State v. Eckard

2012 NMCA 67, 2012 NMCA 067, 2 N.M. 149
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 4, 2012
DocketDocket 31,027
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2012 NMCA 67 (State v. Eckard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Eckard, 2012 NMCA 67, 2012 NMCA 067, 2 N.M. 149 (N.M. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

YANZI, Judge.

{1} Defendant Mark Eckard appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress. While executing an arrest warrant on Defendant and his wife, officers conducted a “protective sweep” of Defendant’s house that led to the discovery and subsequent seizure of over one hundred and sixty pounds of marijuana. Defendant and his wife were outside their house in the back yard when the arrests took place. Defendant raises two issues on appeal. First, he contends that the testimony introduced at the suppression hearing failed to establish that the officers had the requisite safety concerns to justify conducting the sweep of the house. Second, he argues that, even if the warrantless search of the house was lawful, officers acted outside the scope of the protective sweep in removing a blanket covering an area in the living room. We agree with Defendant that the sweep was unlawful and that the fruits of the entry must therefore be suppressed. Because we reverse on the first issue, we need not reach Defendant’s second argument.

BACKGROUND

{2} We summarize the underlying events in the light most favorable to the ruling rendered below. State v. Cline, 1998-NMCA-154, ¶ 6, 126 N.M. 11, 966 P.2d 785. James Burrell, a supervising agent with the United States Marshal Service, testified that, on March 20, 2008, he received information from the Fugitive Task Force in Mississippi that there were felony arrest warrants issued for Defendant and his wife and that they were living at an address in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Burrell testified that, at the time he received the information, he knew Defendant had a long criminal history, and he thought the warrant involved some type of narcotics violation. However, Burrell also testified that he could not remember whether, at the time of Defendant’s arrest, he knew the specifics of Defendant’s crimes, whether they involved any convictions for a violent crime, whether Defendant had used any weapons as part of the crimes, or whether Defendant and his wife were involved with any co-conspirators.

{3} On that date, Burrell met with some federal marshals (agents) and briefed them about the case while other agents were sent to conduct surveillance of Defendant’s home until Burrell could compile a team to approach the house and serve the arrest warrants. Burrell testified that the agents conducting surveillance did not see anyone enter or leave Defendant’s house and that other than Defendant and his wife, they did not have any facts to suggest that anyone else was in the house.

{4} Seven agents arrived at Defendant’s house to serve the warrant, with some agents approaching the front door and some going around to the back of the house. Two agents knocked on the front door, but no one answered, and the agents did not hear any noise inside. Burrell testified that he heard an agent who had gone around to the back of the house yell, “Let me see your hands. We have them here.” One agent stayed at the front door, while the remaining agents went around to the back of the house. Defendant and his wife were sitting at a patio table about ten feet from an open sliding glass door.

{5} Defendant and his wife were placed in handcuffs and, in accordance with standard procedure, some agents remained with them while others entered the home and did a quick protective sweep of the premises. As they entered the house, the agents yelled, “Police, U.S. Marshals, is there anybody else in the house?” For approximately one to two minutes, the agents walked through the house and looked around to see if anyone was inside.

{6} As the agents inside headed back toward the sliding glass door, they saw a large blanket up against the wall, covering some large items in the corner of the room. The agents removed the blanket to make sure no one was hiding underneath. After removing the blanket, the agents saw six or seven dark trash bags that smelled of marijuana. Burrell testified that the agents did not open the bags but called narcotics officers from the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office who obtained a search warrant based upon the information provided by the agents. The trash bags contained approximately one hundred and sixty pounds of marijuana.

{7} Defendant was charged with possession of marijuana over one hundred pounds with intent to distribute, conspiracy to commit possession of marijuana over one hundred pounds with intent to distribute, and possession of drug paraphernalia. See NMSA 1978, §§ 30-31-22(A)(l)(c) (2011); 30-28-2(A) (1979); 30-31-25.1(A) (2001). Defendant moved to suppress the evidence obtained from the protective sweep and subsequent search of the trash bags located in his home, claiming the sweep violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution.

{8} After a hearing, the district court denied the motion to suppress. The district court did not enter any written findings, but it orally concluded that the agents were justified in conducting the protective sweep and removing the blanket over the trash bags in order to ensure that no one was hiding under the blanket. The court also concluded that, once the blanket was removed, the strong odor of marijuana emanating from the bags justified the officers’ actions in obtaining a warrant to search the contents of the trash bags.

{9} Defendant entered a conditional plea to possession of marijuana over one hundred pounds with intent to distribute, and he now appeals the denial of his motion to suppress.

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

{10} We review the denial of a motion to suppress as a mixed question of fact and law. State v. Williams, 2011-NMSC-026, ¶ 8, 149 N.M. 729, 255 P.3d 307. We determine whether the law was correctly applied to the facts and view “the facts in the light most favorable to the prevailing party.” Cline, 1998-NMCA-154, ¶ 6; see State v. Jason L., 2000-NMSC-018, ¶ 10, 129 N.M. 119, 2 P.3d. 856. Furthermore, given the absence of any findings of fact or conclusions of law, we “draw all inferences and indulge all presumptions in favor of the district court’s ruling.” Jason L., 2000-NMSC-018, ¶ 11.

Propriety of the Protective Sweep

{11} In general, law enforcement officers are not permitted to enter residences without a warrant. See State v. Gutierrez, 2008-NMCA-018, ¶ 16, 143 N.M. 422, 176 P.3d 1154 (“An officer’s warrantless entry into a person’s home is the exact type of intrusion against which the language of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution is directed.”). In this case, the agents had a warrant from Mississippi for Defendant’s arrest, and based upon that warrant, the agents could have entered Defendant’s home in order to arrest him. See State v. Vargas, 2008-NMSC-019, ¶ 10, 143 N.M. 692, 181 P.3d 684 (stating that in light of the evidence showing that the officers had reason to believe the defendant was inside the apartment, the warrant for the defendant’s arrest authorized the officers’ entry into the defendant’s apartment); State v. Krout, 100 N.M. 661, 662, 674 P.2d 1121

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 NMCA 67, 2012 NMCA 067, 2 N.M. 149, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-eckard-nmctapp-2012.