State v. Williams, ED 104649

• Decision Date: 27 June 2017
• Docket Number: No. ED 104649,ED 104649
• Citation: 521 S.W.3d 689
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Charles WILLIAMS, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

521 S.W.3d 689

STATE of Missouri, Respondent,

v.Charles WILLIAMS, Appellant.

No. ED 104649

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, DIVISION FOUR.

FILED: June 27, 2017

Amanda Faerber, 1010 Market St., Suite 1100, St. Louis, MO 63101, for appellant.

Joshua D. Hawley, P.O. Box 899, Jefferson City, MO 65102, for respondent.

KURT S. ODENWALD, Judge

Introduction

Charles Williams ("Williams") appeals the trial court's judgment, entered after a bench trial, convicting him on one count of possessing a controlled substance. Williams, a student at a public high school, was searched by school officials and forced to remove items in his pockets after he arrived 30-minutes late to school. Among the items in Williams's pocket was a substance with a cocaine base. Williams contends that the trial court should have suppressed all evidence relating to his possession of a controlled substance because the evidence was the fruit of an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment. Recognizing that we review the constitutionality of school searches under a more relaxed standard than otherwise is required under the Fourth Amendment, we nevertheless hold that the search of Williams violated his right to be free of an unreasonable search for two reasons. First, the school official conducting the search lacked any reasonable, individualized suspicion that Williams possessed contraband on his person. Second, the school's policy to conduct a hand search of all late-arriving students was, under all the circumstances, unreasonable. Because the school official's search of Williams violated the Fourth Amendment, the trial court should have suppressed the resulting evidence. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

Factual and Procedural History

Williams was a student at Vashon High School ("Vashon") when he was arrested there for possession of a substance with a cocaine base. The State charged Williams as an adult with one count of possessing a controlled substance—a class C felony under Section 195.202.¹ Before trial, Williams moved to suppress "any and all articles seized and intended to be used against [Williams], and any testimony regarding such evidence." Williams waived his right to a jury trial. The trial court held a bench trial, which adjudicated both the suppression motion and Williams's guilt.

At trial, the State's main witness was DeAndre Duncan ("Duncan"), a school-safety employee at Vashon. Duncan's duties were to "patrol the school and protect and check anyone that comes in." Duncan knew Williams from prior interactions at the school. When asked about those interactions, Duncan stated, "Just the normal routine just get to class. Nothing negative."

Duncan testified that, on the day of arrest, Williams arrived at school at least 30-minutes late with a "group of young men." Duncan instructed the group, as they came through the front door, to remove their shoes and all items from their pockets. The students were then required to go through a metal detector. Williams passed through undetected. After the metal detector, Duncan "immediately" hand searched the students. When Duncan attempted to pat down Williams's back pocket, Williams told him to stop. Suspecting that Williams had something "that didn't belong" in school, Duncan brought Williams to the security office.

In the security office, Duncan demanded that Williams remove whatever was in his pocket. Williams removed a white "rocky substance" in a plastic wrapping. According to Duncan, Williams characterized this substance as "dope." Duncan handcuffed Williams and called Vashon's resource officer, DeAndre Davis ("Officer Davis"). Officer Davis worked for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department as a detective, but he was assigned to Vashon as the resource officer. Officer Davis arrived at the security office, seized the drugs,² and took Williams into custody. Williams was moved to Officer Davis's office, which was also at the school. Officer Davis started the booking process in his office before conveying Williams to the police station for formal booking. At some point during this process, Williams was read his Miranda ³ rights and stated that he understood those rights. According to Officer Davis's testimony at trial, Williams said that he "found" the contraband and "never should have picked [it] up."⁴

A central issue at trial was the constitutionality of the hand search made by Duncan when Williams first entered the school, and consequently whether evidence concerning Williams's drug possession should have been suppressed as the fruit of an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment. Duncan testified that he searched Williams according to school policy. According to Duncan, all students were required to pass through a metal detector to enter the school. But for all students who were late to school by 30 minutes or more, school policy required an additional "hand check." Duncan described this procedure vaguely:

A hand check entails removing all items from your pocket and even maybe shoes or—and to pull your pockets out and for me to check the front area of the body down the sleeves to pat the pockets and to—and even to the ankles, all the way down to the ankles.

