People ex rel. E.G.

2016 CO 19, 368 P.3d 946, 2016 WL 1567237
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedApril 18, 2016
DocketSupreme Court Case No. 15SC298
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 2016 CO 19 (People ex rel. E.G.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. E.G., 2016 CO 19, 368 P.3d 946, 2016 WL 1567237 (Colo. 2016).

Opinions

CHIEF JUSTICE RICE

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

1 1 In this case we must decide whether a trial court has the authority to grant a defendant's discovery motion seeking access to the private residence of a third party. The defendant, E.G., was convicted of two counts of sexual assault on a child as part of a pattern of sexual abuse. Before trial, he filed a motion requesting court-ordered access to his grandmother's basement-the scene of the crime. The trial court concluded that it had no authority to order such access and denied the motion.

-_ T2 The court of appeals disagreed with the trial court's reasoning, though not its result. People in the Interest of E.G., 2015 COA 18, ¶ 6, 371 P.3d 693. It held that a trial court does indeed have authority to order defense access to a third-party residence. Id. It nevertheless affirmed the denial of the motion for access because it concluded that E.. had "failed to demonstrate" that inspection of the crime seene was "necessary to present his defense." Id. at 117. We granted the People's petition for certiorari to determine under what cireumstances-if any-a trial court has authority to grant a defendant accéss to a private residence.1 We conclude [948]*948that the trial court lacked authority td order such access and therefore affirm on alternate grounds,

I. Facts and Procedural History

T3 B.G. was charged as an aggravated juvenile offender, and a jury found him guilty of two counts of sex assault on a child as part of a pattern of abuse. See §§ 18-8-405(1), (2)(d); 19-2-601, C.R.S. (2015). The victims were twelve-year-old twin brothers who disclosed to their father that their older cousin, E.G., had' repeatedly raped them séveral years earlier in the basement of their mutual grandmother's house. ~

T4 Prior to trial, E.G. moved the court to order the victims' grandmother "to allow Defense Counsel and [her investigator] to have access to the residence" so that counsel could "view and photograph the crime scene." 2 . As grounds for his motion, E.G. cited authority from other jurisdictions suggesting that such access was necessary under principles of fundamental fairness and due process of law. The court denied the motion, reasoning that it could not "order a private entity to open up their private residence." The court explained that it had not seen "any Colorado law, statutory or case law that indicate[d]" that the court 'had any authority to order the requested access, The trial went forward, and E.G. was convicted. ©

T5: On appeal, E.G. challenged the denial of his motion for access to the home, and the court of appeals held that the trial court erred when it held that it did not have the authority to order defense access to the private property 'of a non-party. E.G, 115. According to the court of appeals, the trial court's authority stemmed from the defendant's "constitutional right to present evidence on his behalf and to confront adverse witnesses" and the right to "compel material evidence from private third parties." Id. at To obtain such access, the court explained, a defendant "must demonstrate that the evidence is relevant, material, and necessary to his defense, and the court must balance the defendant's proffered justification with the rights and legitimate interests of the non-party." Id. at 115. After creating this test, the court of appeals subsequently concluded that E.G. failed to satisfy it Id. at T 17. «Thus, the court of appeals affirmed the trial court's denial of the motion for access on alternate grounds. Id. at TV 23-24. We granted the People's petition for certiorari.

II. Standard of Review

196 Generally speaking, appellate courts will review a trial court's discovery order in a criminal case for abuse of disceretion. See Crim. P. 16(I)(d)(1); People ex rel. Shinn v. Dist. Ct., 172 Colo. 23, 469 P.2d 732, 733-34 (1970). However, a trial court abuses its discretion if it exceeds the bounds of its legal authority,. See Spahmer v. Gullette, 113 P.3d 158, 164 (Colo.2005). Thus, the precise question we are faced with today-whether a trial court has the authority to order 'a third party to open her home to the defendant-presents a legal question that we will review de novo. See Stackhouse v. People, 2015 CO 48, ¶ 4, - P.3d -.

III. Analysis

T7 Defendant argues that the trial court erred when it denied his motion for investigatory access to a non-party's private home. The threshold question we must answer- and a question we address in conjunction with a related case, also issued today, In re People v. Chavez, 2016 CO 20, 368 P.3d 943-is whether a trial court has any authority to issue such an order in the first place. We analyze the potential sources of authority and conclude that nothing authorized the trial court to grant the defendant's request for access to a private home. Because we hold [949]*949that the trial.court's original ruling was correct-it did not have authority to order the access-we now affirm the court of appeals on alternate grounds.

A, The Right to be Free From Unreasonable Intrusion Into One's Home

18 The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." The Colorado Constitution contains a nearly identical provision. See Colo. Const. art. II, § 7 ('The people shall be secure in their persons, papers, homes and effects, from unreasonable searches and seizures. ..."). "The clearest right is to be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion into one's home." People v. O'Hearn, 931 P.2d 1168, 1172-73 (Colo.1997). A court order forcing an individual to open her private home to strangers is certainly government intrusion. '

T9 Under these cirenmstances, (1) the deprivation would be "caused by the exercise of some right or privilege created by the State" (namely, a- court order) and (2) E.G., the "party charged with the deprivation," would qualify as a state actor "because he [would have] acted together with or :.. obtained significant aid from state officials"-in this case, the district court judge. Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., Inc., 457 U.S. 922, 937, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982); cf. Walter v. United States, 447 U.S. 649, 662, 100 S.Ct. 2395, 65 L.Ed.2d 410 (1980) (Black-mun, J., dissenting) ("[The Fourth Amendment proseribes only governmental action, and does not apply to a search or seizure, even an unreasonable one, effected by a private individual not acting as an agent of the Government or with the participation or knowledge of any government official."); Burdeau v. McDowell, 256 U.S. 465, 475, 41 S.Ct. 574, 65 L.Ed. 1048 (1921) (holding that there was no Fourth Amendment violation where "no official of the ... government had anything to do with the wrongful seizure"). Accordingly, E.G.'s grandmother had a constitutional right to be free from an unreasonable search of her home conducted by the defense.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2016 CO 19, 368 P.3d 946, 2016 WL 1567237, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-eg-colo-2016.