State v. Howard

24 P.3d 44, 135 Idaho 727, 2001 Ida. LEXIS 43
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedMay 7, 2001
Docket25383
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 24 P.3d 44 (State v. Howard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Howard, 24 P.3d 44, 135 Idaho 727, 2001 Ida. LEXIS 43 (Idaho 2001).

Opinion

SCHROEDER, Justice.

Edward Theodore Howard (Howard) appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to a search warrant and the district court’s admission of evidence at trial. He also appeals the sentence imposed by the district court.

I.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

On April 26, 1998, Deputy Mark Strangio (Strangio) of the Boundary County Sheriffs Office applied for a search warrant for a 1978 Dodge pick-up. Strangio submitted an affidavit to support the application, and the magistrate issued a warrant to search the pick-up. The search revealed 42.6 grams of methamphetamine, 2.6 grams of heroine, and 2.6 grams of marijuana, and miscellaneous *729 drug paraphernalia. Howard was charged with trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of heroin, possession of marijuana, and possession of paraphernalia.

The events leading to the search and arrest began when Strangio received an anonymous tip that Robin Eby was at the Kootenai River Inn with a woman named Jackie and an older man. The tip indicated that Eby was in a room at the Inn in possession of a “large quantity of crank” and was attempting to sell the drugs to another person.

Strangio discovered that two other officers had seen Howard in the truck and that Jackie had an outstanding arrest warrant for possession of methamphetamine. Strangio viewed the surveillance film at the Inn showing two women and a man. Strangio identified Eby in the tape from a description. Strangio also identified Jackie from a facsimile of her booking photo and observed Howard on the Inn’s video surveillance camera. Subsequently, Officer Navarro of the Bonners Ferry Police Department met Strangio at the Inn. Strangio and Navarro saw Jackie with another woman in the lobby of the Inn. Strangio arrested Jackie on the outstanding warrant and questioned her about how she had arrived at the Inn. She responded that she had been “dropped off.” Strangio connected Jackie to the truck from a report of the Inn’s surveillance officer who witnessed Howard, Eby, and Jackie carrying backpacks to the truck which they placed in the truck’s inside compartment and rear bed.

Jackie told the officers that she had some pot in her backpack. Strangio requested a “drug canine” and the dog’s trainer to come to the Inn. The dog “alerted” to Jackie’s purse and Jackie gave written consent for the officers to search her backpack that was in the bed of the pick-up. The search revealed a pen containing a white powder-like substance that the officers believed to be a controlled substance, a razor blade, and a small white colored rock that the officers also believed was a controlled substance. Both substances field-tested negative for methamphetamine. However, Strangio still believed the substances to be controlled substances based on his experience and training.

The dog sniffed the exterior of the pickup and alerted to the driver’s side door and the front of the truck bed. Strangio asked Howard to consent to a search of the truck. Howard claimed the truck was not his and refused to consent to a search. Strangio determined the truck was registered to a another person. Strangio contacted the registered owner who stated that he had sold the truck to Howard.

The truck was then towed to Riverside Auto and Howard was detained pending further investigation. Strangio submitted an application for a search warrant, which was granted. Deputies Strangio and Alonzo conducted the physical search of the pick-up. Deputy Ekstrom filled out the warrant return receipt based on what was relayed to her by Strangio and Alonzo.

Howard moved to suppress the evidence seized in the search of the pickup on the basis that the search and arrest violated the United States Constitution, the Idaho Constitution, the Idaho Criminal Rules, and Idaho Code §§ 19-602 and 19-603. Howard alleged that the affidavit filed with the application for the search warrant was insufficient to allow the magistrate to make an independent determination that there was a fair probability that the truck contained contraband. The district court denied the motion to suppress.

A jury found Howard guilty of trafficking in methamphetamine; possession of heroin; and possession of marijuana. The district court sentenced Howard to concurrent unified sentences of fifteen years with five years fixed for trafficking in methamphetamine, five years fixed for possessing heroin, and three months fixed for possessing marijuana.

Howard requests this Court to (1) reverse the district court’s order denying his motion to suppress and remand the case for further proceedings; (2) reverse the district court’s judgments of conviction and remand the case for a new trial in light of the district court’s erroneous admission of the receipt and inventory of the search; and (3) reduce his sentences in light of his potential for rehabilitation.

*730 II.

THERE WAS PROBABLE CAUSE FOR ISSUANCE OF THE SEARCH WARRANT

A. Standard Of Review

When a magistrate issues a search warrant which is later questioned on appeal, this Court’s function is to ensure that the magistrate had a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed for the issuance of the warrant. Great deference is to be paid to the magistrate’s decision. See State v. Josephson, 123 Idaho 790, 852 P.2d 1387 (1993) (citing Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983); State v. Johnson, 110 Idaho 516, 716 P.2d 1288 (1986); State v. Lang, 105 Idaho 683, 672 P.2d 561 (1983)). A magistrate’s evaluation of probable cause is determined from the facts set forth in the affidavit or any recorded testimony given in support of the search warrant. State v. Oropeza, 97 Idaho 387, 545 P.2d 475 (1976). This Court’s review of the magistrate’s decision is based only on those facts properly before the magistrate at the time of the decision to issue the warrant. See Aguilar v. State of Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964); see also State v. Johnson supra and State v. Lang supra.

When determining whether to issue a search warrant the magistrate is to “make a practical, common sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit ... there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.” State v. Cheatham, 134 Idaho 565, 572, 6 P.3d 815, 822 (2000) (citing Gates, 462 U.S. at 239, 103 S.Ct. at 2332, 76 L.Ed.2d at 548-49); see also Lang, 105 Idaho at 684, 672 P.2d at 562.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
24 P.3d 44, 135 Idaho 727, 2001 Ida. LEXIS 43, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-howard-idaho-2001.