State v. Bowen

904 P.2d 1076, 137 Or. App. 327, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 1463
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedOctober 18, 1995
Docket94-01-30403; CA A84335
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 904 P.2d 1076 (State v. Bowen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bowen, 904 P.2d 1076, 137 Or. App. 327, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 1463 (Or. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

*329 De MUNIZ, J.

Defendant appeals from convictions for manufacture, delivery and possession of a controlled substance. ORS 475.992. He assigns as error the denial of his motion to suppress, contending that the warrantless search of his home was unlawful. We affirm.

We recite the evidence consistently with the findings of the trial court. We are bound by the trial court’s findings if supported by evidence in the record. Ball v. Gladden, 250 Or 485, 487, 443 P2d 621 (1968). On the afternoon of January 7, 1994, Officer Cordell arrested defendant on a Portland street pursuant to an outstanding DUII warrant. Three more officers then arrived. After handcuffing defendant and giving him Miranda warnings, Cordell told defendant that he was suspected of growing marijuana in his home and asked for consent to seize the plants. Defendant told Cordell to get a warrant. Cordell said he could either get defendant’s consent or get a search warrant. 1 Defendant refused to consent, and the officers drove him in a patrol car to his house two blocks away.

While defendant remained in the car, Cordell and another officer entered defendant’s living room at the invitation of Stitzel, defendant’s housemate. The plants and grow materials were out of view in a back bedroom. Cordell told Stitzel that defendant was suspected of growing marijuana somewhere in the house, and asked for permission to seize the plants. Stitzel said the officers would need a warrant. As with defendant, Cordell told Stitzel that he could either consent or they would post an officer outside and get a search warrant. Stitzel insisted on a warrant, and the officers went outside to their patrol cars.

*330 Before he was driven to jail, defendant said, “He can get the plants.” When Cordell asked what he meant, defendant asked to speak with Stitzel. One of the officers told Stitzel that defendant had consented and wished to speak to him. After talking to defendant, Stitzel said he would get the plants. When Officer Ober asked, “Can I go with you,” Stitzel said “yes,” and guided him to the plants and other paraphernalia in the back bedroom.

The trial court denied defendant’s motion to suppress, ruling that, under the totality of the circumstances, Stitzel voluntarily consented because the police neither coerced nor deceived him. On appeal, defendant challenges the validity of both his and Stitzel’s purported consents under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The trial court did not rule on defendant’s consent. Because we agree that Stitzel validly consented, we also do not address the validity of defendant’s consent.

Defendant contends that Stitzel’s consent was involuntary under the totality of circumstances, because after Stitzel initially refused consent, Cordell gave Stitzel Miranda warnings and threatened to post an officer outside while he got a warrant. Defendant argues that, because there was insufficient probable cause to issue a warrant, 2 the officer threatened to do something the law would not allow. See State v. Douglas, 260 Or 60, 81, 488 P2d 1366, cert den 406 US 974 (1971) (O’Connell, C. J., dissenting). Additionally, defendant argues that Stitzel was deceived because the other officer told him that defendant had consented when he had not. Citing Bumper v. North Carolina, 391 US 543, 88 S Ct 1788, 20 L Ed 2d 797 (1968), defendant argues that, because Stitzel relied on this misrepresentation, he did not consent but merely acquiesced to a false claim of authority.

Warrantless searches are valid under Article I, section 9, and the Fourth Amendment if they fall under a recognized exception to the warrant requirement, such as consent. State v. Paulson, 313 Or 346, 351, 833 P2d 1278 *331 (1992); State v. Bea, 318 Or 222, 231, 864 P2d 854 (1993). When the state seeks to justify a search based on consent, it must show that someone with authority to consent voluntarily did so. Paulson, 313 Or at 352; Bea, 318 Or at 231. Under Article I, section 9, we are not bound by the trial court’s legal conclusion of voluntariness, and instead “assess anew whether the facts suffice to meet constitutional standards.” State v. Stevens, 311 Or 119, 135, 806 P2d 92 (1991); see also State v. Warner, 284 Or 147, 156-58, 585 P2d 681 (1978). Under the Fourth Amendment, voluntariness of consent is a question of fact, and we will not disturb the trial court’s finding unless it is unsupported by the record or clearly erroneous. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 US 218, 227, 248, 93 S Ct 2041, 36 L Ed 2d 854 (1973); Bea, 318 Or at 231.

Under state law, consent is not involuntary simply because police threaten “ ‘to do what the law permits them to do.’ ” State v. Williamson, 307 Or 621, 627, 772 P2d 404 (1989) (Carson J., concurring, quoting Douglas, 260 Or at 81) (officer’s threat to “detain” defendant’s truck unless defendant consented rendered consent invalid because the officer could not lawfully detain the truck). An officer’s threat to obtain a warrant, however, is but one factor in determining whether a person voluntarily consented. State v. Greason, 106 Or App 529, 535, 809 P2d 695, rev den 311 Or 643 (1991). Voluntariness of consent under Douglas does not turn on the officer’s actual ability to obtain a warrant, but rather is determined under the totality of circumstances. Greason, 106 Or App at 535; State v. Roy, 28 Or App 861, 864 n 3, 562 P2d 213 (1977).

In Douglas, the police told the defendant that they would “apply for” a warrant if he refused to consent. Douglas, 260 Or at 78. Although the court doubted that an ordinary person could distinguish “get a warrant” from “apply for a warrant,” the threat was not controlling because the defendant’s brother-in-law, not the police, ultimately caused the defendant to consent. Id. at 79.

The situation here is analogous to that in Douglas. Stitzel testified that he allowed the police inside because he was “under the impression that defendant had consented.” Therefore, under the totality of the circumstances, Cordell’s *332 threat to obtain a warrant is not controlling because, as in Douglas, the record reveals that Stitzel consented for reasons independent of that threat. Cordell’s threat to get a warrant, lawful or not, did not affect Stitzel’s decision.

Defendant nonetheless contends that, because the other officer falsely stated that defendant had consented, the officer effectively told Stitzel that he had no choice whether a search would occur. The record, however, does not support defendant’s claim.

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Bluebook (online)
904 P.2d 1076, 137 Or. App. 327, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 1463, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bowen-orctapp-1995.