State v. James Legette076124)

152 A.3d 887, 227 N.J. 460, 2017 N.J. LEXIS 9
CourtSupreme Court of New Jersey
DecidedJanuary 12, 2017
DocketA-12-15
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 152 A.3d 887 (State v. James Legette076124)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. James Legette076124), 152 A.3d 887, 227 N.J. 460, 2017 N.J. LEXIS 9 (N.J. 2017).

Opinions

JUSTICE FERNANDEZ-VINA

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The issue on appeal is whether, during an investigatory stop, it is permissible for a police officer to follow suspects into their homes and seize evidence.

In response to a noise complaint, an officer arrived at Defendant James L. Legette’s apartment complex, where he observed defendant standing with another man in a public area. Because defendant began to walk away when the officer identified himself, the officer commenced an investigatory stop, asking defendant for identification. When defendant offered to retrieve identification from his apartment, the officer said he would have to accompany defendant. While in his apartment, defendant removed the sweatshirt he was wearing. The officer seized the sweatshirt and ultimately discovered a handgun in its pocket.

The trial court denied defendant’s motion to suppress the handgun, and the Appellate Division affirmed. The lower courts largely relied on Washington v. Chrisman, 455 U.S. 1, 102 S.Ct. 812, 70 L.Ed.2d 778 (1982), and State v. Bruzzese, 94 N.J. 210, 463 A.2d 320 (1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1030, 104 S.Ct. 1295, 79 [464]*464L.Ed.2d 695 (1984), which concluded that it was reasonable for police officers to follow arrestees into their homes.

For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we decline to extend Chrisman and Bruzzese to detainees. Although warrantless entries into the home require probable cause, investigatory stops require the lower standard of reasonable suspicion. We therefore hold that, when conducting an investigatory stop, it is not permissible for an officer to follow suspects into their homes.

I.

On the night of January 17, 2012, Somers Point Police Officer Richard Dill (“Dill”) responded to a noise complaint in an apartment complex. Upon arrival, Dill noticed two men standing on a common porch. He parked and entered the building from another direction through a common hallway. Dill heard music and loud voices. As Dill neared the door to the common porch where he had seen the two men from the parking lot, defendant opened the door partway. Dill smelled the odor of burnt marijuana through the open door.

Dill walked onto the common porch and identified himself. Defendant walked away from Dill, heading toward the parking lot. Dill asked defendant where he was going, and defendant replied that he was going to his car. Dill inquired whether defendant had any identification. Defendant said that his identification was in his apartment and volunteered to retrieve it. Dill told defendant that he would have to accompany him to his apartment under the circumstances. Defendant did not respond and continued walking upstairs.

As defendant was walking, Dill noticed a bulge in the pocket of defendant’s sweatshirt. He followed defendant into the bedroom of the apartment, where defendant picked up his wallet, removed his identification, and handed it to Dill. Dill and defendant then went into the living room, where Dill radioed the information from defendant’s identification to dispatch.

[465]*465Defendant took off his sweatshirt, handed it to a woman who was also in the living room, and instructed her to put it in the bedroom, which she did. Dill interrupted his radio transmission and told defendant that he would need to examine the sweatshirt. Dill and defendant went to the bedroom, where defendant stepped over the sweatshirt he had been wearing and grabbed another one from the closet. Dill picked up the sweatshirt defendant had been wearing from the floor.

Dill and defendant returned to the living room, where Dill resumed his radio transmission regarding the existence of any outstanding warrants. Defendant became visibly nervous, so Dill asked defendant to step outside where Dill’s vehicle, his K-9, and a backup officer were located. Outside, Dill asked defendant to have a seat on the building steps. Defendant continued to appear anxious as Dill placed the sweatshirt on the ground. Dill informed defendant that he would be handcuffed and detained while Dill investigated.

The warrant inquiry revealed no outstanding warrants. Defendant did not consent to a search of the sweatshirt, so Dill placed defendant in the back of the patrol vehicle to wait while Dill conducted a K-9 search for drugs. Dill got another sweatshirt and a towel from his patrol vehicle and placed them on the ground next to defendant’s sweatshirt. The dog put his nose in defendant’s sweatshirt, grabbed it in its mouth, and dropped it onto the pavement. The sweatshirt made a clanking noise as it hit the ground. Dill picked up the sweatshirt and felt a handgun in the pocket, which he seized. The handgun was loaded.

A grand jury indicted defendant on second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b), and second-degree possession of a weapon by a convicted person, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:39-7.

Defendant filed a motion to suppress, challenging the validity of the search. The State argued that Dill had properly detained defendant due to a reasonable and articulable suspicion that a [466]*466crime had been committed, that entry into defendant’s home was lawful, and that the sweatshirt was in plain view.

After hearing testimony and considering additional briefing, the trial court denied defendant’s motion to suppress. Defendant ultimately pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon by a convicted person and was sentenced to a term of five years without parole.

Defendant appealed the suppression ruling. The State conceded on appeal that entering defendant’s residence and detaining defendant were more than reasonably necessary to investigate whether defendant was in possession of marijuana. The State asserted—for the first time on appeal—that the evidence should not be excluded under the theory of inevitable discovery because Dill would have located the handgun if he had used proper investigatory procedures.

The Appellate Division affirmed the trial court’s denial of the suppression motion. State v. Legette, 441 N.J.Super. 1, 11-12, 116 A.3d 32 (App. Div. 2015). The panel applied Chrisman and Bruz-zese, concluding that “an officer who has lawfully detained a suspect in an investigatory stop, like an officer who has lawfully arrested a subject, need not let the suspect out of his sight or presence during the detention.” Id. at 20, 116 A.3d 32. We granted defendant’s petition for certification. 223 N.J. 355, 124 A.3d 239 (2015).

II.

A.

Defendant argues that the reasonable suspicion necessary to justify an investigatory stop under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), is never sufficient to support warrantless entry into a home, which requires a showing of probable cause. Defendant stresses that Terry’s exception to the warrant requirement is narrowly tailored to allow an officer to search a suspect in a public setting. Accordingly, defendant argues that Terry stops must be limited in scope, brief in duration, and [467]*467aimed at proving or disproving an officer’s suspicion that crime is afoot.

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152 A.3d 887, 227 N.J. 460, 2017 N.J. LEXIS 9, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-james-legette076124-nj-2017.