State v. Umezulike

• Decision Date: 25 February 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2003-KA-1404.,2003-KA-1404.
• Citation: 866 So.2d 794
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Ifiany Obrinna UMEZULIKE.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

866 So.2d 794

STATE of Louisiana v. Ifiany Obrinna UMEZULIKE.

No. 2003-KA-1404.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

February 25, 2004.

Charles C. Foti, Jr., Atty. Gen., Michael Harson, Dist. Atty., Janet M. Perrodin, Asst. Dist. Atty., Counsel for Appellant.

Lester J. Gauthier, Jr., Lafayette, Counsel for Appellee.

TRAYLOR, J.

At issue in this matter is whether the last clause of La.Rev.Stat. 13:716(B)(1),¹ which delegates the authority to issue search warrants to the Commissioner of the Fifteenth Judicial District Court, violates the separation of powers doctrine by allowing a non-judicial officer to exercise judicial power which is reserved to elected judges by the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. For the reasons assigned, we reverse the Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, and find that the power to issue a search warrant is not solely a judicial power. Accordingly, we hold that the portion of La. Rev.Stat. 13:716(B)(1) which authorizes the Commissioner of the Fifteenth Judicial District Court to issue search warrants is constitutional and does not violate the separation of powers doctrine.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 28, 2000, Commissioner Diana Simon of the Fifteenth Judicial District issued a search warrant for the vehicle and home of Ifiany O. Umezulike, the defendant. As a result of the search, officers seized approximately one gram of marijuana and two packs of cigarette rolling paper. Subsequently, on October 5, 2000, a bill of information was signed, charging the defendant with a violation of La.Rev.Stat. 40:966, possession of marijuana, and La.Rev.Stat. 40:1033, possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors. The defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence on the basis that La.Rev.Stat. 13:716(B)(1), which allows the commissioner for the Fifteenth Judicial District to sign and authorize search warrants, violates Article V, § 1 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.

After a full evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied the defendant's motion to suppress, finding the statute constitutional.² In a Per Curiam opinion, the trial judge indicated his main concern was whether the power of a commissioner to sign and issue search warrants, as granted by La.Rev.Stat. 13:716(B)(1), constitutes an "adjudicatory power of the state" as prohibited by this court in State v. O'Reilly, 2000-2864, 2000-2865 (La.5/15/01), 785 So.2d 768. The Court of Appeal, Third Circuit reversed, finding that La.Rev.Stat. 13:716(B)(1) was unconstitutional. 02-1165 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/9/03), 843 So.2d 614. The State subsequently applied for and was granted writ of certiorari to this court. 03-1404 (La.9/5/03), 852 So.2d 1017.

DISCUSSION

The State maintains that the court of appeal incorrectly concluded that the commissioner's act of issuing a search warrant constituted a "final determination" in violation of the state constitutional provisions which mandate that only an elected judge may exercise judicial power. The State argues that the commissioner's issuance of a search warrant is not an unconstitutional delegation of power because the validity of the warrant may be reviewed in a subsequent motion to suppress. Therefore, the State concludes that the issuance of a search warrant is not a "final determination." In support of this argument, the State propounds Bordelon v. Louisiana Dept. of Corrections and State v. O'Reilly, in which this court addressed the constitutional validity of similar statutory schemes.³

Initially, we note that the trial court, the court of appeal, and the State emphasized whether the probable cause determination is an "adjudication" as determined by O'Reilly and Bordelon. While aiding our decision, the O'Reilly and Bordelon classifications are not the sole consideration in this separation of powers case. The specific language of Article 5, § 1 grants "judicial power," not adjudicative power, to the courts of this state. Therefore, the proper inquiry is whether an initial probable cause determination and the issuance of a search warrant is a "judicial power" as intended by the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. Moreover, Article I, § 5 of the Louisiana Constitution specifically addresses the requirements for a search warrant, and as such, an examination of that article is relevant to our determination in this case.

