State v. Burkholder

915 P.2d 886, 112 Nev. 535, 1996 Nev. LEXIS 73
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedMay 1, 1996
DocketNo. 27386
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 915 P.2d 886 (State v. Burkholder) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Burkholder, 915 P.2d 886, 112 Nev. 535, 1996 Nev. LEXIS 73 (Neb. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

Per Curiam:

Officers Jeffrey Freelove (“Freelove”) and William Abbott (“Abbott”) approached respondent Kenneth Owen Burkholder (“Burkholder”) on a public street and asked Burkholder if they could search him for weapons or illegal drugs. Burkholder [537]*537allowed the search, and Freelove found a brass smoking pipe with marijuana residue and a glass vial containing trace amounts of a light brown powdery substance. Burkholder was charged with using a controlled substance. Burkholder filed a motion to suppress evidence, alleging that Freelove conducted an unlawful search. The district court granted Burkholder’s motion to suppress and dismissed the charge against Burkholder.

In this appeal, the State contends that the district court erred by determining that Freelove’s search of Burkholder was unconstitutional and that the district court erred by dismissing the charge against Burkholder. For the reasons stated below, we conclude that the State’s contentions are correct.

FACTS

On May 20, 1995, Freelove and Abbott were conducting a “proactive drug recognition assignment” in Reno. Freelove observed Burkholder receiving multiple phone calls on a pay telephone. Freelove also saw Burkholder walk to the Carriage Inn and have a very brief conversation with a man who stood in the doorway of a room at the Carriage Inn. That specific room, and the man, were also being watched by police due to the high amount of foot traffic going to the room. After Burkholder’s conversation with the man, Burkholder walked out of the Carriage Inn and returned to the pay telephone he was using earlier.

Based on Burkholder’s phone calls, his nervous appearance, his trip to the Carriage Inn room and his conversation with the man, Freelove believed that Burkholder was buying or selling illegal drugs. Freelove approached Burkholder on the sidewalk near the pay telephone. Freelove was dressed in plainclothes, had his police badge hanging on a chain around his neck and told Burkholder that he was a police officer. Freelove asked Burkholder if he would answer a few questions. Burkholder replied “yes.” Freelove asked Burkholder if he was carrying any weapons or drugs. Burkholder replied “no.” Freelove then asked Burkholder if he could search him for weapons and drugs. Burkholder replied “yes.”

Freelove searched Burkholder and found a small brass smoking pipe soiled with marijuana residue in Burkholder’s front pants pocket. Freelove found a glass vial containing small amounts of a light brown powdery substance in Burkholder’s inside jacket pocket. Freelove did not tell Burkholder that he was free to go, could decline to answer the police officer’s questions or could decline the police officer’s request to search his person.

After the search, Burkholder admitted to Freelove that he had used methamphetamine on the day before the search and mari[538]*538juana three hours before the search. Freelove detected physical symptoms of recent use of a central nervous system stimulant, and Abbott conducted a drug recognition exam. Freelove and Abbott then arrested Burkholder for possession of drug paraphernalia and transported Burkholder to the Reno Police Department. At the station house, urine and blood samples were collected from Burkholder. The samples were analyzed to determine whether Burkholder was under the influence of illegal drugs at the time of his arrest.

On June 12, 1995, Burkholder was charged by information with using a controlled substance. Burkholder filed a motion to suppress all evidence linked to the laboratory tests on his urine and blood samples, alleging that Freelove’s search was illegal. On August 16, 1995, the district court conducted a hearing on Burkholder’s motion to suppress. The prosecutor argued that Freelove’s search was legal based upon the holding in Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429 (1991). The district court ruled that Freelove’s search of Burkholder was not based on probable cause. Accordingly, the district court granted the motion to suppress. Also, the district court dismissed the charge against Burkholder.

DISCUSSION

Constitutionality of the search

Pursuant to the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, the “seizure” of a person without probable cause or a warrant is “per se unreasonable . . . subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions.” Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357 (1967). As such, not all interactions between policemen and our citizenry involve the “seizure” of persons. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19n.16 (1968).

Mere police questioning does not constitute a seizure. Bostick, 501 U.S. at 434. The police may randomly-without probable cause or a reasonable suspicion-approach people in public places and ask for leave to search. Id. As stated by the United States Supreme Court in Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497 (1983):

[L]aw enforcement officers do not violate the Fourth Amendment by merely approaching an individual on the street or in another public place, by asking him if he is willing to answer some questions, by putting questions to [539]*539him if the person is willing to listen, or by olfering in evidence in a criminal prosecution his voluntary answers to such questions.

Accordingly, we conclude that the district court’s focus on whether Burkholder’s conduct gave Freelove sufficient suspicion to ask Burkholder questions was misplaced. Freelove was free to question Burkholder without violating Burkholder’s Fourth Amendment rights.

The appropriate inquiry in this case is whether Burkholder’s consent to be searched was given voluntarily. To establish a lawful search based on consent, the State must demonstrate that consent was voluntary and not the result of duress or coercion. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 248 (1973). Voluntar-iness is determined by ascertaining whether a reasonable person in the defendant’s position, given the totality of the circumstances, would feel free to decline a police officer’s request or otherwise terminate the encounter. See Bostick, 501 U.S. at 434. “The test is necessarily imprecise, because it is designed to assess the coercive effect of police conduct, taken as a whole, rather than to focus on particular details of that conduct in isolation.” Michigan v. Chesternut, 486 U.S. 567, 573 (1988).1

In this case, one officer approached Burkholder on a public street and had a very brief conversation with him before the search in question. The evidence does not indicate that Freelove blocked Burkholder’s ability to proceed down the sidewalk. The officer identified himself as a police officer and showed his badge. However, the record does not indicate that Freelove physically touched Burkholder, displayed his weapon, used a commanding tone in his questions or threatened Burkholder. Accordingly, we conclude that Burkholder voluntarily consented to the search in question.

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Bluebook (online)
915 P.2d 886, 112 Nev. 535, 1996 Nev. LEXIS 73, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-burkholder-nev-1996.