Teague v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Indiana
Citation891 N.E.2d 1121
Docket NumberNo. 48A02-0711-CR-921.,48A02-0711-CR-921.
PartiesCraig E. TEAGUE, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.
Decision Date15 August 2008

William Byer, Jr., Byer & Byer, Anderson, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Joby D. Jerrells, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge.

Craig E. Teague appeals his convictions for Dealing Cocaine,1 as a class A felony, Maintaining a Common Nuisance,2 a class D felony, and Possession of Marijuana,3 a class A misdemeanor. While he presents three issues on appeal, we find the following restated issue dispositive: Did the trial court err by permitting the State to use Teague's prior silence to impeach his exculpatory story told for the first time at trial? Because the issue will almost certainly arise on retrial, we also address the propriety of the trash searches.

We reverse and remand.

In October 2006, Anderson Police Detective Kevin Early received information from a confidential informant regarding cocaine dealing at 1510 Dewey Street. Teague lived at this residence with his wife. On October 26, 2006, about one or two weeks after receiving the tip, Detective Early conducted a trash pull at the residence. The search of the trash revealed evidence of marijuana and several plastic baggies with the corners missing. Detective Early pulled trash from the same residence a week later. Again, he found marijuana and baggies with corners missing, as well as cocaine residue on some of the baggies. He also discovered a utility bill addressed to Teague at 1510 Dewey Street.

The following day, November 3, 2006, Detective Early sought and obtained a search warrant for the residence based upon the information provided by the confidential informant and the evidence discovered in the trash pulls. When members of the Madison County Drug Task Force knocked at the residence that evening to execute the warrant, it took Teague approximately two minutes to open the door. Inside the living room and kitchen of the residence officers recovered, among other things, a small amount of marijuana, a digital scale, four hundred sixty dollars a plate containing a razor blade and cocaine residue, and a spoon, knife, and glass measuring cup containing cocaine residue. After Teague was arrested and taken from the scene, officers search the detached garage at the residence. In the rafters of the garage, they found a loaded handgun and a bag containing over sixty grams of cocaine.

On November 6, 2006, the State charged Teague with dealing in cocaine, a class A felony, maintaining a common nuisance, a class D felony, and possession of marijuana, a class A misdemeanor.4 On May 11, 2007, Teague filed a motion to suppress evidence found pursuant to the search warrant, claiming the warrant was procured following two unconstitutional trash searches. Following a suppression hearing, the trial court denied Teague's motion on June 20, 2007. Teague's three-day jury trial commenced on August 28, 2007. Teague unsuccessfully objected at trial to the admission of evidence obtained as a result of the alleged unconstitutional trash pulls and subsequent search of his residence.

At trial, the theory of Teague's defense was that Willie Ford, a convicted drug dealer, had been in Teague's garage and residence on the morning of the search. Teague testified in his own defense and explained that he was just a drug user, not a dealer, and that he and his wife had left and allowed Ford to "use" the residence for several hours on the day of the search. Trial Transcript at 382. Teague testified that he (Teague) often did this in exchange for drugs. Teague expressly denied knowledge of the handgun and cocaine in his garage. Over Teague's vehement objection, the trial court allowed the State to inquire on cross-examination whether he had ever told his story to police before trial, which he had not. The jury found Teague guilty as charged, and he was subsequently sentenced to an aggregate term of forty years in prison. Teague appeals his convictions. Additional facts will be presented below as necessary.

1.

As set forth above, Teague testified at trial and implied that the cocaine found in the garage belonged to Willie Ford. He testified that Ford had been in the garage on the morning of the search and had also used Teague's home that day while Teague and his wife were gone. Over Teague's objection, the State was permitted to ask him on cross-examination whether he had shared this information with police anytime since the arrest and leading up to trial.

