State v. Chenoweth

127 Wash. App. 444
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 16, 2005
DocketNos. 53027-5-I; 53076-3-I
StatusPublished

This text of 127 Wash. App. 444 (State v. Chenoweth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Chenoweth, 127 Wash. App. 444 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

[448]*448¶1 Defendants charged with manufacturing methamphetamine challenged the validity of a search warrant, contending that State agents omitted material facts from warrant affidavits in violation of the Fourth Amendment, but the trial court determined that any omissions or inaccuracies were innocent or negligent rather than intentional or reckless. On appeal, defendants attack the warrant on its face, argue that the Washington State Constitution should allow challenges to search warrants based on negligent omissions, challenge a jury instruction, and allege that a second count of possession of methamphetamine violates double jeopardy. Because the defendants fail to demonstrate error regarding consideration of the warrant and fail to establish that the Washington State Constitution requires a different result, the trial court’s ruling on probable cause is affirmed. Because the second possession charge against Defendant Chenoweth violates double jeopardy, however, one of his convictions of possession is reversed, and the case against him is remanded for resentencing.

Kennedy, J. —

FACTS

¶2 In February 2003, Nick Parker told Lynden Police Officer Michelle Boyd that Randy Chenoweth was operating a methamphetamine laboratory at 1200 Aaron Drive in Lynden, where Chenoweth had Parker’s car. Boyd passed the information to Whatcom Interagency Narcotic (WIN) Detective Ryan Kang of the Blaine Police Department. Parker then told King that he had been to the residence, described equipment consistent with the manufacture of methamphetamine, and stated that both Chenoweth and Barbara Wood participated in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Parker also told King that he wanted his car back.

[449]*449¶3 Detective King and Deputy Prosecutor Rosemary Kaholokula then sought and obtained a search warrant for the residence. By means of questions posed by the deputy prosecutor and answered by the detective under oath, they informed the Court Commissioner that Parker had a prior conviction for possession and delivery of cocaine. During the presentation, Kaholokula stated to the Commissioner that she had prosecuted Parker for the cocaine charges. The Commissioner asked the deputy prosecutor to swear to that, and she did so.

¶4 Following execution of the search warrant, Prosecutor Kaholokula and Lynden Police Detective Lee Beld sought and obtained a second warrant for a motor home outside the residence. During that transaction, the deputy prosecutor remarked that she had “confirmed Nicholas Parker’s criminal history from what I recalled yesterday.” And she asked the Commissioner whether the first warrant would have issued if she had not verified what she recalled about Parker’s criminal history the previous day. The Commissioner responded that the warrant would have issued without the prosecutor’s statement because Parker had already told Detective King about his criminal conviction and since there was no reason for him to have said that unless it were true, the statement was somewhat self-authenticating.

¶5 Based on the evidence found in the searches, the State charged Chenoweth and Wood each with one count of possession of precursor materials with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, one count of manufacturing methamphetamine, and one count of possession of methamphetamine. The State also charged Chenoweth with an additional count of possession of methamphetamine based on a white powder that he dropped during his arrest.

¶6 Chenoweth and Wood moved to suppress all evidence seized from the property, alleging that Kaholokula willfully and recklessly omitted material facts regarding Parker’s history from discussions with the Commissioner when seeking the search warrants and requested a hearing [450]*450pursuant to Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S. Ct. 2674, 57 L. Ed. 2d 667 (1978). In particular, Chenoweth and Wood contended that Kaholokula omitted material facts including (1) that Parker had once been a paid informant for the Bellingham Police Department and had been terminated from that role based on concerns about his reliability; (2) that Parker had a much more extensive criminal history than that revealed to the Commissioner; (3) that during her previous prosecution of Parker, Kaholokula had known about Parker’s relationship with the police and had questioned his truthfulness to the extent of threatening to bring charges of suborning peijury against him; (4) that Parker requested payment from the police after the warrant was obtained and the WIN department paid Parker after the search warrants were executed; (5) that Parker sought and received police assistance in retrieving his car from Chenoweth after the warrant was obtained but before it was executed; and (6) that Wood was a plaintiff in a civil suit against the Whatcom County Sheriff in his former capacity as Blaine Chief of Police.

¶7 After several hearings to consider the Franks issues, the trial court stated that the information regarding Parker’s extensive criminal history, the Bellingham Police Department’s decision not to use Parker based on concerns about his reliability, and Kaholokula’s suspicion that Parker had suborned peijury, would have prevented a finding of probable cause to issue the warrant if it had been intentionally or recklessly, rather than negligently, omitted. Thus, the omissions were material. But because the trial court found that King and Beld did not know about, and Kaholokula did not remember, Parker’s history or relationship with the Bellingham Police Department, none of the omissions was intentional or reckless. The evidence found in the execution of the warrant was ruled admissible under Franks, and the case proceeded to trial.

¶8 A jury found Chenoweth and Wood guilty as charged. On appeal, Chenoweth attacks the warrant, challenging the trial court’s findings (1) that Parker’s previous infor[451]*451mant relationship with police was terminated “for an unknown reason,” (2) that Detective King and Prosecutor Kaholokula were not dishonest and did not affirmatively hide information from the commissioner, (3) that Detective King and Prosecutor Kaholokula did not exercise bad faith in failing to gather relevant information for the Commissioner. Chenoweth also challenges the trial court’s conclusions that Parker was acting as a citizen informant and that Parker’s criminal history was not omitted with reckless disregard for the truth. Wood joins his arguments, and she also contends that under the Washington Constitution, negligent omissions of material facts can provide a sufficient basis upon which to challenge warrant affidavits. Finally, Chenoweth contends that the trial court erroneously instructed the jury and that his second possession conviction subjected him to double jeopardy.

ANALYSIS

Informant Reliability

¶9 Probable cause for a search warrant may be based on information provided by an informant if the supporting affidavit contains sufficient underlying facts from which a neutral and detached magistrate could conclude that both the information and the informant are reliable. State v. Northness, 20 Wn. App. 551, 554, 582 P.2d 546 (1978) (citing Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S. Ct. 1509, 12 L. Ed. 2d 723 (1964); Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S. Ct. 584, 21 L. Ed.

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Related

Bell v. United States
349 U.S. 81 (Supreme Court, 1955)
Aguilar v. Texas
378 U.S. 108 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Spinelli v. United States
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Franks v. Delaware
438 U.S. 154 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Illinois v. Gates
462 U.S. 213 (Supreme Court, 1983)
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Bluebook (online)
127 Wash. App. 444, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-chenoweth-washctapp-2005.