State v. Prudhomme

• Decision Date: 02 November 1979
• Docket Number: No. 49195.,49195.
• Citation: 287 NW 2d 386
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Mark PRUDHOMME, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

287 N.W.2d 386 (1979)

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Mark PRUDHOMME, Appellant.

No. 49195.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

November 2, 1979.

Gray, Gill & Brinkman and Earl P. Gray, St. Paul, for appellant.

Warren Spannaus, Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Thomas L. Johnson, County Atty., Vernon E. Bergstrom, Chief, App. Div., and David W. Larson, Asst. County Attys., Minneapolis, for respondent.

Considered and decided by the court en banc without oral argument.

OTIS, Justice.

The sole issue on this direct appeal by defendant from judgment of conviction of unlawful possession of phencyclidine is whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress, a motion which was based on a claim that in executing a warrant to search his residence law officers violated the notice requirement of the Fourth Amendment. Affirming the judgment of conviction, we hold that the officers did not violate the notice requirement in executing the search warrant and that, accordingly, the evidence seized in the search was not thereby rendered inadmissible.

At 2:00 p. m. on January 13, 1978, law enforcement officers went to defendant's residence in Minneapolis for the purpose of executing a warrant to search defendant's residence. This warrant, which did not contain a specific provision authorizing an unannounced entry, was issued on the basis of information indicating that defendant had been illegally selling drugs from his residence. After knocking at the front door and then the rear door without getting any response, the officers opened an unlocked rear door and entered what was variously described as a "foyer" an "entrance into a porched area" and "enclosed outside stairway" leading to the upper half of what appeared to be an "old-time duplex." While knocking on a locked first floor door but without getting a response, the head officer turned and saw defendant, who had opened a locked second floor door and come part way down the stairs. The officer asked defendant if he was "Mr. Prudhomme" and, when defendant replied that he was, the officer served defendant with a copy of the warrant and announced his authority and purpose. The ensuing search resulted in the discovery of drugs, narcotic paraphernalia, and a loaded .38 caliber revolver.

Defendant, testifying in his own behalf at the omnibus hearing, stated that he was residing in the entire building, that the outer door which the officers entered before announcing their authority and purpose was intended to be locked, and that the public was not welcome in this area.

In denying the motion to suppress, the trial court concluded in relevant part that "because of the physical layout of the building, the entry by the officers into the porch or enclosed outside stairway without announcing their purpose and authority, was reasonable within the purview of the Fourth Amendment."

Defendant bases his claim of illegal execution of the warrant on Minn.Stat. § 629.34 (1978). That statute provides that an officer making a warrantless arrest "may break open an outer or inner door or window of a dwelling house if, after notice of his office and purpose, he shall be refused admittance." (A similar provision in § 629.33 applies to warranted arrests.)

While defendant's reliance on the statute is misplaced since the statute applies to warrantless arrests, not to execution of a search warrant, State v. Linder, 291 Minn. 217, 190 N.W.2d 91 (1971), the cases of this court make it clear that the same basic notice requirements apply to an entry for the purpose of executing a search warrant. Further, although the United States Supreme Court has not directly held this, it would appear that the notice requirements are embodied in the Fourth Amendment. 2 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure, § 4.8(a) (1978).

Although the notice requirements have general applicability, there are exceptions made when (a) the police obtain advance specific judicial authorization for an unannounced entry and/or facts at the threshold indicate that an unannounced entry is needed, (b) facts at the threshold justify the reasonable belief that the premises are vacant, or (c) facts at the threshold indicate that announcement of purpose and authority would be a "useless gesture" because it is virtually certain that the occupants know of the authority...