State v. Kenfield

• Decision Date: 21 July 2009
• Docket Number: No. DA 07-0478.,DA 07-0478.
• Citation: 213 P.3d 461,351 Mont. 409,2009 MT 242
• Parties: STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Davy Lee KENFIELD, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

213 P.3d 461

2009 MT 242

351 Mont. 409

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Davy Lee KENFIELD, Defendant and Appellant.

No. DA 07-0478.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Orally Argued and Submitted January 23, 2009.

Decided July 21, 2009.

For Appellant: Jim Wheelis, Chief Appellate Defender; Tammy Hinderman (argued), Assistant Appellate Defender, Helena, Montana.

For Appellee: Hon. Steve Bullock, Montana Attorney General; Jonathan M. Krauss (argued), Assistant Attorney General; Helena, Montana, Cyndee L. Peterson, Hill County Attorney; Havre, Montana.

Justice W. WILLIAM LEAPHARTdelivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Davy Lee Kenfield (Kenfield) pleaded guilty in the Twelfth Judicial District Court, Hill County, to criminal production or manufacture of dangerous drugs (one count) and criminal distribution of dangerous drugs to a minor (two counts). Prior to pleading guilty, Kenfield moved to suppress evidence, including statements obtained by officers subsequent to the warrantless entry of his residence. The District Court denied Kenfield's motion to suppress on the basis of the community caretaker doctrine. Kenfield appeals. We affirm the denial of the motion to suppress, but on different grounds than those articulated by the District Court.

¶ 2 We restate the issue on appeal as follows:

¶ 3 Did the District Court err when it denied Kenfield's motion to suppress evidence obtained subsequent to the warrantless entry of his residence?

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 4 On November 23, 2005, a Liberty County dispatcher in Chester, Montana, received an anonymous tip from a caller who said that Kenfield was on his way to Inverness to purchase alcohol for three young people who were allegedly with Kenfield in a pickup truck. The caller identified Kenfield by his first and last name. The three young people were identified as a female by the name of "K,"¹ a male by the name of Michael Morelli (Morelli), and another unknown male whose name the caller did not know. The dispatcher, through a caller identification system, determined that the call had been placed from Morelli's grandmother's residence. The dispatcher relayed the information to Deputy Steve Cameron who was on duty that evening. Deputy Cameron had lived in Liberty County for approximately 38 years and had been a deputy with the Liberty County Sheriff's Department for nine years.

¶ 5 Upon receiving the information from the dispatcher, Deputy Cameron immediately suspected that the female identified by the anonymous caller was "K.H.," a troubled 15 year old resident of Liberty County. Deputy Cameron suspected K.H. because he knew of no other young person by the name of "K" who lived in Liberty County (population 2,100) or the town of Chester (population 920). Deputy Cameron also suspected K.H. because he had recently issued her a ticket for minor in possession of alcohol and knew her to hang around with Morelli, another young man by the name of Tim Voise (Voise), and another young girl by the name of A.A. Deputy Cameron also knew that Kenfield was approximately 45 years old.

¶ 6 Deputy Cameron then proceeded from the sheriff's office to K.H.'s grandmother's residence to inquire about the young girl's whereabouts. K.H.'s grandmother told Deputy Cameron that K.H. was with her girlfriend "A.A." Deputy Cameron then told K.H.'s grandmother about the report that K.H. was allegedly in a vehicle with Kenfield on the way to purchase alcohol in Inverness. After hearing who her granddaughter was possibly with and where she was possibly headed, K.H.'s grandmother told Deputy Cameron to pick K.H. up. Deputy Cameron then confirmed that K.H. was not where she told her grandmother she would be that evening by going to A.A.'s residence (and another female's residence suggested by A.A.'s father).

¶ 7 After leaving A.A.'s residence, Deputy Cameron went back to the sheriff's office in Chester and told the dispatcher to notify Hill County that he needed to go to Inverness to look for K.H. Deputy Cameron knew that Kenfield lived in Inverness, which is located approximately 14 miles east of Chester because he knew that a colleague, Undersheriff Dave Riggin, had recently responded to a weapons complaint at Kenfield's residence. Deputy Cameron also knew that Kenfield had been investigated for stealing ladies' underwear from the local high school approximately 20 years earlier. Deputy Cameron received permission to enter Hill County but did not request assistance or backup at that time.

