State v. Stewart
| Citation | 2014 ND 165,851 N.W.2d 153 |
| Decision Date | 31 July 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 20130374.,20130374. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of North Dakota |
| Parties | STATE of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee v. Tamri Dawn STEWART, Defendant and Appellant. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Brian D. Grosinger, Assistant State's Attorney, Mandan, N.D., for plaintiff and appellee.
James A. Teigland (argued), Nicholas D. Thornton (appeared), Fargo, N.D., and Erin M. Conroy (on brief), Bottineau, N.D., for defendant and appellant.
[¶ 1] Tamri Dawn Stewart appeals from a criminal judgment entered on a conditional plea of guilty to class C felony abuse or neglect of a child, reserving the right to challenge the district court's denialof her motion to suppress evidence. Because the facts in this case do not support the district court's decision that a police officer's entry into Stewart's home was justified by the emergency exception to the warrant requirement, we reverse the criminal judgment and remand to allow Stewart to withdraw her guilty plea.
[¶ 2] At about 5:30 p.m. on March 9, 2013, a police officer went to Parktown Trailer Park in Mandan in response to a call from a resident about the welfare of Stewart's dog. Stewart's neighbors were caring for the dog and told the officer that Stewart was working and her 10–year–old daughter was alone in Stewart's trailer home with a younger boy and that Stewart would not be returning home until 9 p.m. The couple also told the officer the trailer was in “horrible condition,” “there were several hundred pieces of dog poop in the house, and it was not fit for a child.”
[¶ 3] The officer went to Stewart's home. The officer testified he did “not necessarily” anticipate he would be required to take action when he approached the home and found “nothing emergent about the conditions.” The officer used the term “emergent” to mean “an emergency condition to go in the house.” The officer knocked on the door. The temperature was in the 30s and it was damp and windy. According to the officer, Stewart's daughter answered, “[a]nd she came outside, opened the door just far enough to sneak out, and close[d] the door behind her immediately, bang.” Stewart's daughter was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt without a coat. Although her clothes were dirty, her hair was unkempt and her mouth was slightly dirty, the officer testified the child's appearance did not concern him because “I've seen dirty kids before.” The officer told Stewart's daughter why he was there and asked if he could come inside the trailer to talk to her, but she said “no.” Stewart's daughter told the officer she was with a friend whose parents were watching her while her mother was at work. Stewart's daughter told him she and her mother were the only persons living at the home and the officer noted the child “sounded very mentally and emotionally mature for being ten years old.”
[¶ 4] The officer returned to his vehicle and phoned a police lieutenant and Stewart, who was at work. The officer told Stewart why he was at her house and asked for permission to look through the home, but Stewart said “no” and explained “she did not want me looking through her house without her being there if I didn't have a warrant.” Stewart was unable to give the officer the name or address of the person who was supposed to be watching her child while she was at work.
[¶ 5] After the officer had been in his vehicle between ten to twelve minutes, he returned to Stewart's residence and knocked on the door. Stewart's daughter again answered, stepped outside without a coat and closed the door. The officer asked her whether there was an adult in the home, whether she had a phone for emergencies, and when she had last eaten. He also questioned her about the conditions in the home. The officer testified:
And she had very clear answers for me that I took to be in my report a cover story. Just simple, quick answers to make the police officer go away. The concerns about the dog poop was, there was a problem, we got rid of the dog that was pooping in the house. So the problem is not there anymore. I clean the house. My mom helps me when she's not working because she works a lot. Stuff like that. Just quick answers so the cop would go away satisfied.
[¶ 6] After several minutes of talking on the porch, the officer saw Stewart's daughter was getting cold and asked her, “ ‘Can we just step inside your door so we can talk?’ ” Stewart's daughter allowed the officer inside, where he noticed an intense odor of dog feces and urine and found the home littered with garbage and dog feces. The officer called Social Services to remove Stewart's daughter from the home. The officer took the younger child home to his mother and learned the mother did not know who was supposed to be watching Stewart's daughter.
[¶ 7] Stewart was charged with class C felony abuse or neglect of a child in violation of N.D.C.C. § 14–09–22. Stewart moved to suppress the evidence, arguing the officer's warrantless entry into her home was illegal under the Fourth Amendment. During the hearing on the motion, the officer testified:
Q. Okay. You went back to the door and second time asked the child to come in; correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And at that time did you think she understood what it meant to consent to come into the home?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. It wasn't you showing authority in your opinion?
