People v. Sprowl

718 P.2d 524, 1986 Colo. LEXIS 556
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMay 12, 1986
DocketNos. 85SA426, 85SA466 and 85SA473
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 718 P.2d 524 (People v. Sprowl) 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 v. Sprowl, 718 P.2d 524, 1986 Colo. LEXIS 556 (Colo. 1986).

Opinions

VOLLACK, Justice.

The People appeal from a district court order suppressing evidence obtained through the use of an ex parte wiretap pursuant to section 16-15-102(l)(a)(VI), 8 C.R.S. (1978 and 1985 Supp.). The court also ruled that the entry into a defendant’s residence was an illegal search and suppressed all evidence obtained from the entry and any evidence obtained thereafter as the unlawful fruits of the entry. We reverse in part and remand for further proceedings.1

I.

On April 3, 1985, the Colorado Attorney General’s office submitted an application and affidavit for authorization to intercept wire communications for a certain telephone number to the Denver District Court. The affidavit detailed agents Richard Halpin and Thomas Hayes’ ongoing and lengthy investigation into the suspected drug-related activities of numerous individuals, including the defendants.

On the same day, the court issued an order authorizing agents of the Lakewood Department of Public Safety, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Colorado Attorney General’s office, and other law enforcement officers participating in the investigation of the matter set forth in the affidavit, to intercept by wiretap communications on the telephone located in Denver, Colorado.

The court found there was probable cause to believe that the individuals named in the affidavit, including the defendants, had committed, were committing, and were about to commit “violations of the following statutes: section 18-18-104 through 18-18-109, C.R.S. (1973 and 1984 Supp.) (offenses relating to controlled substances); section 12-22-301 through 12-22-322, C.R.S. (1973 and 1984 Supp.) (Colorado Controlled Substances Act); and section 18-2-201, C.R.S. (1973) (criminal conspiracy to commit the aforementioned crimes).” On April 17, 1985, agents Halpin and Hayes submitted an affidavit in support of search and arrest warrants to the Denver District Court. The affidavit contained information primarily derived from the authorized wiretap. Arrest warrants were issued for a number of individuals, including defendants Keith Patrick Sprowl and Sherrie Phurrough.

On April 24, 1985, agent Gregory Bram-blett of the Lakewood Department of Public Safety went to defendant Sprowl’s residence at 3869 Osceola Street, Denver, Colorado, to execute the arrest warrant. Bram-blett noticed a car, which he believed was owned by Phurrough, in the vicinity of Sprowl’s residence. Bramblett knocked on the front door of Sprowl’s residence. When Sprowl opened the door, Bramblett identified himself and informed Sprowl that he wished to speak to him. Sprowl agreed, but before he spoke with Bramblett, he walked throughout the house, closing doors. Sprowl then stepped out of the front door and closed it behind him. Bram-blett arrested Sprowl and then entered the house to determine whether Sherrie Phur-rough was in the residence. Bramblett suspected Phurrough was in the house because of the car near Sprowl’s house and because of Sprowl’s unusual conduct in closing all of the doors, which he interpreted as an effort on the part of Sprowl to conceal something or some person.

Once inside the house, Bramblett observed a large trash can with marijuana leaves on top of it, and he heard what he thought was a pump fan operating in the basement. He informed agents Hayes and Halpin of this information. They sub[527]*527mitted a supplemental affidavit, incorporating the observations of agent Bramblett, and obtained a search warrant for Sprowl’s residence. Pursuant to the search warrant, marijuana contraband was recovered from Sprowl’s residence.

The Denver District Attorney’s office filed a fifty-seven count information and complaint, alleging that numerous individuals, including the defendants, were involved in drug-related activities. Prior to trial, Sprowl moved to suppress evidence derived from the wiretap authorized on April 3, 1985. The trial court granted Sprowl’s motion to suppress.

While the court found that probable cause existed in the affidavit of April 3, 1985, to believe that Sprowl and the other defendants did commit or were about to commit a crime under section 18-18-105, 8 C.R.S. (1985 Supp.), it concluded that section 16-15-102(l)(a)(VI), 8 G.R.S. (1978 and 1985 Supp.) (ex parte order for wiretapping and eavesdropping), applied only to felony violations under Title 12, and not to any narcotic- or drug-related offenses under Title 18. Accordingly, the court concluded that, since no probable cause existed in the aforementioned affidavits to believe that the defendants were involved in felony violations of specific Title 12 criminal offenses, the wiretap order of April 3, 1985, was issued without authorization. Further, the court ruled that the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule did not apply under these facts.

The court also found that agent Bram-blett’s entry into Sprowl’s residence constituted a search, and that no exigent circumstances existed to justify the warrantless entry of the home. The trial court’s findings were based upon the subsequent affidavit by agents Hayes and Halpin for a search warrant which was issued on April 24, 1985. The court heard no additional evidence. It concluded that, without the information obtained in the illegal search of Sprowl’s residence by agent Bramblett, the affidavit for the search warrant of Sprowl’s residence lacked probable cause and any evidence obtained from that search must be suppressed.

We reverse the trial court’s ruling which suppressed evidence obtained from wiretaps authorized on April 3, 1985. We remand for further proceedings on the question of whether the warrantless entry of Sprowl’s residence by agent Bramblett was illegal and whether evidence obtained from the subsequent search of Sprowl’s residence pursuant to a warrant should be suppressed as the illegal fruits of Bram-blett’s initial entry.

II.

The trial court ruled that section 16-15-102(l)(a)(VI), 8 C.R.S. (1978 and 1985 Supp.), does not apply to any narcotic- or drug-related offenses under Title 18. We disagree.

The applicable portion of the wiretapping and eavesdropping statute reads:

16-15-102. Ex parte order for wiretapping and eavesdropping. (l)(a) An ex parte order for wiretapping or eavesdropping, or both, as those offenses are described in section 18-9-302 to 18-9-304, C.R.S. 1973, may be issued by any judge of competent jurisdiction of the State of Colorado upon application of the Attorney General or a district attorney, showing by affidavit that there is probable cause to believe that evidence will be obtained of the commission of any one of the crimes enumerated in this section (1) or that one of the said enumerated crimes will be committed:
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(VI) Dealing in controlled substances as covered by part 3 of Article 22 of Title 12, C.R.S., as such offenses are subject to prosecution as felonies....

(emphasis added).

The principal basis for the trial court’s ruling was its interpretation of the word “dealing” contained in section 16-15-102(l)(a)(VI). It stated that “dealing” had no meaning because it was not defined by statute. We disagree.

[528]*528Statutory terms are generally given effect according to their plain meaning. Clark v. Town of Estes Park, 686 P.2d 777 (Colo.1984).

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Related

People v. Sprowl
790 P.2d 848 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1989)

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Bluebook (online)
718 P.2d 524, 1986 Colo. LEXIS 556, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-sprowl-colo-1986.