State v. Jones

2017 SD 59, 903 N.W.2d 101, 2017 S.D. LEXIS 115
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 20, 2017
Docket27739
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 2017 SD 59 (State v. Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota 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. Jones, 2017 SD 59, 903 N.W.2d 101, 2017 S.D. LEXIS 115 (S.D. 2017).

Opinions

WILBUR, Retired Justice

[¶1.] Law enforcement installed a pole camera (without a warrant) on a public street light to record defendant’s activities outside of his home, beginning the same day the officers received a tip that, a known drug dealer had been traveling to defendant’s home to obtain drugs. The camera recorded defendant’s activities out[104]*104side his home for two months, and the officers used the information gained from the camera to obtain a search warrant for defendant’s home. The officers executed the warrant and arrested defendant. Defendant moved to suppress the evidence, asserting that the officers’ use of thé pole camera without a warrant violated the Fourth Amendment. The circuit court denied defendant’s motion. Defendant appeals. We reverse in part and affirm in part.

Background

[¶2.] On January 23, 2015, Elizabeth Carlson,, an agent with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, (DCI), informed Detective Dana Rogers of the Brookings Police Department that a person living in the Brookings area may be dealing large quantities of marijuana. Agent Carlson relayed to Detective Rogers that an informant had told her that a man named Brady Schutt would travel from Huron to Joseph Jones’s residence in Brookings to pick up large quantities of marijuana to take back to Huron to, sell. Agent Carlson also informed Detective Rogers that Schutt drives a red GMC pickup. Detective Rogers confirmed that Schutt drove a red GMC pickup and noted the license plate number.'He also verified Jones’s address through a computer search. Jones lives in a trailer within and near the entrance to the Lamplighter Village Trailer Park.

[¶3.] The same day he received the tip from Agent Carlson, Detective Rogers arranged for a City employee to install a pole camera on a public street light across from Jones’s trailer. Detective Rogers did not obtain a warrant for the camera. The employee installed the pole camera inside a pole camera box approximately two to four feet below the top of the light. The box, but not the camera, was visible to the public. The camera recorded a street, and Jones’s residence and front yard. Detective Rogers testified that he could use a zoom feature to get the camera’s focus closer to Jones’s residence, but the footage would become blurry and distorted, preventing a clear picture. The pole camera did not have night vision but recorded throughout the night. The night recordings would capture vehicles with lights that drove up to the residence or under the street light. The night recordings would also display shadows of people walking, depending on how clear the evening was. The State claimed that the camera did not record inside Jones’s residence. But there is no recording to review to determine the accuracy of that information. The State did not retain the recordings.

[¶4.] From January 23, 2015 to March 19, 2015, the pole camera continuously recorded activity outside of Jones’s residence. The camera sent a live feed to a server located in Pierre, South Dakota, at DCI and to a mobile phone accessible by Detective Rogers. Detective Rogers could view the recording live or he could look at previously-recorded footage to' view what had already taken place. Detective Rogers could review a day’s worth of activity in approximately 10 to 11 minutes by fast forwarding through the footage. He explained that he could fast forward when nothing happened, and if he observed movement, he could play the recording in real time.

[¶5.] The pole camera documented when Jones’s vehicle was at the residence, when it left, how long it was gone, when visitors came and where they parked, how long they stayed, when pedestrians walked by, etc. Detective Rogers noted the instances when Jones was gone for an extended time. Detective Rogers also observed vehicles associated with known drug offenders, including the red GMC, arrive several times at Jones’s residence, all hours of the [105]*105day and night, sometimes for a short time, sometimes longer.

[¶6.] On March 6, Detective Rogers reviewed the footage and observed Jones place a black or dark-colored trash bag into his vehicle and drive a short distance and return. Detective Rogers assumed Jones placed the bag in the community dumpster. Detective Rogers and Agent Scot Hawks drove to the dumpster, opened what appeared to be the bag Jones placed in his vehicle, and identified a package addressed to Jones. Ultimately, Detective Rogers retrieved items from the trash bag indicating the use or possession of marijuana.

[¶7.] On March 11, Detective Rogers again observed Jones load something into his vehicle and drive a short distance and return. Detective Rogers and another officer returned to the dumpster and seized trash bags containing objects linking the trash bags to Jones. In those bags, Detective Rogers also found partial marijuana blunts and two marijuana stems (one stem tested presumptively positive for marijuana).

[¶8.] On March 11, Detective Rogers used the information learned from the pole camera to prepare an affidavit for a search warrant to install a GPS tracking device on two vehicles at Jones’s residence. The circuit court signed the warrant, and Detective Rogers installed the GPS tracking devices. Then on March 13, again using the information obtained from the pole camera, Detective Rogers submitted a second application for a search warrant to search Jones’s residence. The circuit court signed the warrant. On March 19, 2015, Detective Rogers and others executed the search warrant and subsequently arrested Jones. The State charged Jones with multiple drug-related offenses.

[¶9.] Jones moved to suppress the evidence obtained during the search, arguing that the State’s use of the pole camera violated the Fourth Amendment. The circuit court held a hearing. During the hearing, the court noted, “as a preliminary matter, ... the majority of the information presented by Officer Rogers in the affidavits to request GPS monitoring and a search of [Jones’s] residence ... w[as] from information obtained through the use of the pole camera identified in this matter.” The court informed counsel “that if the information provided in the search warrant affidavits regarding the pole camera, if that information was removed from the affidavits, that there would not be sufficient probable cause to issue the warrants.” The court further indicated that “any evidence obtained as a result of those search warrants would not be used pursuant to the Wong Sun fruit of a poisonous tree decision.”

[1110.] In regard to the merits, the court found significant that the pole camera “did not track the whereabouts of any of the residents other than the fact that they were either in the mobile home or outside the mobile home.” The court found no difference between an officer’s ability to conduct a stakeout outside a person’s residence and the use of technology in the officer’s place. The court further found compelling that cameras “have become a common occurrence” in public places. The court concluded society would not recognize that one has an unfettered expectation of privacy once one steps outside his or her home.

[1111.] The court issued findings, conclusions, and an order denying Jones’s motion to suppress. It held “[t]hat there was no physical invasion of [Jones’s] residence or privacy, and the use of physical observation in this case, via a pole camera, was conducted on public property, and without trespassing onto [Jones’s] property, and thus, no Fourth Amendment violation has [106]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2017 SD 59, 903 N.W.2d 101, 2017 S.D. LEXIS 115, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jones-sd-2017.