A. No.
Q. Okay.
A. No, the first time around she very clearly told me no.
Q. Okay.
A. The second time she was cold.
Q. So she was mature enough to consent in your opinion but not mature enough to stay home alone?
A. The reason she was taken was the conditions, not whether she was mature enough to be home alone.
....
Q. At the time you had asked now three times if you could have consent to enter the home. So you were fully aware that you needed some type of consent to enter the home; correct?
A. Absolutely. I'd not found an emergent condition yet.
The State did not attempt to justify the warrantless entry under the consent exception, and the district court made no findings about consent. Rather, the State relied on theories of “exigent circumstances,” “community caretaker,” and “[i]nevitable discovery” to justify the officer's warrantless entry.
[¶ 8] The district court denied Stewart's suppression motion, reasoning:
Officer Poppe's presence at the Defendant's home was not to investigate possible criminal action, but to do a check on the welfare of one and perhaps two young children who were reportedly left unattended in a filthy home without adult supervision for several hours. After his initial encounter with [Stewart's daughter] and [the younger child], Officer Poppe's personal observations confirmed that [Stewart's daughter] was home without any adult supervision, that her mother was at work and not expected at home for several hours, and that [Stewart's daughter] appeared very dirty and unkempt. Based upon all of those personal observations, Officer Poppe had reasonable grounds to believe that further assessment was necessary to determine if the 10 year old child was in any danger based on the circumstances.
Officer Poppe's entrance in the home was not motivated by an intent to discover evidence of any crime, but instead by an intent to protect the child from continuing to stand outside the home, without a coat, in near freezing temperatures.
....
Officer Poppe was acting upon reliable information from identified sources and his own personal observations and his conversations with [Stewart's daughter] and the Defendant, all of which provided a reasonable basis, approximating probable cause, to associate the emergency with the Defendant's home.
The Court hereby finds that Officer Poppe's observations of and entrance into the home, based upon his concern for and caretaking responsibilities for the ten-year-old child amounted to an exigent circumstance, which is an exception to the Fourth Amendment.
Stewart entered a conditional plea of guilty under N.D.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2), reserving her right to appeal from the denial of her motion to suppress.
[¶ 9] The district court had jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 8, and N.D.C.C. § 27–05–06. The appeal was timely under N.D.R.App.P. 4(b). This Court has jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 2, and N.D.C.C. § 29–28–06.
[¶ 10] Stewart argues the district court erred in denying her motion to suppress.
[¶ 11] Our standard for reviewing a district court's decision on a motion to suppress is well established:
In reviewing a district court decision on a motion to suppress, we give deference to the district court's findings of fact and we resolve conflicts in testimony in favor of affirmance. State v. Tognotti, 2003 ND 99, ¶ 5, 663 N.W.2d 642. We “will not reverse a district court decision on a motion to suppress ... if there is sufficient competent evidence capable of supporting the court's findings, and if the decision is not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence.” State v. Gefroh, 2011 ND 153, ¶ 7, 801 N.W.2d 429. Questions of law are fully reviewable on appeal, and whether a finding of fact meets a legal standard is a question of law. Id.
State v. Reis, 2014 ND 30, ¶ 8, 842 N.W.2d 845; see also City of Fargo v. Thompson, 520 N.W.2d 578, 581 (N.D.1994).
[¶ 12] The Fourth Amendment provides protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, and warrantless searches inside a person's home are presumptively unreasonable. See Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 586, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980); State v. Mitzel, 2004 ND 157, ¶ 11, 685 N.W.2d 120. Warrantless searches inside a home are not unreasonable, however, if the search falls under one of the exceptions to the search warrant requirement. Mitzel, at ¶ 11. Exigent circumstances and the community caretaker doctrine are exceptions to the warrant requirement. See id. at ¶ 19; State v. Keilen, 2002 ND 133, ¶ 13, 649 N.W.2d 224. Six years ago, a majority of this Court said the “community caretaking function does not encompass dwelling places.” State v. Gill, 2008 ND...
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