State of Iowa v. Troy Richard Brooks

888 N.W.2d 406, 2016 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 117
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedDecember 23, 2016
Docket15–0101
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 888 N.W.2d 406 (State of Iowa v. Troy Richard Brooks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Iowa v. Troy Richard Brooks, 888 N.W.2d 406, 2016 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 117 (iowa 2016).

Opinions

MANSFIELD, Justice.

This case involves a defendant who was on probation after having been convicted of drug offenses related ’to methamphetamine. The defendant’s sister and father, concerned that he had relapsed, contacted his probation officer. They reported the defendant was using methamphetamine in the family home, was missing work, and had locked himself in his bedroom since the previous day. Two probation officers were dispatched to the residence. When they arrived, the father told them the defendant was upstairs and “out of his mind.” With the father’s consent, and without objection from the defendant, the probation officers entered the defendant’s' upstairs bedroom. The defendant was observed disoriented and covered in feces. He admitted he had relapsed and used methamphetamine.

The State commenced a probation revocation proceeding. The defendant filed a motion to suppress all statements and evidence obtained upon entry into his bedroom, claiming a violation of article I, section 8 of the. Iowa Constitution. The district court denied the motion, and on discretionary review, the court of appeals affirmed this denial.

On further review, we also affirm the district court. We conclude the warrantless entry into the defendant’s bedroom by probation officers carrying out a probation mission did not violate article I, section 8 under the circumstances presented here.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

On October 22, 2013, Troy Brooks, who had a lengthy history of prior drug-related offenses, pled guilty in the Polk County District Court to conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance (methamphetamine), a Class “C” felony in violation of Iowa Code section 124.401(l)(c)(6) (2013), and possession of a controlled substance, third offense (methamphetamine), a Class “D” felony in violation of Iowa Code section 124.401(5). Sentencing took place on December 23. At that time, Brooks received consecutive sentences of up to ten years in prison on the conspiracy offense and up to five years in prison on the possession offense.

However, at the same time, the district court suspended Brooks’s prison sentences and placed him on probation for two years. The sentencing order required Brooks to sign a probation agreement and otherwise submit to the supervision of the Fifth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.

Brooks’s written probation agreement included the following conditions:

I will submit to a search of my person, property, residence, vehicle, or personal effects, at any time, with or without a search warrant or arrest warrant, if reasonable suspicion exists, by a peace officer or probation/parole officer.
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I shall not possess, ingest, inject or otherwise use any non-prescribed drug.
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I will make myself and my residence available for visits at the discretion of my supervising officer.

On September 15, 2014, Brooks’s regular probation officer, Michael Evans, received a voicemail from Brooks’s sister and eighty-year-old father. The voicemail indicated Brooks had been using methamphetamine in the family house and had locked himself in his bedroom since the previous day. The voicemail also stated that. Brooks had been missing work due to drug use [409]*409and had been concealing the results of drug tests with baking soda.

That same morning, Evans also received a phone message from the manager of a drug treatment facility Brooks had attended in the past. The manager confirmed Brooks’s drug relapse and stated that Brooks was “a real mess” and Evans should address the situation quickly.

Evans was at a court hearing in Lucas County when he received the voicemails. For this reason, he could not go to the Brooks family home. Instead, Evans contacted Lance Wignall and Ryan Smith, who were also employed as probation officers by the Fifth Judicial District Department of Correctional .Services, He asked that “they respond to the address because [he] was indisposed at another hearing.”

Wignall and Smith arrived at the Brooks home later that day. Brooks’s father opened the front door and told the officers that Brooks was upstairs and “out of his mind.” He gave them permission to enter Brooks’s room.1 The probation officers knocked on Brooks’s bedroom door and concluded it was locked. Brooks’s father advised there was no lock oh the door, so the officers surmised that Brooks had somehow barricaded himself in. Upon further knocking, the door opened.2 The probation officers noticed a large knife on the floor that appeared to have been wedged between the door and the doorframe. It is not clear whether the knife had fallen out or Brooks had removed it.

The officers saw Brooks immediately— surprised, disoriented, and covered in fecal matter. The officers conducted a quick search of the room and placed Brooks in handcuffs. Brooks admitted he had relapsed and had been using methamphetamine.

Officer Evans filed a probation violation report as a result of the September 15 incident. Prior to the probation revocation hearing,. Brooks filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the home visit as a violation of his rights under article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution.

Following an evidentiary hearing, the district court denied Brooks’s motion. The court reasoned,

The facts of this case demonstrate the important difference between searches by law enforcement officers and actions by probation officers tasked with supervising individuals in the community. Here, family members who had allowed Defendant to reside with them called Defendant’s probation officer. They were scared. They needed help. They could not handle the situation by themselves and they wanted Defendant out of their home. The Defendant was “out of his mind” ^and had locked himself inside his room.
The officers responded to the home as quickly as possible. The Defendant’s assigned probation officer was unable to respond due to his presence .at a court hearing in a different county, but he contacted probation officers who are specifically assigned to deal with emergency situations such as this one. And this was an emergency situation. An individual does not have to be nonrespon-[410]*410sive or overdose to have an emergency. Defendant’s state of mind when officers eventually made contact with him confirmed the family’s concerns were valid....
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... [T]he Court finds that Defendant’s right to be free from unreasonable searches under Article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution was not infringed when probation officers entered his room on September 15, 2014 and conducted a cursory search.

The court added,

Even if the officers’ actions violated Defendant’s rights under Article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution, the Court would follow the reasoning in Kain v. State, 378 N.W.2d 900 (Iowa 1985), and find that evidence gathered illegally was not subject to exclusion in a probation revocation proceeding.

On January 9, 2015, the district court revoked Brooks’s probation and imposed the original sentence of imprisonment for each offense.

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Bluebook (online)
888 N.W.2d 406, 2016 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 117, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-iowa-v-troy-richard-brooks-iowa-2016.