State v. Robinson, CR–12–1128.

• Decision Date: 31 October 2013
• Docket Number: No. CR–12–1128.,CR–12–1128.
• Parties: STATE of Arkansas, Appellant v. Kendrick ROBINSON, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

2013 Ark. 425

430 S.W.3d 105

STATE of Arkansas, Appellant

v.Kendrick ROBINSON, Appellee.

No. CR–12–1128.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Oct. 31, 2013.

Dustin McDaniel, Att'y Gen., by: Rebecca Kane, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellant.

William R. Simpson, Jr., Public Defender, by: Clint Miller, Deputy Public Defender, for appellee.

DONALD L. CORBIN, Justice.

Appellant State of Arkansas brings the instant appeal from an order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court granting Appellee Kendrick Robinson's motion to suppress evidence. In its appeal, the State asserts that the circuit court erred in granting Appellee's motion to suppress evidence seized in connection with the execution of a search warrant, served simultaneously with an arrest warrant for Appellee, by Sherwood police officers on a home located outside the city limits of Sherwood. We agree and, therefore, reverse and remand.

Appellant was a suspect in an armed robbery of a Phillips 66 gas station in Sherwood that occurred on July 4, 2011. Officers from the Sherwood Police Department executed a search-and-seizure warrant, as well as an arrest warrant, on July 6, 2011, at Appellee's residence, located at 8405 Edmar Place, North Little Rock, Arkansas.¹ Appellee was taken into custody and officers seized certain items, including a white baseball cap located on a table just inside the residence; a .30–30 rifle, with attached scope, located in the front room, near where Appellee was placed under arrest; an empty box of Remington .30–30 ammunition located near the couch in the front room; live ammunition and spent casings from the gun, located throughout the house; and two shirts discovered in a back bedroom.

Appellee was subsequently charged with one count each of aggravated robbery, theft of property, and possession of firearms by certain persons. Appellee filed a motion to suppress evidence, arguing that it was taken in violation of his constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article 2, section 15 of the Arkansas Constitution. The State responded that suppression was not warranted because the evidence was obtained legally, as the Sherwood officers were authorized to execute the arrest warrant, as well as the search warrant, pursuant to the rules of criminal procedure.

The circuit court held a hearing on the suppression motion on February 23, 2012. At the hearing, Appellee stated that his suppression motion was based solely on his contention that the officers from the Sherwood Police Department were outside their territorial jurisdiction when they executed this search warrant and did so without any interagency agreement. Appellee relied on this court's decision in State v. Fountain, 350 Ark. 437, 88 S.W.3d 411 (2002) to support his contention that, in the absence of any interagency agreement or cooperation between Sherwood police and other local law enforcement agencies, Sherwood police improperly executed the search warrant, which, in turn, required the court to suppress the evidence seized as a result thereof. The State countered that Fountain did not establish such a bright-line rule. The State further argued that the decision in Fountain supported a conclusion that the evidence was legally obtained because, in this case, there was both a valid arrest warrant, and a valid search-and-seizure warrant.

Following a hearing on the motion, the circuit court granted the motion, thereby suppressing the evidence seized from Appellee's residence. The State timely appealed this order, but this court dismissed the appeal. The circuit court subsequently entered a written order on October 29, 2012, that reflected its prior oral ruling to grant the motion to suppress. The State now brings the instant interlocutory appeal.

For its first argument on appeal, the State asserts that the circuit court erred in ruling as a matter of law that the evidence seized as a result of an extraterritorial execution of a valid search warrant must be suppressed by concluding that the execution of the warrant was per se unreasonable because it was not executed in cooperation with local law enforcement. Appellee counters that the circuit court properly suppressed the evidence because it was the result of an invalid execution of the search warrant.