Although the doctrine of separation of powers is clearly and emphatically expressed in the Louisiana Constitution and must be maintained to its full extent, the exact line between judicial and legislative powers has never been delineated with absolute precision. Safety Net for Abused Persons v. Segura, 96-1978 (La.4/08/97), 692 So.2d 1038, 1041. La. Const. art. II, §§ 1 and 2 divide governmental power into three separate branches and provide that no one branch shall exercise powers belonging to another. Distinct from legislative powers, jurisdiction of the courts and the judicial powers flow from constitutional grants. Twiggs v. Journeymen Barbers, Hairdressers, Cosmetologists, and Proprietors Int'l. Union of America, Local 496 A.F.L., 58 So.2d 298 (1952). La. Const. art. 5, § 1 provides: "The judicial power is vested in one supreme court, courts of appeal, district courts, and other courts authorized by this Article." La. Const. art. 5, § 22(A) further provides, in pertinent part: "Except as otherwise provided in this Section, all judges shall be elected." The district courts of this state derive their power from La. Const. art. 5, § 16, which grants to district courts original jurisdiction in all civil and criminal matters except as otherwise provided by law.

Although jurisdiction of a court and judicial powers traditionally flow from constitutional grants, La. Const. art. II, §§ 1 and 2 establish the basis for recognition of inherent powers in the judicial branch which the legislature and executive branches cannot abridge. Segura, 692 So.2d at 1041; Konrad v. Jefferson Parish Council, 520 So.2d 393, 397 (La.1988); Singer Hutner Levine Seeman & Stuart v. Louisiana Bar Assoc., 378 So.2d 423, 426 (La.1979). These inherent judicial powers of the courts are not enumerated in the Louisiana Constitution. Konrad, 520 So.2d at 397; Lee Hargrave, The Judiciary Article of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, 37, La.L.Rev. 765, 793 (1976). Under the inherent powers doctrine, a court possesses inherently all of the power necessary for the exercise of its jurisdiction even though not granted expressly by law. La. Const. art. 5, § 2; La.Code of Civ. Proc. art. 191; Segura, 692 So.2d at 1041; Konrad, 520 So.2d at 397. Thus, the judicial power of the courts of this state may derive from an express constitutional grant or from inherent judicial power reasonably necessary for the exercise of their function as courts.

As we noted previously, we find that Bordelon and O'Reilly are not dispositive where the Louisiana Constitution specifically addresses the function which may be a "judicial power." Although we stand by our decisions in Bordelon and O'Reilly and adopt the pattern of analysis employed in both cases by examining the essential nature and purpose of the function at issue, we decline to base our decision solely on jurisprudential interpretations of judicial power when Article 5 of the Louisiana Constitution specifically addresses the function at hand. Succession of Lauga, 624 So.2d 1156, 1166 (La.1993). We must, therefore, examine the basic tenets of the right to privacy as protected by the issuance of a search warrant in pari materia with the constitutional grant of judicial power to determine whether the issuance of a search warrant is solely a judicial power.

Louisiana Const. art. 1, § 5 provides for the fundamental right to privacy, stating in pertinent part, "No warrant shall issue without probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, the persons or things to be seized, and the lawful purpose or reason for the search:"⁴ Under the familiar principles of Louisiana Constitutional law, the Legislature is entitled to exercise any power not specifically denied by the constitution. American Waste & Pollution Control Co. v. Dept. of Environmental Quality, 580 So.2d 392, 396 (La.App. 1 Cir.1991). Therefore, a party questioning the constitutionality of an act must point to a specific provision of the constitution which clearly prohibits legislative action. American Waste, 580 So.2d at 396; State v. Guidry, 247 La. 631, 173 So.2d 192, 193-194 (1965). When a court can reasonably do so, it must construe a statute so as to preserve its constitutionality. American Waste, 580 So.2d at 396.

Notably, Section 5 does not specifically require that a warrant shall be issued by a judge. Indeed, the drafters of Article I, § 5 were primarily concerned with preventing unreasonable searches and seizures from law enforcement officers, not with the issuing magistrate. Discussion of Section 5 at the Constitutional Convention of 1973 revolved around the importance of maintaining a probable cause determination which is independent of the investigatory powers of the police, rather than the importance of a judicial determination of probable cause. La. Const. Convention of 1973, tr. p. 16, Vol. XIII, 9/1/73 ("What we were concerned about was lawless law enforcement, nothing more, nothing less"). Moreover, Louisiana jurisprudence echoes this constitutional concern through its adoption of the federal `detached and neutral magistrate' standard to protect the function of a search warrant. See, State v. Bastida, 271 So.2d 854, 855 (La.1973)

(an evaluation of the constitutionality of a search warrant begins with the rule that the informed and deliberate determination of probable cause is to be made by a neutral and detached magistrate, rather than by police officer.); State v. Horton, 01-2529 (La.6/21/02), 820 So.2d 556, 561. From the drafters' discussion and the jurisprudence, we discern that the function of the initial probable cause determination and the...