State v. Blakley

243 P.3d 628, 226 Ariz. 25, 595 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 4, 2010 Ariz. App. LEXIS 213
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedNovember 16, 2010
Docket2 CA-CR 2009-0176
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 243 P.3d 628 (State v. Blakley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Blakley, 243 P.3d 628, 226 Ariz. 25, 595 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 4, 2010 Ariz. App. LEXIS 213 (Ark. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

VÁSQUEZ, Presiding Judge.

¶ 1 After a jury trial, appellant Brian Blakley was convicted of one count of possession of marijuana for sale, and the trial court sentenced him to a presumptive, enhanced prison term of 15.75 years, ordering him to pay the maximum fine of $150,000. On appeal, he contends the court abused its discretion in 1) denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained by police after a warrant-less entry onto his property; 2) admitting documents in violation of his Confrontation Clause rights; 3) refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser-ineluded offense of simple possession; and 4) failing to consider mitigating factors at sentencing and imposing a fine he contends is excessive. For the reasons stated below, we vacate and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Factual and Procedural History

¶2 On appeal, we view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict. See State v. Haight-Gyuro, 218 Ariz. 356, ¶ 2, 186 P.3d 33, 34 (App.2008). On November 4, 2008, Bisbee police officer William Silva received a telephone call from the United States Border Patrol about a suspicious vehicle that was being driven in an area that was a known pick-up point for traffickers of undocumented immigrants and marijuana. Silva went to the location and saw a black Dodge Neon leaving the area. Silva followed the vehicle until it eventually turned into the driveway of Blakley’s residence. 1 He called for back-up, waited five to ten minutes, and then approached the vehicle with two other officers.

¶3 When Silva reached the rear of the vehicle, Blakley approached him from behind the residence. Silva asked him “if he was storing undocumented aliens or marijuana,” and Blakley responded that he was storing marijuana. When Silva asked how much, Blakley told him there were more than 100 pounds. Silva then asked if he could search the garage, and Blakley consented. At the suppression hearing, Silva testified that during their conversation, while standing behind the vehicle, he could smell the odor of marijuana. In the garage, Silva found eight bales of marijuana weighing a total of 170 pounds. Blakley was arrested and subsequently charged with and convicted of one count of possession of marijuana for sale. This timely appeal followed.

*27 Discussion

1. Suppression of Evidence

A. Warrantless Entry

¶ 4 Blakley first contends “[t]he trial court erred as a matter of law by refusing to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the illegal warrantless search” of the garage. He maintains that, although he consented to the search, his consent was tainted by Silva’s illegal entry into Blakley’s yard without a warrant in violation of the United States and Arizona Constitutions. 2 He therefore contends “any evidence obtained as a result of Silva’s conversation with [him] following the policeman’s illegal, warrantless entry was fruit of the poisonous tree.” See Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963).

¶ 5 When reviewing a trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress, we consider only the evidence presented at the suppression hearing, State v. Blackmore, 186 Ariz. 630, 631, 925 P.2d 1347, 1348 (1996), and view it in the light most favorable to upholding the court’s ruling, State v. Gerlaugh, 134 Ariz. 164, 167, 654 P.2d 800, 803 (1982). “We review the ... court’s ruling ... for abuse of discretion if it involves a discretionary issue, but review constitutional issues and purely legal issues de novo.” State v. Booker, 212 Ariz. 502, ¶ 10, 135 P.3d 57, 59 (App.2006).

¶ 6 The Fourth Amendment guarantees “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable search and seizures.” U.S. Const, amend. IV. “Unlawful entry of homes was the chief evil which the Fourth Amendment was designed to prevent.” State v. Ault, 150 Ariz. 459, 463, 724 P.2d 545, 549 (1986). “That protection extends in general to ‘[“]the curtilage,” the land immediately surrounding and associated with the home.’ ” State v. Olm, 223 Ariz. 429, ¶ 5, 224 P.3d 245, 247 (App.2010), quoting Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 180, 104 S.Ct. 1735, 80 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984). Thus, as a general rule, a warrant is required when the suspect has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place or the item searched. United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 113, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984). In determining whether a suspect’s objective expectation of privacy is reasonable, a court considers the totality of the circumstances. State v. Adams, 197 Ariz. 569, ¶ 20, 5 P.3d 903, 907 (App.2000). And, “‘[sjubject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions,’ a search is presumed to be unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment if it is not ... conducted pursuant to a valid search warrant.” State v. Gant, 216 Ariz. 1, ¶ 8, 162 P.3d 640, 642 (2007), quoting Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967).

¶ 7 The state does not dispute that the vehicle was parked in the curtilage of Blakley’s house. And, as noted above, curtilage generally falls “under the home’s [‘]umbrella’ of Fourth Amendment protection.” Olm, 223 Ariz. 429, ¶ 12, 224 P.3d at 249, quoting United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294, 301, 107 S.Ct. 1134, 94 L.Ed.2d 326 (1987). However, this does not end our inquiry. The vehicle was parked in the driveway, an area generally considered “semiprivate.” See State v. Cobb, 115 Ariz. 484, 489, 566 P.2d 285, 290 (1977). Thus, we must determine initially whether Blakley had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area of the driveway where the vehicle was located. If he did, the same Fourth Amendment protection applicable to curtilage applies to that area, and we then must determine whether the state met its burden of establishing that the search following Silva’s entry into that area was constitutionally sound. Olm, 223 Ariz. 429, ¶ 5, 224 P.3d at 247.

¶ 8 Relying on Olm, Blakley claims that Silva made a “fatal mistake” when he approached the vehicle instead of the front door of the residence. He contends that by continuing down the driveway, Silva had crossed into “warrant-with-search-territory.” Although Blakley asserts that Olm is disposi *28 tive in this case, we find it factually distinguishable and, thus, not controlling.

¶ 9 In Olm,

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Bluebook (online)
243 P.3d 628, 226 Ariz. 25, 595 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 4, 2010 Ariz. App. LEXIS 213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-blakley-arizctapp-2010.