¶ 8 Before heading to Inverness, Deputy Cameron stopped to get directions to Kenfield's residence from Undersheriff Riggin. In addition to the directions, Undersheriff Riggin told Deputy Cameron that Kenfield had a penchant for hanging around with young people and that he had picked up another young girl from Kenfield's residence a couple of years earlier without incident. Deputy Cameron then proceeded towards Kenfield's residence in Inverness. While en route, Deputy Cameron learned that the repeater channel was down, which meant that he had no means of communicating with anyone once he was outside of Chester. Deputy Cameron did not stop to inform the dispatcher or otherwise notify anyone about the problem.

¶ 9 When Deputy Cameron arrived at Kenfield's trailer, he immediately recognized Voise's pickup truck and recorded the license plate numbers. Deputy Cameron also heard loud music and voices coming from the residence and could tell that the lights in the trailer were on, although the windows were heavily curtained. Deputy Cameron approached the trailer, opened the screen door, and noticed the "faint smell of marijuana." Deputy Cameron then knocked on the outside steel door and identified himself as the Sheriff's Department. At this point, the music went off, the lights went out, and Deputy Cameron heard the sound of running feet. After waiting approximately 8-10 seconds, Deputy Cameron entered the trailer, first through the screen and steel doors, and then through another interior door, which opened into the trailer's main living space.

¶ 10 Upon entering the trailer, Officer Cameron was confronted with the "overwhelming" odor of marijuana and saw Voise sitting at the kitchen table. He then saw someone run down the hall into a back room and slam the door. Deputy Cameron opened the door and saw Kenfield standing in the room. Kenfield asked Deputy Cameron what he was doing in his house. Deputy Cameron explained that he was looking for K.H. In response, Kenfield said that K.H. was "out there." After gathering everyone into the kitchen, Deputy Cameron noticed that Morelli was not present and left the group in the kitchen to look for him. When he returned to the kitchen, Deputy Cameron saw Kenfield washing his hands and noticed marijuana paraphernalia and residue on the kitchen stove next to Kenfield. Concerned that Kenfield was trying to destroy evidence, Deputy Cameron placed Kenfield in handcuffs and called dispatch from the trailer to request assistance. Deputy Cameron then gave Miranda warnings to Kenfield, K.H., Morelli, and Voise.

¶ 11 After Hill County deputies arrived, they seized contraband on the stove and two open grocery bags filled with marijuana in the living room. The deputies asked Kenfield for permission to search his residence, but he refused. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was called and a search warrant for the premises was subsequently obtained. Ultimately officers seized a variety of marijuana related items, such as potting soil and marijuana leaves and stems. They also seized a video camera and three tapes from a cupboard, two rifles and a shotgun, a box of documents with telephone numbers, pornographic magazines, grow lights, and marijuana plants. The tapes evidently showed young girls, unaware that they were being filmed, using his bathroom in the trailer. The tapes also showed Kenfield supplying people with marijuana at his residence. Kenfield was charged by Information with the following offenses: Criminal Production or Manufacture of Dangerous Drugs; Criminal Distribution of Dangerous Drugs to a Minor (two counts); and Sexual Abuse of Children (three counts).²

¶ 12 On April 27, 2006, Kenfield filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained by officers following the warrantless entry of his residence, including various statements Kenfield made to the officers and evidence obtained pursuant to the subsequently obtained search warrant. Kenfield claimed the entry into his residence was illegal and could not be justified by any exception to the warrant requirement. In response, the State claimed the entry was justified under the community caretaker doctrine and that Deputy Cameron had a reasonable belief that K.H. was in need of help or in peril, and that this suspicion justified the warrantless entry and search of Kenfield's residence.

¶ 13 A hearing on Kenfield's motion to suppress was conducted on May 31, 2006. During the hearing, Deputy Cameron stated that at the time he entered Kenfield's residence he was very concerned about K.H. and that he was sure K.H. was in the residence "because of the vehicle and the people she's hanging out with." Deputy Cameron also said the following: "I have no radio contact. I have no phone. I can't call for backup. I can't try to get a warrant. I can't try to do anything. I was concerned for [K.H.'s] safe[t]y." The District Court concluded that the community caretaker doctrine justified the warrantless entry of Kenfield's residence and denied the motion to suppress.

¶ 14 Kenfield pleaded guilty to criminal production or manufacture of dangerous drugs (one count) and to criminal distribution of dangerous drugs to a minor (two counts). In exchange, the State agreed to dismiss the sexual abuse of children charges. Kenfield was sentenced to a total of 15 years to the Department of Corrections, with all but two years suspended. The sentences imposed were ordered to run concurrent with Kenfield's federal...