State v. Evans

822 P.2d 1198, 110 Or. App. 46, 1991 Ore. App. LEXIS 1822
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 4, 1991
Docket87-CR-0621-JC 88-CR-0189-WE 88-CR-0190-WE CA A50593 (Control) CA A50594 CA A50595
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 822 P.2d 1198 (State v. Evans) 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. Evans, 822 P.2d 1198, 110 Or. App. 46, 1991 Ore. App. LEXIS 1822 (Or. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

*49 JOSEPH, C. J.

These consolidated criminal cases involve co-defendants, husband (Kenneth) and wife (Laura), who were tried together in 2 trials. Laura appeals only from her conviction for frequenting a place where controlled substances are used, ORS 167.222, in the second trial. Kenneth was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance, ORS 161.450; ORS 475.992, in the first trial and possession of a controlled substance, ORS 475.992, in the second. In a third, separate trial, Kenneth was convicted of being an ex-convict in possession of a firearm. ORS 166.270. We address the arguments by referring to the trials by their appeal numbers in this court.

CAA50593 1

At 4:45 p.m. on November 20, 1987, Oregon State Police officers and Deschutes County Sheriffs deputies executed a warrant authorizing a search, for Kenneth at his rural Deer Lane residence, including a detached single-story wood-framed garage located north of the main dwelling. When the officers arrived, a housesitter told them that defendants were in Portland. They proceeded to search the premises. In the garage they found substantial quantities of methamphetamine and a container of methamphetamine oil. While some officers remained in the home, others searched outside and found a windowless storage shed, locked on the outside with a hasp and padlock. Officer Dodd detected the odor of methamphetamine or a precursor substance coming from the shed. Some of the officers unscrewed the hasp and opened the door but found no one inside. For the next 1 or 2 hours, they tried to write an affidavit for a warrant to search the shed.

At 6:10 p.m., Kenneth telephoned his home from a motel in Portland. Officer Tabor answered the phone. Kenneth identified himself as “Mark,” the owner of the residence. Tabor responded that he did not believe that the caller owned the residence and hung up. Kenneth called several times in the next few minutes. Tabor listened to an answering machine as Kenneth left messages for the housesitter. At 6:25 *50 p.m. he called again. That time Tabor answered the phone and represented himself as a guest whom the housesitter had met at a bar. He told Kenneth that the housesitter had injected himself with methamphetamine and driven away. Tabor testified, “I told [Kenneth] that [the housesitter] had taken my car and that left me stranded * * Kenneth then told Tabor that he would return home immediately. Kenneth was arrested in Portland soon thereafter and was found to be in possession of a small amount of cocaine, some syringes and weapons. At 7:45 p.m., Dodd made an oral affidavit to obtain a telephonic warrant to search the shed, where the officers found evidence of methamphetamine production.

The trial court found that the affidavit in support of the first warrant established probable cause to believe that Kenneth would be at his residence. It based its ruling on these facts:

(1) Defendants had lived together at another address and a fellow officer had told the affiant that defendants had recently moved to a home on Deer Lane;
(2) Kenneth’s date of birth was the same as that given the landlord by “Mark Johnson” when he leased the Deer Lane residence;
(3) Laura’s car was parked at the residence, and police officers had seen Kenneth driving it;
(4) The affiant knew that Kenneth owned at least 5 pit bull dogs, and 6 dogs of that breed were at the residence;
(5) The description of the renter “Mark Johnson” that a citizen informant gave the affiant was similar to the description that the police had of Kenneth.

Kenneth argues that the trial court should have granted the motion to controvert and to strike the description of “Mark Johnson” from the affidavit, because the citizen informant named in the affidavit had never seen the renter but had relied on information from her husband. He also argues that the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress evidence obtained during the search for Kenneth because, with or without the description, the affidavit did not *51 establish probable cause to believe that he could be found at the Deer Lane residence. 2

Kenneth argues that the affidavit was insufficient, because the affiant relied on the presence of the dogs and Laura’s car to establish that he was home when the warrant issued. He emphasizes that he was not on the property at the time of the search. If the affidavit did not establish probable cause to believe that he would be at the Deer Lane residence, then the warrant was invalid and any evidence obtained during the search must be suppressed. ORS 133.683. The state argues that probable cause does not require certainty but only a reasonable belief based on articulated facts that the things or persons sought will probably be at a particular location. It also argues that the affidavit, even without the description of “Mark Johnson,” provides sufficient information for a magistrate to conclude that there was probable cause to believe that Kenneth would be found at the Deer Lane residence.

We must construe the affidavit “in a commonsense, nontechnical and realistic fashion looking at the facts recited and the reasonable inferences that can be drawn from those.” State v. Prince, 93 Or App 106, 112, 760 P2d 1356, rev den 307 Or 246 (1988). To support a warrant, the affidavit must recite facts sufficient to lead a neutral and detached magistrate to conclude that the things sought will probably be found in the location to be searched. State v. Anspach, 298 Or 375, 380-81, 692 P2d 602 (1984). We resolve doubtful or marginal cases in the light of a preference for warrants. State v. Gale/Rowden, 105 Or App 489, 496, 805 P2d 158, rev den 311 Or 427 (1991).

Kenneth views probable cause too narrowly. An affidavit need not establish that the places to be searched are the only — or even the most likely — places in which items or *52 persons might be found. State v. Villagran, 294 Or 404, 414, 657 P2d 1223 (1983). In this case, the affiant knew that defendants resided somewhere on Deer Lane. Considering the rural nature of the area, known as “Alfalfa,” the presence of Laura’s car was sufficient to show that Kenneth probably lived there. That 6 pit bull dogs were there and that the renter’s birth date was the same as Kenneth’s demonstrated a strong possibility that the renter who lived there was Kenneth.

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Bluebook (online)
822 P.2d 1198, 110 Or. App. 46, 1991 Ore. App. LEXIS 1822, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-evans-orctapp-1991.