State v. Gurule

856 P.2d 377, 216 Utah Adv. Rep. 23, 1993 Utah App. LEXIS 115, 1993 WL 239398
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedJuly 2, 1993
DocketNo. 920099-CA
StatusPublished

This text of 856 P.2d 377 (State v. Gurule) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Gurule, 856 P.2d 377, 216 Utah Adv. Rep. 23, 1993 Utah App. LEXIS 115, 1993 WL 239398 (Utah Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

[378]*378OPINION

RUSSON, Associate Presiding Judge:

Richard M. Gurule appeals the trial court’s order denying his motion to suppress pre-seizure eyewitness identification evidence. We affirm.

FACTS

On the evening of May 4, 1990, the Knowlden family, Dale Haddenham, and other friends were having a small party at the Knowlden home when a group of strangers entered the house and announced, “We are here to party or trash the place; it’s your choice.” Following a brief exchange of unpleasantries, the intruders suddenly retreated. Dale Hadden-ham, Rodney Knowlden, and Eddy Knowl-den pursued the intruders and Jody Knowl-den paused to assist Dorothy Knowlden, who had been knocked down by the fleeing intruders. Rodney Knowlden was closely following Haddenham when he saw a man step from behind a truck parked in the Knowlden driveway and hit Haddenham in the head with a baseball bat, knocking him “clear off his feet” and breaking the bat. Eddie Knowlden, who was temporarily distracted by another stranger, also noticed “something flying through the air,” and saw someone holding what appeared to be a baseball bat handle.

When West Valley City Police Officers responded to the disturbance at the Knowl-den home, they heard witnesses shout that the person who might be responsible for the aggravated assault had run into the home located at 2561 Starling Avenue, Gu-rule’s residence. Without any further investigation, the officers proceeded to Gu-rule’s home, pounded on the door, and despite Mrs. Gurule’s resistance, entered the home. The officers seized Gurule, escorted him outside and forced him to appear in a “show-up” procedure where he was viewed by witnesses to the assault.

Gurule was subsequently charged with aggravated assault, a third degree felony, in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-103 (1990). Gurule moved to suppress (1) statements of witnesses relating to their identification of him at trial, on the ground that the identification procedure employed by the police officers violated his rights under the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and article I, section 7 of the Utah Constitution; and (2) all evidence acquired subsequent to, and as a result of the illegal entry into Gurule’s home, on the ground that such was obtained in violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 14 of the Utah Constitution.

Following a hearing, the trial court determined:

1. That entry into the Gurule home on May 5, 1990, was in violation of the defendant's rights under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Art. I, § 14 of the Utah State Constitution in that the entry to the house was made in the absence of exigent circumstances and without a warrant, which easily could have been obtained by telephone or other means.
2. That the illegal entry and subsequent seizure of the defendant requires that all evidence acquired as a result of that illegal entry and seizure must be ordered suppressed.
3. That the failure of the West Valley Police Department to accurately record the initial descriptions given by the eyewitnesses, and the results of the “show-up” conducted in this case along with the suggestive circumstances of the “show-up” itself requires suppression under the guidelines articulated in State v. Ramirez, supra, Art. I, § 7, Utah State Constitution.

The State filed objections to the court's proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law and order, claiming that pre-seizure identification evidence should not be included in the suppression order. Following a hearing on the matter, the court ruled: “I will make it as clear as I can on the record that I have no intention of suppressing any evidence, identification evidence, based on events that occurred prior to the search.”

[379]*379After receiving memoranda from both parties relating to the admissibility of pre-seizure identification evidence, the trial court entered supplemental findings of fact, conclusions of law, and an order stating:

That the eyewitness identification evidence obtained prior to the illegal search and seizure may properly be offered and admitted if otherwise competent, and is not to be suppressed as part of the Court’s prior order dated May 8, 1991.

Gurule then filed this interlocutory appeal of the court’s order denying suppression of the pre-seizure identification evidence.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

“We review the factual findings underlying the trial court’s decision to grant or deny a motion to suppress evidence using a clearly erroneous standard. We review the trial court’s conclusions of law based on these facts under a correctness standard.” State v. Brown, 853 P.2d 851, 854-55 (Utah 1992) (citing State v. Ramirez, 817 P.2d 774, 781-82 (Utah 1991)).

ANALYSIS

Gurule claims that the trial court improperly excluded pre-seizure identification evidence from its suppression order. Specifically, he argues that such evidence was so tainted by the suggestive show-up that admission of that evidence would violate his due process rights. The State responds that the trial court properly excluded pre-seizure identification evidence from the suppression order, claiming that such evidence is based on observations independent of the subsequent police misconduct and is, therefore, admissible at trial.

Inasmuch as the trial court determined that the police show-up was impermissibly suggestive and since such determination is not challenged on appeal, the sole inquiry here is whether the eyewitness identification prior to the show-up may properly be offered and admitted at trial. See State v. Thamer, 777 P.2d 432, 435 (Utah 1989).

In United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967), the United States Supreme Court reasoned that despite the illegality of a police lineup, in-court identification evidence should not be excluded “without first giving the Government the opportunity to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the in-court identifications [are] based upon observations of the suspect other than the lineup identification.” Id., 388 U.S. at 240, 87 S.Ct. at 1939 (citation omitted). The Court explained that “[w]here, as here, the admissibility of evidence of the lineup identification itself is not involved, a per se rule of exclusion of courtroom identification would be unjustified.” Id. (citation and footnote omitted). Accordingly, under Wade, even if an identification procedure is found to be illegal, in-court identification is still admissible if it can be established that there was an independent basis for such identification. See id., 388 U.S. at 240-42, 87 S.Ct. at 1939-40; see generally Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 198-99, 93 S.Ct. 375, 381-82, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972); Simmons v. United States,

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Related

United States v. Wade
388 U.S. 218 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Simmons v. United States
390 U.S. 377 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Neil v. Biggers
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Hays v. State
1980 OK CR 66 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1980)
State v. Thamer
777 P.2d 432 (Utah Supreme Court, 1989)
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State v. Franklin
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State v. Ramirez
817 P.2d 774 (Utah Supreme Court, 1991)
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Bluebook (online)
856 P.2d 377, 216 Utah Adv. Rep. 23, 1993 Utah App. LEXIS 115, 1993 WL 239398, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gurule-utahctapp-1993.