We initially observe that the State's entire argument with respect to this issue is based on the premise that the State's cross-examination questions "were directed at [Teague's] prearrest silence." Appellee's Brief at 8. We acknowledge that it is permissible to impeach a defendant at trial based upon his pre-arrest, pre-Miranda silence. See Jenkins v. Anderson, 447 U.S. 231, 100 S.Ct. 2124, 65 L.Ed.2d 86 (1980). Contrary to the State's assertion on appeal, however, the challenged cross-examination testimony regarded Teague's post-arrest silence, not his pre-arrest silence.5

Teague asserts a Doyle violation. See Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976). In Doyle, the United States Supreme Court held that using a defendant's post-arrest, post-Miranda silence to impeach an exculpatory story told for the first time at trial violated the defendant's due process rights. Id. Rejecting the State's contention that it sought to use the defendant's silence for the limited purpose of impeachment on cross-examination, the Court noted that Miranda warnings give the criminal defendant implicit assurances that silence will carry no penalty. Id. Further, silence in the wake of these warnings may be nothing more than the arrestee's exercise of his Miranda rights. Id. "In such circumstances, it would be fundamentally unfair and a deprivation of due process to allow the arrested person's silence to be used to impeach an explanation subsequently offered at trial." Id. at 618, 96 S.Ct. 2240. See also Willsey v. State, 698 N.E.2d 784, 792 (Ind.1998) ("the prosecution may not use a defendant's decision to stand mute in order to create an inference of guilt"). Thus, Doyle "rests on `the fundamental unfairness of implicitly assuring a suspect that his silence will not be used against him and then using his silence to impeach an explanation subsequently offered at trial.'" Wainwright v. Greenfield, 474 U.S. 284, 291, 106 S.Ct. 634, 88 L.Ed.2d 623 (1986) (quoting South Dakota v. Neville, 459 U.S. 553, 565, 103 S.Ct. 916, 74 L.Ed.2d 748 (1983)).

The instant case is different than Doyle in that the undisputed evidence establishes Teague did not receive his Miranda warnings at the time of his arrest. In Fletcher v. Weir, 455 U.S. 603, 102 S.Ct. 1309, 71 L.Ed.2d 490 (1982) (per curiam), the Court held that the State's use of a defendant's post-arrest silence for impeachment purposes does not constitute a due process violation when the defendant did not receive Miranda warnings during the period of his post-arrest silence.6 See also Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 628, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993) ("[s]uch silence is probative and does not rest on any implied assurances by law enforcement authorities that it will carry no penalty"). The State is precluded, however, from using a defendant's silence after any subsequent point in time that he was advised of his right to remain silent. See id. at 628-29, 113 S.Ct. 1710 ("the State's references to petitioner's silence after that point in time [when he received Miranda warnings at his arraignment], or more generally to petitioner's failure to come forward with his version of events at any time before trial, crossed the Doyle line") (internal citation omitted).

While Teague was not advised of his Miranda rights at the time of his arrest, it cannot be disputed that at the latest he would have been advised of his rights (significantly, his right to remain silent) at his initial hearing three days later. The State's questions on cross-examination and its closing argument to the jury were not limited to Teague's pre-Miranda silence.7 Rather, the State specifically referenced Teague's entire period of pre-trial silence "through November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July and August." Trial Transcript at 518-19. The State's questions and argument related to Teague's post-Miranda silence were impermissible under Doyle. See Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. at 629, 113 S.Ct. 1710 ("due process is violated whenever the prosecution uses for impeachment purposes a defendant's post-Miranda silence"); Bevis v. State, 614 N.E.2d 599, 602 (Ind.Ct.App. 1993) ("we believe it is apparent on the face of these questions that they were unlimited, general questions directed without distinction to Mildred's silence both before and after she was given Miranda warnings. These questions were impermissible under Doyle").

Because a Doyle violation is so egregious and so inherently prejudicial, reversal is the norm rather than the exception. See Bevis v. State, 614 N.E.2d 599. An error of this type is harmless only when the court, after assessing the record to determine the probable impact of the improper evidence on the jury, can conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not influence the jury's verdict.8 Bevis v. State, 614 N.E.2d 599 (citing Henson v. State, 514 N.E.2d 1064 (Ind.1987) and Yurina v. State, 474 N.E.2d 93 (1985)). See also Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. at 630, 113 S.Ct. 1710 ("`before a federal constitutional error can be held harmless, the court must be able to declare a belief that it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt'") (quoting Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967)). "The State bears the burden of proving that an error passes muster under...

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