State v. Reimer
| Decision Date | 23 June 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 20991,20991 |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Dennis REIMER, Defendant-Appellant, Boise, February 1995 Term |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Westberg, McCabe & Collins, Boise, for appellant. Thomas J. McCabe argued.
Alan G. Lance, Atty. Gen., and Douglas A. Werth, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, for respondent. Douglas A. Werth argued.
This is a criminal case in which Dennis Reimer (Reimer) appeals from the denial of a motion to suppress evidence discovered in connection with the execution of a warrant for the seizure of a vehicle for civil forfeiture. Reimer entered a conditional plea of guilty to the single charged count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute; the plea was conditioned on Reimer's reservation of his right to appeal the denial of the motion to suppress. Although Reimer has been sentenced to an eight-year sentence with two years fixed and six years indeterminate, execution of the sentence was stayed pending appeal after Reimer posted bond.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS.
In the early morning hours of February 5, 1993, Detective Mike Harrington (Harrington) of the Boise City Police Department observed a white 1969 G.M.C. pickup truck in the parking lot of the Hi Ho Club in Garden City. Harrington believed this truck was the same truck for which he had previously obtained a seizure warrant for civil forfeiture based on the use of the truck in a methamphetamine transaction. Although Harrington knew that the registered owner of the truck was Terry Reimer, Harrington suspected that Dennis Reimer was the actual owner of the vehicle because Dennis Reimer had driven the vehicle on the day of the methamphetamine transaction that formed the basis for the seizure warrant for civil forfeiture.
With the assistance of other officers, Harrington began surveillance of the vehicle. While Harrington left to retrieve a copy of the seizure warrant, the other officers watched the truck waiting for the operator of the vehicle to return. Harrington came back with the warrant and the surveillance then continued. At approximately 1:15 a.m., Sgt. Majors (Majors) observed Dennis Reimer and two other individuals emerge from the Hi Ho Club and enter the pickup truck. Majors followed as the pickup truck was driven a short distance down an alley from the club. The truck came to a stop. Majors did not activate either the lights or siren of his police car, rather he drove past the truck and then turned around to park next to it.
Dennis Reimer was already outside of the vehicle when Majors approached him. Reimer was on the passenger side of the vehicle and had a grey cup with a lid in his hand. He had a coat fastened around his waist area. Majors identified himself as a police officer and told Reimer to put the cup down and place his hands on his head. Reimer complied and Majors approached closer to conduct a pat-down search of Reimer's person. During this interaction Majors smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage on Reimer's breath. Another officer informed Reimer that the officers were seizing the truck pursuant to the seizure warrant.
Majors called for a Garden City police officer to administer roadside sobriety maneuvers to Reimer. The Garden City police officer responded to the scene and had Reimer perform a series of tests. The Garden City officer then informed Majors that although Reimer had been drinking, he was not intoxicated such that he should be charged with driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
During this time Majors had the grey mug in his possession. Majors had first retrieved the mug from the location that Reimer had set it while awaiting the arrival of the Garden City officer who administered the roadside sobriety maneuvers. During the time that Reimer had been performing roadside tests, Majors had inspected the contents of the mug by opening the lid and smelling the contents. Majors smelled an alcoholic beverage in the cup which, based on his visual observation with a flashlight, he believed to be whiskey mixed with Coke and ice cubes.
Once the Garden City officer informed Majors that Reimer should not be charged with driving under the influence, Majors directed the officer to issue Reimer a summons for an open container violation. Although Majors later testified that he intended for Reimer to be charged with a violation of a state statute, at the time he did not specify under what statute or ordinance Reimer should be cited. Reimer asked if he was free to go, Majors said he would be as soon as he received the summons. 1
Reimer asked if he could have his cup back. Majors replied that he was keeping it as evidence. Majors began to pour the liquid which he believed to be whiskey and Coke from the cup onto the ground. In the course of doing this he detected a rattling noise coming from the cup. Turning the cup upside down to determine where the rattling noise came from, Majors noticed that the cup had a removable bottom. Majors removed the bottom of the cup and discovered a glass vial and four small plastic baggies, all of which contained a substance he believed to be methamphetamine. The compartment in which the drugs were found was not designed for storage, but rather to provide an insulating air compartment between the outer surface of the mug and the interior area in which a hot or cold liquid is held. This hollowed out area can only be seen by prying off the tight-fitting bottom part of the mug. Unlike the looser-fitting lid which has a protruding tab to facilitate easy removal, the bottom of the mug is sealed snugly and only comes off if pried with a strong fingernail or a flat object such as a coin or screwdriver.
Reimer was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Reimer filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained from what he maintained was an unlawful search.
The district court denied Reimer's motion to suppress. In addition to upholding the lawfulness of the officers' contacts with Reimer, the district court held that Majors was entitled to seize the mug as evidence of an open container violation and that it was reasonable for him to dispose of the contents and search it when he heard the rattling noise.
Reimer entered a conditional plea of guilty to the single charged count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute; the plea was conditioned on Reimer's reservation of his right to appeal the denial of the motion to suppress. On appeal, Reimer challenges the validity of the seizure warrant, the lawfulness of the officer's seizure of the mug, and the constitutionality of the search of the interior compartment of the mug.
ANALYSIS.
Reimer first argues that the police officers had no lawful basis to contact him and conduct a pat-down search of his person because the forfeiture warrant was invalid. Specifically, Reimer argues that the warrant was invalid because the affidavit submitted to the Magistrate who issued the seizure warrant relied on incorporated police reports that were not in fact attached. The State contends that the validity of the warrant is immaterial based on the facts of the case.
However, because it is not necessary for resolution of the case to decide this question, for purposes of analysis only, we will proceed on the assumption that the police officers acted lawfully in contacting Reimer, subjecting him to a pat-down search, and having him perform the roadside maneuvers.
Reimer challenges the seizure of the mug to show an open container violation. Reimer maintains that the officers had no probable cause to believe he had violated the Idaho "open container" statute, I.C. § 23-505, because it only covers open containers that were at one time completely sealed in "original" packaging. Reimer also suggests the seizure of the cup without the contents was unlawful because the cup, once emptied, was of no evidentiary value even if Reimer's actions were covered by the open container statute.
Here again, determination of this issue is unnecessary to our decision of this appeal. Accordingly, we also accept, for purposes of analysis only, the State's argument that Majors lawfully seized the mug and disposed of its contents.
Having given the State the benefit of the assumptions described above, we commence our analysis at the point in the course of events when Majors had in his possession the empty mug which he had just noticed made a peculiar rattling noise.
Reimer argues that the seizure of an article having the capability of containing other articles, even if lawful, does not of itself justify a general exploratory search of anything contained within the article initially seized. The State responds that once the cup was lawfully seized, Reimer no longer had a protectable privacy interest in its internal compartments. According to the State, the officers were therefore entitled to search the interior either for additional evidence or as part of an inventory search.
As always, we begin with the well-established principle that:
each Fourth Amendment inquiry involves determining: (1) whether the defendant had an actual, subjective expectation of privacy; and (2) whether the defendant's expectation of privacy, viewed objectively, was reasonable and justifiable under the circumstances.
State v. Wilkins, 125 Idaho 215, 222, 868 P.2d 1231, 1238 (1994). In this case there is no dispute that, by secreting contraband in this unusual place, Reimer evidenced an actual and subjective expectation of privacy in the interior compartment of the mug. The dispositive inquiry is therefore whether that expectation was objectively reasonable under these circumstances. We believe that it was.
The interior compartment of the mug was tightly sealed. The contents of the compartment were...
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