State v. Hamilton

397 P.3d 61, 285 Or. App. 315, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 565
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 3, 2017
Docket130532458; A158022
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 397 P.3d 61 (State v. Hamilton) 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. Hamilton, 397 P.3d 61, 285 Or. App. 315, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 565 (Or. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

SHORR, J.

Defendant appeals a judgment convicting him of unlawful delivery of marijuana. ORS 475.860 (2013), amended by Or Laws 2015, ch 1, § 78; Or Laws 2015, ch 614, § 122; Or Laws 2016, ch 24, § 44. On appeal, defendant assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence discovered after police conducted a warrantless search of defendant’s home after removing defendant and his roommate from the house. Officers searched defendant’s home for potential victims of an assault after responding to a 9-1-1 call from defendant’s roommate. In that call, the roommate told officers that he was in a dispute with defendant and that defendant was threatening to kill him. After the officers entered defendant’s home and removed defendant and his roommate, the officers searched the home to determine if any potential victims of an assault remained. Defendant contends that the trial court mistakenly concluded that the officers’ warrantless search of his home after defendant and his roommate were removed was justified under the emergency aid exception to Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution. We agree with defendant and, accordingly, reverse and remand.

We are bound by the trial court’s findings of historical fact that are supported by constitutionally sufficient evidence. State v. Ehly, 317 Or 66, 75, 854 P2d 421 (1993). Further, “ [i]n the absence of express factual findings, we presume that the trial court decided the disputed facts in keeping with its ultimate conclusion.” State v. Garcia, 276 Or App 838, 839, 370 P3d 512 (2016). With that standard of review in mind, we state the following facts.

Police officers were called to defendant’s house to respond to a disturbance between defendant and his roommate. Officer Sapper, the first officer to arrive, was told by dispatch that a caller and his roommate (later determined to be defendant) were arguing and that defendant was threatening to kill the caller. Because of the volatility of the situation, Sapper chose to wait for back-up when he arrived, rather than enter the house alone. While he was waiting for additional officers to arrive, Sapper monitored the house. While waiting, Sapper could hear crashing noises [318]*318and defendant screaming, “Get the fuck out of my house.” However, Sapper did not hear any verbal threats of physical harm. Sapper could also see into the house. From his vantage point, he could see a number of objects that were broken on the floor and defendant walking through the house. Sapper could not tell how many people were in the house, however. As he made those observations, dispatch informed Sapper that the caller was now locked in his bedroom, armed with a baseball bat.

While Sapper was waiting for additional officers, dispatch was also in contact with Officer Ellis. Dispatch initially told Ellis that the dispute was between a man and a woman and that there was a lot of screaming in the background of the call. As Ellis traveled toward the house, defendant’s roommate, the caller, came on the line with Ellis and said that he was in a fight with one of his roommates, that he had barricaded himself in his bedroom with a baseball bat, and that he was preparing to defend himself. Ellis also noted that, while he was talking to defendant’s roommate, there was a lot of screaming in the background.

Eventually, additional officers arrived at the scene. Sapper and the newly arrived officers approached defendant’s door and stood on the porch, planning what to do. While on the porch, Sapper heard additional crashing noises and what he believed was the sound of a person kicking in a door. Based on those noises and the knowledge that the caller had acquired a bat to defend himself, the officers entered the house through the unlocked front door.

As the officers entered the house, defendant walked toward them with a large kitchen knife in his hand. Sapper pointed his pistol at defendant and told him to drop the knife. Defendant complied. Officers then handcuffed defendant and asked him if there was anyone else in the house. Defendant responded, “No. It’s my house. You can’t go in.” Sapper then removed defendant from the house.

At that point, Sapper was still uncertain how many people were in the house, but “assumed there was at least one other person based off of what dispatch had told [him], that there was a man in a room armed with a bat.” Similarly, Ellis also “assumed there was at least one more [person in [319]*319the house]” but also noted that “you never know who else or how many other people are in [a] house.” Sapper could also hear at least one more person in the house. Sapper called out, ordering whoever was in the house to come out with their hands up. Defendant’s roommate complied. Sapper asked the roommate if he knew if anyone else was in the house, and the roommate responded, “I don’t know.” One of the other officers then removed the roommate from the house. At that point, Sapper was “not a hundred percent” certain that the person that they had removed was the caller; however, he “assumed it was.”

After the roommate was removed, the officers called out to see if anyone else was in the home. No one responded, and the officers did not hear any other noises that suggested that anyone else remained in the house. However, rather than leave, the remaining officers proceeded to search the house for potential unconscious or dead participants from the earlier dispute. At no point before or during their search did the officers find any signs of personal physical injury, such as blood, in the housé. They did notice what they perceived to be knife slashes on the doorjamb of the door behind which defendant’s roommate had been locked.

After clearing the rest of the house, Sapper and Ellis decided to search defendant’s basement. In the basement, the officers discovered a large number of marijuana plants. After finding the marijuana plants, officers continued to search the basement for any unconscious or dead disputants. Finding none, the officers contacted the Drugs and Vice Division to report their discovery of the marijuana.

Based on the officers’ discovery of the marijuana during their warrantless search, defendant was indicted for unlawful delivery of marijuana and other charges. Defendant moved to suppress all evidence that the officers found as a result of the warrantless search of his home that took place after defendant and his roommate had been removed.

At the suppression hearing, only two of the responding officers testified, Sapper and Ellis. Both officers testified as to their state of mind at the time they decided to continue their search, after defendant and his roommate were removed from the house. Sapper stated that he believed [320]*320that the continued search was necessary “[t]o determine if there’s anybody in the house that’s injured.” Similarly, Ellis testified that he believed that continuing the search was necessary “to find potential victims, to see if anybody else was in the home, if anybody was hurt, if they needed aid.” Importantly, the officers did not testify that they believed that a potentially injured victim remained in the home after they removed defendant’s roommate. Instead, Ellis testified that he merely speculated that more people could have been in the house because “you never know who else or how many other people are in the home.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
397 P.3d 61, 285 Or. App. 315, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 565, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hamilton-orctapp-2017.