Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Samuel Gambrel

CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedNovember 8, 2024
Docket2023-CA-0540
StatusPublished

This text of Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Samuel Gambrel (Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Samuel Gambrel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Samuel Gambrel, (Ky. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

RENDERED: NOVEMBER 8, 2024; 10:00 A.M. TO BE PUBLISHED

Commonwealth of Kentucky Court of Appeals

NO. 2023-CA-0540-MR

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLANT

APPEAL FROM JESSAMINE CIRCUIT COURT v. HONORABLE HUNTER DAUGHERTY, JUDGE ACTION NO. 22-CR-00364

SAMUEL GAMBREL APPELLEE

OPINION AFFIRMING IN PART, REVERSING IN PART, AND REMANDING

** ** ** ** **

BEFORE: CALDWELL, CETRULO, AND A. JONES, JUDGES.

JONES, A., JUDGE: The Commonwealth submits an interlocutory appeal

authorized under KRS1 22A.020(4) from the Jessamine Circuit Court’s order

granting Samuel Gambrel’s motion to suppress evidence. After our review of the

facts and the law, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further

proceedings.

1 Kentucky Revised Statute. I. BACKGROUND

On October 14, 2022, at approximately 9:00 a.m., Officer Kyle Lamb

of the Nicholasville Police Department was dispatched to a Walmart parking lot in

Jessamine County to perform a welfare check. The dispatcher informed Officer

Lamb that there were two individuals who appeared to be asleep or unconscious in

a parked vehicle. Based on the license plate number of the vehicle, the dispatcher

was able to tell Officer Lamb that the owner of the vehicle was Samuel Gambrel.

Officer Lamb arrived at the Walmart shortly before another police

officer, Officer Howard. The two officers saw that, while the male driver appeared

to be merely asleep, there was some concern about the condition of the female in

the passenger seat because she was slumped forward, with her head hanging down.

Officer Lamb approached the vehicle on the driver’s side, while Officer Howard

approached the passenger’s side. At this point, the two officers discovered there

was a third individual, a male asleep in the vehicle’s back seat on the driver’s side.

Officer Howard tapped on the female passenger’s window and woke the three

occupants. The driver identified himself as Gambrel, the female passenger

identified herself as Jennifer Gordon, and the male in the back seat identified

himself as Nathaniel Atkins.

Officer Lamb would later describe the three individuals as

cooperative, and they did not appear under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The

-2- officer further stated that the three did not demonstrate any suspicious conduct, but

he also candidly admitted that he did not consider them free to leave during this

encounter. At this time, the police asked the three occupants of the vehicle for

their identification. Atkins informed Officer Lamb that he did not have his driver’s

license on him, but he gave the officer his social security number. Officer Lamb

then asked a third officer who had arrived at the scene, Officer Tune, to “stand by”

the vehicle door next to Atkins while he ran the information in his cruiser.

Upon running the information, Officer Lamb discovered that Atkins

had three open warrants. The officers informed Atkins of the warrants and asked

him to step out of the vehicle because he was under arrest. When Atkins exited the

vehicle, Officer Tune observed a clear plastic bag, in plain view, where Atkins had

previously been sitting. The plastic bag contained a substance which appeared to

be methamphetamine. After the officers saw the plastic bag, they asked Gambrel

and Gordon to exit the vehicle while they conducted a search. The officers found a

black lockbox on the front passenger floorboard, and the key to the lockbox was

found on Gambrel’s keyring. Inside the lockbox, the officers found several clear

plastic bags, a paper bindle, and a pill bottle – all of which contained a substance

appearing to be methamphetamine. A search of Atkins following his arrest

revealed a small quantity of cocaine wrapped in a dollar bill on his person.

-3- As a result of this incident, the Jessamine County grand jury indicted

Gambrel on five charges: (1) first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance

(more than two grams of methamphetamine);2 (2) first-degree trafficking in a

controlled substance (less than four grams of cocaine);3 (3) possession of drug

paraphernalia;4 (4) possession of marijuana;5 and (5) being a first-degree persistent

felony offender.6 Gambrel subsequently moved the trial court to suppress

evidence, alleging the warrantless search of his vehicle violated his rights against

unreasonable search and seizure guaranteed by Section 10 of the Kentucky

Constitution and the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. After a

hearing conducted on February 24, 2023, the trial court granted Gambrel’s

suppression motion. The trial court focused on the fact that this was a welfare

check of the occupants, and there was no reasonable articulable suspicion of

criminal activity justifying the seizure of the vehicle occupants while they were

asked for their identification. The trial court also found that the attenuation

2 KRS 218A.1412(1)(b), a Class C felony. 3 KRS 218A.1412(1)(e), a Class D felony. 4 KRS 218A.500(2), a Class A misdemeanor. 5 KRS 218A.1422, a Class B misdemeanor. 6 KRS 532.080(3).

-4- doctrine, an exception to the exclusionary rule, did not apply in this case due to the

flagrancy of the officers’ conduct. This appeal by the Commonwealth followed.

II. ANALYSIS

“Citizens are protected from unreasonable government searches and

seizures by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section

10 of the Kentucky Constitution.” Commonwealth v. Wilson, 625 S.W.3d 252, 255

(Ky. App. 2021) (citation omitted). In construing the protection offered by Section

10 of the Kentucky Constitution, we are guided by the United States Supreme

Court’s interpretation of the federal Fourth Amendment. Commonwealth v. Reed,

647 S.W.3d 237, 243 (Ky. 2022).7

“Warrantless searches are ‘per se unreasonable under the Fourth

Amendment – subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated

exceptions.’” Robbins v. Commonwealth, 336 S.W.3d 60, 63 (Ky. 2011) (quoting

Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S. Ct. 507, 19 L. Ed. 2d 576 (1967)).

The exclusionary rule prevents the admission of evidence against the accused

7 We note here that, prior to Reed, the Kentucky Supreme Court consistently ruled that “Section 10 of the Kentucky Constitution provides no greater protection than does the federal Fourth Amendment.” Cobb v. Commonwealth, 509 S.W.3d 705, 712 (Ky. 2017) (quoting LaFollette v. Commonwealth, 915 S.W.2d 747, 748 (Ky. 1996)).

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