment counts and sentenced

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Jackson to 105 months in prison for the controlled substance count and 12 months each for the two child endangerment counts. The court ordered all three sentences to be served concurrently. On appeal, the court of appeals affirmed the district court and we granted review on the suppression issue. We reverse.

On December 11, 2003, Itasca County Sheriff's Department Investigator Dean Scherf was conducting a narcotics investigation that involved Todd Dawson and the appellant, Susan Ranae Jackson. At about 6:30 p.m., Scherf executed a search warrant on Dawson's vehicle after Dawson left Jackson's home. During this search, Scherf found a large amount of methamphetamine, cash, and other items consistent with selling and dealing illegal drugs. Based on the contraband found in Dawson's car and on information obtained from both Dawson and a confidential reliable informant, Scherf applied to the district court for a warrant to search Jackson's home and her person. The affidavit supporting the search warrant read in pertinent part:

As a result of the Search Warrant on the Dawson [sic] your affiant seized approx. 53 grams of suspected methamphetamine from the vehicle along with a large amount of cash, a digital gram scale, and plastic baggies. All of these items are indicative of a drug dealer. Your affiant knows this from knowledge, training, and experience.

The [confidential reliable informant] that your affiant spoke to in reference to Dawson having controlled substances in his vehicle also indicated that Dawson was at the Susan Jackson residence at the time the controlled substances were observed in Dawson's vehicle. The [confidential reliable informant] also relayed that Dawson had dropped some methamphetamine off at the Jackson residence and that Jackson also sells methamphetamine from her residence. Your affiant did verify that Dawson was at the Jackson residence prior to making the traffic stop on Dawson.

Dawson advised your affiant at the time of the traffic stop that he has been staying at the Susan Jackson residence and furthermore that Dawson has been dating Jackson.

Based on the foregoing facts in his affidavit, Scherf requested a search warrant authorizing the police to conduct a nighttime search as provided for under Minn. Stat. § 626.14 (2006). In support of the nighttime search authorization, Scherf also stated in the affidavit that "[t]his investigation has led your affiant into the nightime [sic] scope of search warrant." Scherf provided no further information to support a nighttime search.

The district court granted a search warrant authorizing a nighttime entry, and at 9:25 p.m. on December 11 officers from the Itasca County Sheriff's Department executed the warrant on Jackson's home. The officers knocked on Jackson's door and then entered the home, where they found Jackson sitting at the kitchen table with her two teenaged children. The officers handcuffed Jackson and informed her that they were in her home to search for illegal drugs. Jackson initially denied having any illegal drugs. Scherf told Jackson that if she did not tell the officers where the illegal drugs were, they would "tear the house apart" looking for the drugs. Jackson then told the officers that she wanted to speak to them outside of the presence of her children. Acceding to this request, the officers led Jackson to her bedroom. After going into the bedroom with the officers, Jackson did lead the officers to multiple locations in the home that contained drugs. As a result of this search, the officers seized 9.7 grams of

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methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia from Jackson's home. The police then arrested Jackson and the state charged her with two counts of second degree controlled substance crime for the possession and sale of methamphetamine in violation of Minn.Stat. § 152.022, subds. 1(1), 2(1), and two counts of child endangerment in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.378, subd. 1(b)(2).

Before trial, Jackson moved to suppress the evidence seized during the search of her home arguing that the search violated Minn.Stat. § 626.14 (2006) because Scherf's affidavit failed to articulate a sufficient basis to support a nighttime search. The district court agreed with Jackson and concluded that the issuance of a nighttime search warrant for her home was not justified. But the court denied Jackson's motion to suppress the evidence seized during the search because the court concluded that the nighttime search violation was statutory rather than constitutional and that, under the facts and circumstances of this case, the statutory violation did not require suppression of the evidence. Jackson subsequently pleaded guilty to one controlled substance count in exchange for the other counts against her being dismissed. But, after learning that her guilty plea would prevent her from appealing the court's denial of her suppression motion, Jackson withdrew her guilty plea and proceeded to a court trial on stipulated facts under State v. Lothenbach, 296 N.W.2d 854 (Minn.1980).¹

The district court found Jackson guilty of all charges and entered convictions for one controlled substance count and two child endangerment counts. The court sentenced Jackson to 105 months in prison for the controlled substance conviction and 12 months for each of the two child endangerment convictions, all sentences to be served concurrently. The court of appeals affirmed the district court's denial of Jackson's suppression motion.

I.

On appeal to our court, Jackson claims that the police failed to provide sufficient justification for a nighttime search of her home and therefore the issuance of the nighttime search warrant violated Minn. Stat. § 626.14 and both the United States and Minnesota constitutions. She asserts that the district court therefore erred when it denied her suppression motion. The state does not dispute that the nighttime search of Jackson's home was improperly authorized under Minn.Stat. § 626.14. More specifically, the state does not explicitly contest the conclusion of the district court and the court of appeals that the search warrant application "did not make a sufficient showing to justify inclusion of the nighttime search clause." Nevertheless, the state argues that the district court did not err when it admitted the evidence obtained as a direct result of the invalid search.

Minnesota Statutes § 626.14 provides that

[a] search warrant may be served only between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. unless the court determines on the basis of facts stated in the affidavits that a nighttime search outside those hours is necessary to prevent the loss, destruction, or removal of the objects of the search or to protect the searchers or the public.

We have held that an application for a nighttime warrant under section 626.14

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must establish reasonable suspicion that a nighttime search is necessary to preserve evidence or to protect officer or public safety. State v. Bourke, 718 N.W.2d 922, 927 (Minn.2006). Here it is undisputed that the required grounds for a nighttime search were not established by the police. Thus, the only question before us on appeal is whether the district court erred when it did not suppress the evidence seized during the admittedly improper nighttime search. When reviewing pretrial orders on motions to suppress evidence, we independently review the facts to determine whether, as a matter of law, the court erred in its ruling. Bourke, 718 N.W.2d at 927. We review the court's factual findings for clear error and its legal determinations de novo. Id.

We have previously stated that we will not require the suppression of evidence obtained in violation of a statute or rule when the violation is merely technical and "did not subvert the basic purpose of the statute." State v. Smith, 367 N.W.2d 497, 504 (Minn.1985). In Smith, the defendant moved unsuccessfully to suppress evidence seized from his hotel room after the police obtained the defendant's address from the county department of social services in violation of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. Id. at 503. On review, we reasoned that the main purpose of the Data Practices Act, as applied to the defendant, was to prevent disclosure of information identifying the defendant as a recipient of...