State v. Boceski

53 P.3d 622, 2002 Alas. App. LEXIS 176, 2002 WL 1943471
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska
DecidedAugust 23, 2002
DocketNo. A-7894
StatusPublished

This text of 53 P.3d 622 (State v. Boceski) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Boceski, 53 P.3d 622, 2002 Alas. App. LEXIS 176, 2002 WL 1943471 (Ala. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

COATS, Chief Judge.

North Slope Borough Sergeant Rayme' Grubbs arrested Dusan Boceski after he overheard Boceski sell cocaine to LH. The sale took place at LH residence in her arctic entryway. Sergeant Grubbs, with L.H.'s permission but without Boceski's knowledge, listened to the drug transaction from just inside the door of L.H.'s residence. Following his arrest, Boceski moved to suppress the evidence seized and statements he made, arguing that Sergeant Grubbs's surreptitious eavesdropping of the drug transaction violated his right to privacy under the Alaska Constitution. Superior Court Judge Michael I. Jeffery granted the motion. After [623]*623granting the motion to suppress, Judge Jeffery granted Boceski's motion to dismiss the indictment. The state appeals Judge Jeffery's ruling. We reverse.

Facts and proceedings

On October 12, 2001, LH. contacted the North Slope Borough Police Department about being a confidential informant for the police department. LH. told Sergeant Grubbs that Boceski, a local drug dealer, sold cocaine throughout the community. Sergeant Grubbs discussed the case with other officers and devised a plan for LH. to purchase drugs from Boceski at L.H.'s residence. According to the plan, LH. would contact Boceski, have him come over, and sell her two grams of cocaine. When Boceski arrived, LH. would tell him she only had enough money for one gram. Sergeant Grubbs would stand inside the darkened living room, located next to the arctic entryway, "with the door cracked open about an inch" and listen to the conversation. After Boceski gave her the cocaine, LH. would say, "This doesn't look like a gram," and Sergeant Grubbs would enter the room and arrest Boceski.

Sergeant Grubbs conducted a pat-down search of LH. before the buy and gave her $150.00 to purchase cocaine. Sergeant Grubbs also placed a cassette recorder in the arctic entryway and one in his shirt pocket. (Sergeant Grubbs had not obtained a Glass warrant prior to recording the conversation.)

Before Sergeant Grubbs heard Boceski arrive, he went into the living room and turned off the lights. He told L.H.'s brother, who was also in the living room, to be quiet and not to interrupt. Sergeant Grubbs did not use a sensory-enhancing listening device to listen to the conversation, but he did start the tape recorder. Sergeant Grubbs heard a knock on the door and then heard Boceski's voice. According to Sergeant Grubbs, he could hear little of what was said. He did, however, hear LH. say something about her parka and then say, "This doesn't look like a gram." At that point, he entered the entryway, recognized Boceski, and saw him throw money on the freezer. He also saw LH. throw a small clear plastic bag containing a white powdery substance on to the freezer.

Sergeant Grubbs arrested and searched Boceski. During the search, he found nine bindles of cocaine on Boceski. After he was warned of his Miranda rights, Boceski made several incriminating statements. Based on his observations, the evidence seized from Boceski, and L.H.'s and Boceski's statements, Sergeant Grubbs obtained a search warrant for Boceski's residence. There he seized a small amount of cocaine and various drug paraphernalia.

The state indicted Boceski on one count of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree1 for selling cocaine. Boceski moved to suppress Sergeant Grubbs's observations, the audiotape recording, and all of the evidence seized following Boceski's arrest, including Boceski's Miran-diged statements.

Judge Jeffery found that under State v. Glass,2 Boceski had a reasonable expectation that his conversation with LH. would not be recorded and thus that Sergeant Grubbs's failure to obtain a Glass warrant prior to recording the conversation between LH. and Boceski violated Boceski's right to privacy under the Alaska Constitution. The state does not dispute this ruling.

However, Judge Jeffery also ruled that Sergeant Grubbs violated Boceski's right to privacy by evesdropping on Boceski's conversation with LH. Judge Jeffery therefore suppressed Sergeant Grubbs's observations in the entryway and also prohibited Sergeant Grubbs from testifying about the conversation. He further ruled that the evidence obtained from Boceski during his arrest and during the search of his residence was illegal fruit of Sergeant Grubbs's unlawful eavesdropping and suppressed the evidence. Although Judge Jeffery acknowledged that L.H.'s testimony about the transaction was admissible, he ruled that the inadmissible evidence appreciably affected the grand jury's indictment and granted Boceski's motion to dismiss. This appeal followed.

[624]*624Boceski had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a conversation overheard by an officer who was lawfully present in the adjacent room

The two-prong test discussed in State v. Glass3 defines the scope of Alaska's right to be free from unreasonable governmental intruction.4 To establish an unwarranted invasion of individual privacy under the Alaska Constitution, a person must first show that he or she exhibited an actual (subjective) expectation of privacy in the activity being monitored by the government.5 This is a question of fact.6 Second, a person must show that his or her expectation of privacy is one that society is willing to recognize as reasonable.7 This is a question of law.8

Judge Jeffery found that Boceski exhibited an actual expectation of privacy. This finding is supported by the record and is not clearly erroneous. However, this court independently decides whether Boceski's expectation of privacy from eavesdropping was reasonable.9

Judge Jeffery relied heavily on State v. Glass to reach his conclusion to suppress the evidence seized from Boceski. In Glass, the Alaska Supreme Court held that "one who engages in a private conversation is ... entitled to assume that his words will not be broadcast or recorded absent his consent or a warrant."10 Glass involved an informant who wore a radio transmitting device intended to record the conversation of the defendant and the informant during a drug purchase.11 In holding that the police must first obtain a warrant before surreptitiously recording private conversations between informants and defendants, the court pointed out it was the electronic monitoring or recording that offended the notions of privacy in Alaska, not eavesdropping.12 The court found that when a person engages in a private conversation with another, the speaker understands that his words may be repeated by the listener, but he does not foresee that his words will be simultaneously recorded or broadcast without his prior consent or a warrant.13 To hold otherwise, according to the court, would result in a dramatic chilling effect on speech.14

This court discussed the Glass rationale in State v. Page.15 This court noted that the underlying concern of Glass was not only the possible effects surreptitious recording has on speech, but also on society's concern that the government may monitor or record a private citizen's words or conduct by technological assistance without his or her knowledge.16

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Related

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389 U.S. 347 (Supreme Court, 1967)
United States v. Edward J. Fisch, Ivan L. Glasscock
474 F.2d 1071 (Ninth Circuit, 1973)
State v. Glass
583 P.2d 872 (Alaska Supreme Court, 1978)
People v. Hart
787 P.2d 186 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1989)
State v. Page
911 P.2d 513 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 1996)
Commonwealth v. Blood
507 N.E.2d 1029 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1987)
Commonwealth v. Dinnall
314 N.E.2d 903 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1974)
Commonwealth v. Panetti
547 N.E.2d 46 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1989)
State v. Benton
536 A.2d 572 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
53 P.3d 622, 2002 Alas. App. LEXIS 176, 2002 WL 1943471, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-boceski-alaskactapp-2002.