State v. Salyers
| Decision Date | 26 March 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. A13–0597.,A13–0597. |
| Citation | 842 N.W.2d 28 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Tommy SALYERS, III, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Syllabus by the Court
A person who possesses a gun cabinet also possesses the guns inside for the purpose of applying the statutes that criminalize being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing a sawed-off shotgun, and possessing a firearm having an obliterated serial number, Minnesota Statutes sections 609.165, subdivision 1b(a), 609.67, subdivision 2, and 609.667(2) (2012).
Lori Swanson, Attorney General, James B. Early, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, MN; and Jeffrey S. Naglosky, Koochiching County Attorney, International Falls, MN, for respondent.
Cathryn Middlebrook, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Michael W. Kunkel, Assistant Public Defender, St. Paul, MN, for appellant.
Considered and decided by ROSS, Presiding Judge; BJORKMAN, Judge; and MINGE, Judge.*
Koochiching County sheriff's deputies executing a search warrant easily pried open a gun cabinet in Tommy Salyers's bedroom and found three firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun with its serial number scratched off. A jury convicted Salyers of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing a sawed-off shotgun, and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Because the shotgun was located in Salyers's bedroom—an area where he had exclusive control—and the weak container in which the gun was located left it readily accessible, we affirm the conviction over Salyers's argument that he did not possess the gun. But because the district court sentenced Salyers on three counts that arose from the same conduct, we reverse his sentence in part and remand for resentencing.
Sherriff's Deputy John Kalstad got a tip from a reliable informant in September 2012 that Tommy Salyers, III, possessed stolen hardware and tools in his International Falls home. Deputy Kalstad sought, obtained, and executed a search warrant. Deputies arrived at Salyers's house to find a “No Trespassing” sign posted on the garage, signed by Salyers and S.B. The garage and the house were locked. No one was inside. Deputies entered the house and began searching.
While the deputies searched for the stolen items listed in the warrant, they found a tall, rectangular gun cabinet in Salyers's bedroom. The cabinet was constructed of thin metal, like a file cabinet, and it was locked. Police found a key in the bedroom that fit the lock, but it would not turn. So Deputy Bruce Grotberg got a crowbar from his car and he and Deputy George Gray used it to easily pry open the cabinet.
The deputies found none of the stolen goods inside, but among other things they found a sawed-off shotgun, a youth single-shot shotgun, a pistol, bullets, a wooden box marked “Tom and [S.B.],” and a life-insurance statement for a policy that covered a person named T.K. They found more bullets in a coffee mug near the safe. Those bullets did not fit any gun in the safe. Deputies noticed that the sawed-off shotgun's serial number had been scratched off. They confiscated the guns and left. They never tested any of the items for fingerprints or DNA.
Deputy Grotberg went to Carlton County to interview S.B. in Cloquet. S.B. told the deputy that she had previously shared the International Falls house with Salyers but that she had moved from there to Cloquet a few days before the search. She claimed that she owned the gun cabinet and that the youth shotgun inside belonged to her son.
The state charged Salyers with being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and possession of a short-barreled shotgun. Salyers moved the district court to suppress evidence obtained during the search, arguing that the search exceeded the scope of the warrant. He argued alternatively that the district court should dismiss the gun charges for lack of probable cause because no evidence proved that the guns belonged to him. The district court found that the deputies lawfully searched the gun cabinet and that the circumstances established probable cause to believe that Salyers possessed the guns.
The state called three witnesses in Salyers's trial. Deputy Kalstad testified that Salyers lived in the home and had no other residence. Deputy Gray testified to what he observed during the search. And Deputy Grotberg testified to what he saw during the search and to what he learned when he interviewed S.B. The jury heard substantially the same facts as summarized above, but with no reference to any stolen items. Salyers moved for a directed verdict after the state rested its case. The district court denied the motion, and Salyers presented no evidence.
