In re the Appeal of Burch

294 P.3d 1155, 296 Kan. 713, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 81
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedFebruary 22, 2013
DocketNo. 102,354
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 294 P.3d 1155 (In re the Appeal of Burch) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Appeal of Burch, 294 P.3d 1155, 296 Kan. 713, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 81 (kan 2013).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Moritz, J.:

Ian A. Burch appeals from the decision of the Court of Tax Appeals (COTA) granting summary judgment to the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) on its assessment of taxes and civil penalties against Burch under the Kansas DrugTax Act, K.S.A. 79-5201 et seq. Burch argues COTA erred in failing to consider and apply the exclusionary rule to the drags upon which the taxes were assessed, and in failing to invalidate the tax assessment.

We conclude COTA erroneously interpreted K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 79-5205(b), which provides that KDOR’s tax and penalty assessment is presumed valid, to preclude consideration of the exclusionary rale. Consequently, COTA erred in granting summary judgment to KDOR, and we remand the case to COTA for consideration of the exclusionary rale and the factors appropriate to that consideration, as outlined herein.

Traffic Stop and Resulting Criminal Charges

Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Harvey was patrolling I-70 in Trego County when he spotted a motor home that did not appear to have a license tag. Harvey pulled over the motor home and approached the vehicle. As he did so he noticed a temporary tag in the back window that the window’s heavy tint had obscured. Nevertheless, Harvey asked the driver, Kurt Christiansen, for his driver’s license, vehicle registration, and temporary tag.

The temporary tag identified Burch, who was a passenger, as the owner of the vehicle. As dispatch ran Christiansen’s license, Harvey spoke with Burch, obtained his license, and provided it to dispatch. In response to Harvey’s questions about the group’s travel plans, Burch said that someone had flown from the New England states to Florida to pick up the motor home, and he and seven other adults were traveling in it to Colorado. At some point, dispatch informed Harvey that Burch or Christiansen had a drug conviction.

In investigating the validity of the temporary tag, Harvey compared Burch’s license to the information on the tag and determined the information matched. Harvey also determined the description on the temporary tag matched the vehicle. But Harvey did not provide dispatch with the temporary tag information, and during [716]*716the subsequent suppression hearing Harvey admitted he had no particularized suspicion that the motor home was stolen.

Despite his lack of any particularized suspicion of a crime, Harvey continued to detain the motor home and its passengers, asking to see the vehicle’s VIN plate. When the driver and passengers, including Burch, advised the officer they did not know where to find the VIN plate, Harvey responded by instructing the passengers to open the side door so he could look inside the vehicle for the VIN plate.

As Harvey stood on the step of the motor home to check tire frame of the vehicle for the VIN plate, he saw an open alcoholic beverage. Once inside, he noticed wrapping papers, which he recognized as drug paraphernalia. Two ocher officers eventually arrived and assisted Harvey while he conducted a full search of the vehicle, revealing marijuana, ecstasy, psilocybin mushrooms, additional drug paraphernalia, and approximately $15,000 in cash.

The State filed four felony and two misdemeanor charges against Burch. Burch moved to suppress the drugs and paraphernalia found in the vehicle, arguing Harvey impermissibly extended the traffic stop in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The district court agreed, concluding that while Harvey had legally stopped the vehicle to inquire about the temporary tag, once he had obtained the information necessary to dispel his concern, the continued detention of the vehicle and its passengers became unlawful. Thus, the district court held Harvey had no reasonable suspicion that a crime had been or was being committed when he discovered tire drugs and paraphernalia.- Because Harvey unlawfully extended the scope and length of the stop, the district court suppressed the evidence found in the vehicle, and the State dismissed the criminal charges against Burch without prejudice.

The Tax Assessment and Related Proceedings

Approximately 1 week after the district court dismissed Burch’s criminal charges, Harvey “requested [KDOR’s] assistance for the collection of drug taxes and seizure of approximately $17,000 cash.” KDOR’s Director of Taxation responded by issuing a tax assess[717]*717ment notice indicating Burch owed $17,761 in taxes and penalties on the drugs found in his motor home. Burch objected to the assessment by requesting an informal conference with the Secretary of KDOR. Following a hearing, the Secretary’s designee upheld the assessment.

Burch’s Motion for Summary Judgment

Burch appealed the assessment to COTA’s predecessor, the Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA), and subsequently moved for summary judgment. Relying upon In re Appeal of Kasel, No. 93-528, Director of Taxation of the Kansas Department of Revenue Order, dated April 26, 1994, Burch argued the exclusionary rule applied to the unlawfully seized drugs and invalidated the tax assessment.

In Kasel, the director examined several factors in determining whether the exclusionary rule applied, including whether the potential tax assessment was in the officer’s “zone of primary interest” at the time of the Fourth Amendment violation, whether KDOR participated or colluded in the case, whether the officer acted in good faith, and whether the officer’s actions were motivated by the potential for tax assessment. Kasel, No. 93-528, p. 6. Applying these considerations, the director in Kasel determined the exclusionary rule should be applied to deter future violations of the Fourth Amendment.

Burch pointed out that shortly after Kasel, the legislature modified K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 79-5211 to increase the percentage of the assessment remitted to law enforcement agencies assisting in the investigation from 50 percent to 75 percent. L. 1994, ch. 259, sec. 2. Burch argued that because of this change to the statute, the Highway Patrol potentially had greater motivation to pursue the tax assessment in this case than in Kasel. Consequently, Burch reasoned that the facts of this case presented an even stronger basis for BOTA to invalidate the tax assessment.

KDOR did not contest Burch’s suggestion that the exclusionary rule could be applied in the civil tax context. Instead, KDOR argued the rule did not apply here because the constitutional violation was not egregious. Alternatively, KDOR contended that under the factors utilized in Kasel, Harvey’s actions were not motivated [718]*718by tax collection. Thus, KDOR reasoned that the application of the exclusionary rule would not deter future Fourth Amendment violations.

In denying Burch’s summaiy judgment motion, BOTA acknowledged the strength of Burch’s argument regarding Harvey’s potential motivation in acting unlawfully.

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Bluebook (online)
294 P.3d 1155, 296 Kan. 713, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 81, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-appeal-of-burch-kan-2013.