As a threshold matter, we must address whether this is a proper appeal by the State. Unlike the right of a criminal defendant to bring an appeal, the State's right to appeal is limited to the provisions of Rule 3 of the Arkansas Rules of Appellate Procedure—Criminal (2013). State v. Colvin, 2013 Ark. 203, 427 S.W.3d 635. Under this rule, we accept appeals by the State when our holding would be important to the correct and uniform administration of Arkansas criminal law. State v. Hardiman, 353 Ark. 125, 114 S.W.3d 164 (2003). Where an appeal by the State fails to present an issue of interpretation of the criminal rules with widespread ramifications, this court has held that such an appeal does not involve the correct and uniform administration of the law. State v. Williams, 348 Ark. 585, 75 S.W.3d 684 (2002). Where the resolution of the issue on appeal turns on the facts unique to the case or involves a mixed question of law and fact, the appeal is not one requiring interpretation of our criminal rules with widespread ramifications, and the matter is not appealable by the State. Id. Finally, where an appeal raises an issue of the application, and not interpretation, of a criminal rule or statutory provision, it does not involve the correct and uniform administrationof the criminal law and is not appealable by the State under Rule 3. Id.

The issue presented in this case is whether the circuit court erred in finding that it was per se unreasonable for officers to execute an extraterritorial search warrant without the cooperation of local law enforcement. More specifically, the State asserts that the circuit court erred in its interpretation of the applicable criminal procedural rules and this court's precedent in Fountain, 350 Ark. 437, 88 S.W.3d 411, as well as the two cases relied on by the court in Fountain: Colston v. State, 346 Ark. 503, 58 S.W.3d 375 (2001) and Logan v. State, 264 Ark. 920, 576 S.W.2d 203 (1979). The material facts surrounding the execution of the warrant are not in dispute; thus, the question presented is purely a legal one and presents a proper issue for an appeal by the State.

On review of a suppression challenge, we conduct a de novo review based on the totality of the circumstances, reviewing findings of historical facts for clear error and determining whether those facts give rise to reasonable suspicion or probable cause, giving due weight to inferences drawn by the circuit court. State v. Tyson, 2012 Ark. 107, 388 S.W.3d 1.

We turn now to the State's argument that the circuit court erred in granting the suppression motion. In support of this argument, the State asserts that the circuit court erred in interpreting Fountain as establishing a bright-line rule, which requires officers to have interagency cooperation within the jurisdiction of execution of a search warrant. According to the State, it is notable that in Fountain the court considered a combination of statutes, rules of criminal procedure, case law, and facts in applying a totality-of-the-circumstances review to conclude that the search was reasonable. The State argues that the circuit court in this instance, while stating that it had considered the totality of the circumstances, actually based its decision on one factor, namely, the requirement of interagency cooperation and, thus, erred as a matter of law in granting the motion to suppress. Appellee counters that there is no Arkansas statute, court rule, or appellate court decision that specifically allows a police officer from a municipality to execute a search warrant outside his territorial jurisdiction, acting by himself.²

After Appellee filed his motion to suppress evidence, the circuit court held a hearing on the motion. At the conclusion of the hearing, the circuit court announced that it was granting Appellee's motion, stating as follows:

Based upon the totality of the circumstances, the Court finds that the search in this instance does not comport with the requirements of an interagency agreement so as to respect the concept of territorial jurisdiction of peace officers and the Court finds that the conduct of the law enforcement agency, the Sherwood Police Department in this instance, is not consistent with the traditional notions of reasonableness which underlie the [F]ourth [A]mendment.

In its written order, the circuit court ruled that in order for the Sherwood police officers to validly execute the search warrant it was necessary for them to either have an interagency agreement or officers from the other jurisdiction present at the time of the execution of the search warrant. We agree with the State that the circuit court improperly interpreted Fountain as requiring interagency cooperation.

The Fourth Amendment provides that

[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.... The Amendment guarantees the privacy, dignity, and security of persons against certain arbitrary and invasive acts by officers of the Government or those acting at their direction.

Skinner v. Ry. Labor Executives' Ass'n, 489 U.S. 602, 613–14, 109 S.Ct. 1402, 103 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989). However, only those searches and seizures that are deemed unreasonable are proscribed by the Fourth Amendment. Id. What is reasonable “depends on all of the circumstances surrounding the search or seizure and the nature of the search and seizure itself.” Id. at 619, 109 S.Ct. 1402 (quoting United States v. Montoya de Hernandez, 473 U.S. 531, 537, 105 S.Ct. 3304, 87 L.Ed.2d 381 (1985)). “Thus, the permissibility of a particular law enforcement practice is judged by balancing its intrusion...