State v. Sessions
| Decision Date | 07 October 2019 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 46229 |
| Citation | 450 P.3d 306,165 Idaho 658 |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Coleton Myers SESSIONS, Defendant-Respondent. |
Lawrence G. Wasden, Idaho Attorney General, Boise, for appellant State of Idaho. Kenneth K. Jorgensen argued.
Eric D. Fredericksen, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for respondent Coleton Myers Sessions. Maya P. Waldron argued.
Upon the apparent belief that Coleton Sessions was selling tainted marijuana that had caused adverse medical symptoms to its users, police officers arrived at and entered Sessions’ house, and seized illegal substances and paraphernalia. Sessions was arrested and charged with multiple criminal offenses. He moved to suppress the evidence seized by the officers because it was procured without a warrant in violation of his constitutional rights. Based on the information that the officers had at the time they entered the home, the district court determined it was not reasonable for officers to believe that anyone inside the home was in need of immediate medical assistance and granted Sessions’ motion to suppress. The State appeals, arguing that the warrantless entry and search were justified as a result of exigent circumstances. Because the district court's conclusions are supported by substantial and competent evidence, we affirm the district court's order granting the motion to suppress.
On August 19, 2016, at approximately 10:00 p.m., Patrol Sergeant Scott Smith of the Mountain Home Police Department responded to an emergency call to find Steven Miller lying on a lawn. Smith observed that Miller could talk and move his head, but was unable to move the rest of his body. Miller told Smith that he had recently consumed some alcohol and marijuana. Smith believed the cause of Miller's paralysis was tainted marijuana. When Smith asked where Miller obtained the marijuana, he said he bought it from Sessions.
An ambulance arrived and transported Miller and Smith to St. Luke's Elmore Medical Center. Smith began to ask other officers, including Detective Kent Ogaard and Officer Hurly, whether there had been other reports similar to Miller's. Ogaard testified that he was informed that a couple of people had ended up at the hospital.1
Around midnight, Smith, Ogaard, and Hurly drove to Sessions’ residence, the location where Miller said he had purchased the marijuana. The officers never attempted to obtain a warrant to search Sessions’ home. Smith and Hurly were in police uniforms; Ogaard was in plain clothes. Ogaard knocked on the door. A woman answered the knock. After the woman opened the door, officers testified that they detected a strong odor of marijuana.2
The officers testified that this was not a normal marijuana investigation, due to reports that a few people in the community had possibly been affected by tainted drugs. Officers testified that they were operating under the belief that Sessions was selling tainted marijuana that could harm the user. After officers detected the odor of marijuana, they believed it possible that someone in the house might have consumed the marijuana and therefore needed help. The officers entered the home without obtaining permission or a search warrant. The woman who answered the door did not consent to the officers entering the home.
Upon entering the home, the officers noticed drug paraphernalia in the living room. Ogaard's questioning of the woman led him to believe that weapons might be inside the home. However, there was no evidence that the officers conducted a protective sweep to see if anyone was in medical distress. Nevertheless, the officers testified that had they not been concerned for the physical safety of the inhabitants, they would not have entered the home.
Ogaard asked the woman if the homeowner, Sessions, was available. Sessions came from down a hallway and spoke with the officers. Only after the conversation with Sessions did the officers search the residence. The officers located marijuana. No one at the home was found to be in any medical distress.
The State charged Sessions with manufacturing marijuana, delivery of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Sessions moved to suppress the evidence based on the officers’ warrantless entry into his home. The State responded to the motion to suppress, acknowledging that the officers entered Sessions’ home without a warrant, but arguing that the warrantless entry was justified by exigent circumstances. The district court granted Sessions’ motion to suppress because exigent circumstances did not exist, and there was no evidence that anyone at the residence was in medical distress. The State brought a timely appeal.
"In reviewing a district court order granting or denying a motion to suppress evidence, the standard of review is bifurcated." State v. Draper, 151 Idaho 576, 592, 261 P.3d 853, 869 (2011) (citing State v. Watts, 142 Idaho 230, 232, 127 P.3d 133, 135 (2005) ). "This Court will accept the trial court's findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous." Id. (citing State v. Diaz, 144 Idaho 300, 302, 160 P.3d 739, 741 (2007) ). "However, this Court freely reviews the trial court's application of constitutional principles in light of the facts found." Id. (citation omitted).
