People v. Butler

251 P.3d 519, 2010 Colo. App. LEXIS 1049, 2010 WL 2853750
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 22, 2010
Docket08CA0944
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 251 P.3d 519 (People v. Butler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Butler, 251 P.3d 519, 2010 Colo. App. LEXIS 1049, 2010 WL 2853750 (Colo. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge TAUBMAN.

Defendant, Robert Shane Butler, appeals the trial court's judgment of conviction entered on a jury verdict finding him guilty of two counts of attempting to disarm a police officer. We affirm.

I. Background

Butler allegedly assaulted someone with a large knife on June 16, 2007. On June 18, officers attempted to execute a search warrant in connection with that incident. As a result of Butler's interaction with the officers executing the search warrant, Butler was charged with attempted first degree murder, first degree assault, two charges of attempting to disarm a police officer, first degree assault with a deadly weapon in the heat of passion, and two counts of crime of violence.

The trial court severed Butler's charges of attempting to disarm a police officer from the other charges, and a jury found him guilty of both counts of attempting to disarm a police officer. The trial court sentenced him to concurrent sentences of eighteen months in the Department of Corrections. Butler thereafter pleaded guilty to first degree assault with a deadly weapon in the heat of passion in exchange for dismissal of the remaining charges and was sentenced to seven years in the Department of Corrections.

This appeal followed.

II. Effect of Plea Bargain

Butler contends his convictions should be reversed on appeal. We disagree that all of Butler's convictions are subject to reversal.

A valid, unconditional guilty plea waives all nonjurisdictional objections, including allegations that constitutional rights have been violated. People v. Neuhaus, 240 P.3d 391, 393 (Colo.App.2009). A guilty plea waives a defendant's right to challenge his or her plea on the basis of an illegal search and seizure. People v. Bachofer, 85 P.3d 615, 617 (Colo.App.2003).

Butler pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and has not challenged the validity of that plea. Consequently, he may not raise nonjurisdictional issues on appeal with respect to that conviction.

*521 III. Knock and Announce

Butler's principal contention on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence from the police's knock-and-announce search because the search violated his Fourth Amendment rights. 1 We decline to address the merits of this issue because we conclude Butler does not have any remedies in this direct appeal of his conviction.

The Fourth Amendment generally requires law enforcement officials to knock and announce their presence when executing a search warrant. People v. Russom, 107 P.3d 986, 990 (Colo.App.2004) (notice requirement is not necessary in cases involving exigent cireumstances).

On appeal, Butler initially contended that police officers violated the knock-and-announce rule and his Fourth Amendment rights by not waiting a reasonable amount of time before entering his residence to execute a search warrant. Butler relied on People v. Lujan, 174 Colo. 554, 559, 484 P.2d 1238, 1241 (1971), which outlines the reasonableness standard of a search. He also relied on United States v. Jenkins, 175 F.3d 1208, 1213-14 (10th Cir.1999), to assert that an officer entering a defendant's home pursuant to a knocl-and-announce search without waiting a sufficient period violates the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights, resulting in suppression of illegally obtained evidence. Jenkins reviewed other federal cases and held that the amount of time officers must wait before entering depends on the particular facts and circumstances of each case. Id. Relying on Lyjan and other cases, the People contended the search was reasonable under both Colorado and federal standards and did not violate Butler's Fourth Amendment rights. See, e.g., United States v. Myers, 106 F.3d 936, 939-40 (10th Cir.1997) (holding ten-second wait before entering was reasonable); United States v. Knapp, 1 F.3d 1026, 1031 (10th Cir.1993) (holding ten- to twelve-second wait was reasonable); Lujan, 174 Colo. at 559, 484 P.2d at 1241.

Neither party cited Hudson v. Michigan, 547 U.S. 586, 594, 126 S.Ct. 2159, 165 L.Ed.2d 56 (2006), where the United States Supreme Court held that a violation of the knock-and-announce rule does not permit suppression of any illegally obtained evidence found in the search. Moreover, neither party addressed the supreme court's holding in People v. Gifford, 782 P.2d 795, 799 (Colo.1989), relying on federal law, that the appropriate remedy for a violation of the knock- and-announce rule is suppression of the evidence. 2 Accordingly, we requested supplemental briefs from the parties to discuss whether Butler has a remedy in this case even if his Fourth Amendment rights were violated.

In Hudson, the Supreme Court concluded, under the Fourth Amendment, that the knock-and-announce rule protects property and human life and limb by alerting occupants to the presence of police and giving them an opportunity to prepare themselves for the entry of the police and comply with the warrant. 547 U.S. at 594, 126 S.Ct. 2159. The Court reasoned that the rule was never intended to protect a defendant's interest in preventing the government from seeing or taking evidence described in a warrant. Thus, the Hudson Court held that civil remedies provide a sufficient deterrent to violations of the knock-and-announce rule. Id. at 596-97, 126 S.Ct. 2159.

In his supplemental brief, Butler concedes that Gifford no longer applies with regard to the remedy available for his appeal. However, he contends we should still determine whether his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the police's entry because such a determination would facilitate his obtaining a civil remedy, the alternative noted in Hud *522 son. The People contend that we should not address whether Butler's Fourth Amendment rights were violated because he cannot obtain any remedy in this appeal. We agree with the People.

Gifford has not been overruled by the supreme court, but we conclude that Hudson sub silentio overruled Gifford. 3 Because state courts must follow Supreme Court precedent when interpreting federal constitutional law, the holding in Hudson necessarily prevails over the supreme court's holding in Gifford.

A division of this court addressed a similar inconsistency between state and federal law in People v. Geisendorfer, 991 P.2d 308 (Colo.App.1999). In People v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
251 P.3d 519, 2010 Colo. App. LEXIS 1049, 2010 WL 2853750, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-butler-coloctapp-2010.