During the state's closing argument, the prosecutor asserted that the issue was exclusively “gun possession.” To illustrate his point that Salyers constructively possessed the guns, the prosecutor told the jury, Salyers did not object. The jury convicted Salyers on all three counts.
Salyers argued at sentencing that the three offenses of his conviction stemmed from the same occurrence and that he therefore could be sentenced on only one. The district court sentenced him to serve 60 months in prison on the felon-in-possession charge and invited the parties to brief the multiple-sentencing issue, but neither party did. The district court then sentenced Salyers to 15 months in prison for possessing a firearm without a serial number and 19 months for possessing a short-barreled shotgun, both of these prison terms to be served concurrently with the felon-in-possession sentence.
Salyers appeals his conviction and sentence.
I. Did the district court err when it held that the search of the gun cabinet was reasonable and within the scope of the search warrant?
II. Did the jury receive sufficient evidence to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Salyers possessed the guns inside the safe?
III. Was the state required to demonstrate that the serial number obliteratedon the short-barreled shotgun was required by federal law?
IV. Did the district court commit plain error by allowing the prosecutor to argue that Salyers had constructive possession of articles locked in his home in his locked bedroom?
V. Did the court err by sentencing Salyers on each of the three offenses of conviction?
Salyers appeals his conviction and sentence on five grounds. He asserts that the district court erred by denying his suppression motion, that the evidence was not sufficient to prove that he possessed the guns, that the state failed to prove all elements of the sawed-off shotgun charge, that prosecutorial misconduct requires a new trial, and that his sentence is excessive because it fails to recognize that the three crimes all arose from the same behavioral incident. Only his last argument warrants reversal in part.
Salyers contends that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence. We review conclusions of law de novo when a defendant challenges a district court's order denying his motion to suppress. State v. Gauster, 752 N.W.2d 496, 502 (Minn.2008). Salyers contends that the district court erred by holding that the search was constitutionally reasonable. Specifically, Salyers argues that because all of the items listed in the search warrant could not have been located in the gun cabinet, the deputies exceeded the scope of their search by opening it. He also argues that damaging personal property was unwarranted. Neither argument moves us to reverse.
Both the United States and Minnesota Constitutions protect citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend. IV; Minn. Const. art. I, § 10. We consider the totality of the circumstances to determine whether police acted reasonably during the search. Dalia v. United States, 441 U.S. 238, 258, 99 S.Ct. 1682, 1694, 60 L.Ed.2d 177 (1979); State v. Thisius, 281 N.W.2d 645, 645–46 (Minn.1978). Police may search any container within the warranted area “if it is reasonable to believe that the container could conceal items of the kind portrayed in the warrant.” State v. Wills, 524 N.W.2d 507, 509 (Minn.App.1994), review denied (Minn. Feb. 14, 1995). And they may force open a locked box that “might contain one of the items described in the warrant.” Thisius, 281 N.W.2d at 645. The items on the warrant included hand-held power tools that could have fit inside the gun cabinet. This renders the search of the cabinet appropriate. That every item listed in the warrant could not fit inside does not prevent police from searching it for some items. That the deputies bent the lock to open it is constitutionally insignificant. The deputies' cabinet search was reasonable in light of the objective. The district court did not err by denying Salyers's motion to suppress.
Salyers argues that the state did not provide the jury with sufficient evidence to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he possessed the contents found inside the gun cabinet. When a party challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, we review the record “to determine whether the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the conviction,” allows a jury to conclude that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Ortega, 813 N.W.2d 86, 100 (Minn.2012) (quotation omitted). When a case depends on circumstantial evidence, we must apply a “heightened scrutiny” standard of review. State v. Al–Naseer, 788 N.W.2d 469, 473 (Minn.2010). Under this standard, the evidence must “be consistent with the hypothesis that the accused is guilty and inconsistent with any other rational hypothesis except that of guilt.” Id. (quotation omitted). Salyers contends that his convictions were based on circumstantial evidence calling for...
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