People v. Triplett

411 P.3d 1054
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 2, 2016
DocketCourt of Appeals No. 13CA1736
StatusPublished

This text of 411 P.3d 1054 (People v. Triplett) 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. Triplett, 411 P.3d 1054 (Colo. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Opinion by CHIEF JUDGE LOEB

¶ 1 Defendant, Justin Triplett, appeals his judgment of conviction for possession of a controlled substance. The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in denying Triplett's motion to suppress evidence. At the time the charged offense was committed, Triplett was an offender residing in the Mesa County residential community corrections facility. He contends on appeal that a vial of drugs was found in his clothing as the result of an unconstitutional search and that statements he made to law enforcement after being confronted with the illegally obtained evidence should have been suppressed as "fruit of the poisonous tree" and as involuntary.

¶ 2 To address Triplett's arguments, we must determine, as a matter of first impression in Colorado, whether his status as a residential community corrections offender entitled him to a greater expectation of privacy than that of traditional, incarcerated offenders. Under the circumstances here, we conclude that it did not and that, therefore, the search of his clothing was legal and his subsequent statements to law enforcement officials were not tainted nor were they involuntary. Thus, we affirm.

I. Background and Procedural History

¶ 3 All of the facts below are taken from the transcript of the suppression hearing, the trial court's findings of fact, and defendant's motion to suppress. Moody v. People , 159 P.3d 611, 617 (Colo.2007) (when reviewing a trial court's suppression ruling, an appellate court must only consider evidence presented at the suppression hearing); see also People v. Gomez-Garcia , 224 P.3d 1019, 1022 (Colo.App.2009).

¶ 4 At the time of the alleged offenses, Triplett was serving the remainder of a Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) sentence *10581 at a residential community corrections facility. As a "client" at this facility, he was able to obtain passes to leave the premises for work and other approved activities. However, he lived at the facility and was required to remain on the premises if he did not have a valid pass and to return each time his pass expired.

¶ 5 While Triplett was showering in the bathroom located off of the facility's community room, a community justice officer,2 Daniel Wells, entered the bathroom to conduct a routine cleanliness inspection. When Wells saw Triplett's clothing hanging next to the shower, he decided to conduct a random unscheduled search of the clothing. Wells found a vial of off-white powder in Triplett's sock, which was in the pocket of his pants. Triplett's inmate identification card was in the other pants pocket.

¶ 6 Upon finding the vial, Wells consulted with Triplett's case manager, who advised Wells to bring Triplett to a problem solving technique (PST) room after his shower. In a conversation with three community corrections personnel,3 Triplett stated that he bought what he believed to be Adderall from a coworker, that he had taken Adderall in pill form while in the facility, and that he had crushed the remaining pills into a powder.

¶ 7 The case manager asked Triplett if he wanted to write a statement, and Triplett responded that he did. Triplett made a written statement of the incident on a template routinely provided to community corrections clients.

¶ 8 Triplett was left alone in the room with a clipboard to write his statement. The door was shut and Triplett knew that he could not open it from the inside. While he was writing his statement, a police officer, Chris Kopp, arrived at the facility. Kopp was dispatched on a request to test an unknown substance, but upon arriving, he realized that the facility's officials wished to proceed with charges against Triplett.

¶ 9 Kopp waited until Triplett had finished writing his statement before entering the PST room. When he entered the PST room, he advised Triplett of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and asked Triplett if he wanted to talk about what had happened. Triplett paused briefly and then began telling the officer what had happened, namely that he had purchased Adderall from a coworker and had taken the pills twice and then crushed the remaining pills into a powder.

¶ 10 The powder was tested at a lab and was identified as methylphenidate, a schedule II controlled substance. The prosecution charged Triplett with introducing contraband in the first degree and possession of a controlled substance-schedule II-four grams or less.

¶ 11 Prior to trial, Triplett moved to suppress the vial of powder, arguing that it had been obtained in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights because the search was not based on a warrant or any individualized or reasonable suspicion. Triplett also moved to suppress his statements to community corrections personnel and Kopp. The trial court held a suppression hearing and issued a written order denying Triplett's motion.

¶ 12 At a bench trial, the prosecution proffered and the court admitted into evidence the vial of powder, the lab results on the powder, and Triplett's statements to Kopp. The court acquitted Triplett of introducing contraband, but it found him guilty of possession of a controlled substance. The court sentenced Triplett to two years of unsupervised probation. This appeal followed.

II. Suppression Hearing and Order

¶ 13 Because we are limited to the facts and evidence presented at the hearing and the court's application of the law to those facts, we set out the details of the motion, *1059hearing, and court order below. Moody , 159 P.3d at 617 ; Gomez-Garcia , 224 P.3d at 1022.

A. Triplett's Motion

¶ 14 In his motion, Triplett argued that he had a greater expectation of privacy than an incarcerated inmate because of his status as a community corrections offender. Thus, he argued, the search was required to be based, at the very least, on a warrant or individualized or reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing in order to comply with the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches. He also asserted that his statements to the community corrections personnel and Kopp should be suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree or, in the alternative, as involuntary statements in violation of the Fifth Amendment.

B. The Suppression Hearing

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Bluebook (online)
411 P.3d 1054, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-triplett-coloctapp-2016.