A. The district court did not err in determining that exigent circumstances did not exist to justify the warrantless entry into Sessions’ home.
The district court granted Sessions’ motion to suppress the evidence obtained during the search of his home because the officers had no evidence to cause the officers to reasonably believe anyone inside the home was suffering from any imminent medical distress. The State argues that the district court only applied part of the exigent circumstances test. In addition to preventing harm that has already occurred, the State contends that the exigent circumstances exception also extends to preventing any future harm. Sessions responds that the district court correctly determined that exigent circumstances did not exist. Further, Sessions argues that the district court properly considered the possibility of future harm but concluded that it did not justify the warrantless entry.
The Fourth Amendment provides, "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their ... houses ... shall not be violated[.]" U.S. Const. amend IV ; see also Idaho Const. art. I, § 17. Warrantless searches and seizures within a home are presumptively unreasonable.
Kentucky v. King, 563 U.S. 452, 459, 131 S.Ct. 1849, 179 L.Ed.2d 865 (2011) (citing Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398, 403, 126 S.Ct. 1943, 164 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006) ); accord State v. Smith, 144 Idaho 482, 485, 163 P.3d 1194, 1197 (2007). The State may overcome this presumption by proving one of the exceptions to the warrant requirement. Id. One such exception is exigent circumstances. Brigham City, 547 U.S. at 403, 126 S.Ct. 1943. "[W]arrants are generally required to search a person's home ... unless ‘the exigencies of the situation’ make the needs of law enforcement so compelling that the warrantless search is objectively reasonable under the Fourth Amendment." Id. (alteration in original) (quoting Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 393-394, 98 S.Ct. 2408, 57 L.Ed.2d 290 (1978) ).
One exigent circumstance is to provide emergency aid: "[L]aw enforcement officers may enter a home without a warrant to render emergency assistance to an injured occupant or to protect an occupant from imminent injury." Id. (citations omitted). "[T]he police bear a heavy burden when attempting to demonstrate an urgent need that might justify warrantless searches[.]" Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740, 749-50, 104 S.Ct. 2091, 80 L.Ed.2d 732 (1984). Thus, this Court must consider whether the district court correctly concluded there was no compelling need for official action in this case.
This Court has minimal case law applying the emergency aid exception. However, Idaho's Court of Appeals has had several occasions to consider this issue, and we therefore look to our appellate court for its handling of similar cases. The Court of Appeals has held that "unconsciousness or unresponsiveness, along with factors tending to indicate distress, may amount to exigent circumstances." State v. Heard, 158 Idaho 667, 669, 350 P.3d 1044, 1046 (Ct. App. 2015) ; see also State v. Bower, 135 Idaho 554, 559, 21 P.3d 491, 496 (Ct. App. 2001). For example, in Heard , the Court of Appeals held that exigent circumstances existed when the officer observed an unresponsive woman inside a hotel room, and the officer had knowledge that she had been arguing with a man loudly just five minutes before. Heard, 158 Idaho at 669-70, 350 P.3d at 1046-47.
Likewise, an unexplained medical emergency may give rise to a finding of exigent circumstances. State v. Barrett, 138 Idaho 290, 292, 62 P.3d 214, 216 (Ct. App. 2003). In Barrett, officers responded to a 911 call from a neighbor who reported that Barrett had collapsed on the neighbor's porch. Id. When officers arrived, Barrett was unable to stand, hear, or communicate with the officers. Id. The officers noticed that Barrett's door was open and the neighbor stated that he had not seen Barrett's wife or children all day. Id. The officer shouted into the house and asked anyone inside to come forward. Id. After receiving no response, the officer entered the home to determine if there was anyone inside who needed medical assistance. Id. Once inside, the officer found illegal substances. Id. The Court of Appeals held that the entry was justified by exigent circumstances, noting that the unexplained medical emergency, coupled with the officer's inability to contact anyone inside the home, suggested a reasonable possibility that the other occupants of the home were in medical distress. Id. at 294-95, 62 P.3d at 218-19.
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