The purpose for this policy, according to Duncan, was to protect the students, teachers, and staff. Duncan further stated that the reason for this hand-check policy addressed "[s]uspicion on late arrival." When asked what was suspicious about late arrival, Duncan replied, "Because of the neighborhood we have a lot of drug activities and violence down in that neighborhood, so the school [Vashon] and the St. Louis Public Schools asked us to have a more detailed check on later arrival for students at the time." Duncan stressed that his hand search of Williams when he entered the school merely followed the school's policy.

After hearing the testimony,⁵ the trial court overruled the suppression motion. The trial court found that the school's policy of suspicionless searches for all late-arriving students was justified because it was uniformly applied and done for safety purposes. The trial court also found that the search's scope was reasonable because it was limited to the emptying of pockets and a pat-down—no strip search occurred. The trial court found the search to be reasonable.

The trial court then found Williams guilty. The trial court suspended imposition of the sentence, placing Williams on probation. Williams's probation was later revoked and he was sentenced to three years in prison. Williams now appeals.

Points on Appeal

Williams raises three points on appeal. Point One argues that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress evidence of the drugs found on his person because the hand search of Williams violated his Fourth Amendment rights. Point Two contends that the trial court erred by admitting, as evidence, Williams's statements in the security office acknowledging the presence of "dope." Point Three assigns error to the admission of Williams's statements that he "found" the drugs and should not have picked them up.

Standard of Review

"When reviewing the trial court's overruling of a motion to suppress, this Court considers the evidence presented at both the suppression hearing and at trial to determine whether sufficient evidence exists in the record to support the trial court's ruling." State v. Pike , 162 S.W.3d 464, 472 (Mo. banc 2005). We will reverse only if the ruling was clearly erroneous. State v. Loggins , 445 S.W.3d 105, 109 (Mo. App. E.D. 2014). We defer to the trial court's factual findings and credibility determinations. Id. But, an alleged Fourth Amendment violation is a question of law. State v. Selvy , 462 S.W.3d 756, 764 (Mo. App. E.D. 2015). As such, the reasonableness of a public-school search under the Fourth Amendment is reviewed de novo. Doe ex rel. Doe v. Little Rock Sch. Dist. , 380 F.3d 349, 352 (8th Cir. 2004).

Discussion

We begin our discussion with an overview of the Fourth Amendment's application to searches of students by public-school officials. After analyzing Duncan's search of Williams under two frameworks, we conclude that the search was unconstitutional. Finally, we determine that the evidence deriving from the unconstitutional search should have been suppressed as the fruit of a poisonous tree.

I. The Fourth Amendment in Public Schools

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution 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...." U.S. Const. amend. IV. The Fourth Amendment, by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment, applies to searches by public-school officials, as they are considered state actors. New Jersey v. T.L.O. , 469 U.S. 325, 334, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985) (citing Elkins v. United States , 364 U.S. 206, 213, 80 S.Ct. 1437, 4 L.Ed.2d 1669 (1960) ).

"[T]he touchstone of the constitutionality of a governmental search" is "reasonableness." Bd. of Educ. of Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 92 of Pottawatomie Cnty. v. Earls , 536 U.S. 822, 828, 122 S.Ct. 2559, 153 L.Ed.2d 735 (2002). Fourth Amendment rights in public schools are different from those rights possessed elsewhere, as the "reasonableness" inquiry cannot disregard the school's tutelary responsibility for children. Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton , 515 U.S. 646, 656, 115 S.Ct. 2386, 132 L.Ed.2d 564 (1995) ( " Vernonia "). Further, securing order in a public-school environment sometimes requires greater controls over students than those over adults. Earls , 536 U.S. at 831, 122 S.Ct. 2559. As such, the United States Supreme Court has dispensed with the need for public-school officials to obtain a warrant based on probable cause before a search at school, because the warrant requirement would "unduly interfere with the maintenance of the swift and informal disciplinary procedures [that are] needed." Id. at 828-29, 122 S.Ct. 2559.

In the end, whether a public-school official's...