State v. Mankel

555 P.2d 1124, 27 Ariz. App. 436, 1976 Ariz. App. LEXIS 635
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedOctober 1, 1976
Docket2 CA-CR 761
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 555 P.2d 1124 (State v. Mankel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Mankel, 555 P.2d 1124, 27 Ariz. App. 436, 1976 Ariz. App. LEXIS 635 (Ark. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

OPINION

KRUCKER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of guilty to the crime of possession of heroin for sale, A.R.S. § 36-1002.01, and a sentence thereon of not less than seven nor more than ten years in the Arizona State Prison.

Although appellant has presented seven questions for our determination, because of the peculiar circumstances of this appeal we need not consider them all. One of the issues which appellant raises is that he did not validly waive his right to a trial by jury. The State has confessed error on this point and requests this court to reverse.

We have reviewed the proceedings below and find that the waiver of the right to trial by jury was not reflected on the record as having been knowingly and voluntarily made. Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969); State v. Crowley, 111 Ariz. 308, 528 P.2d 834 (1974). As this error is of significant constitutional dimension, the *438 judgment of conviction and sentence must be set aside.

There are two other questions for review which we must answer at this time:

1. Did the officers’ entry into appellant’s residence, the answering of his phone and the search thereof violate the Fourth Amendment?
2. Did the court err in failing to grant appellant’s Motion to Dismiss, pursuant to Rule 8 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure?

The pertinent facts are as follows. On the morning of April 4, 1975, Mrs. Silvia Nerey contacted the Nogales Police Department after observing a man break a glass window pane and enter a neighboring dwelling. Prior to the arrival of the police, she observed the same man leave the residence, his hand wrapped in a bandage, and flee in a van. When the officers arrived she conveyed this information to them. Police Sergeant Martinez proceeded to the scene. The front door of the house in question was wide open and while outside Martinez observed blood on the porch and in the interior of the house. From his vantage point the residence appeared to have been ransacked. After knocking several times and failing to elicit a response, the officer entered appellant Mankel’s two-room apartment.

After a cursory inspection, Martinez contacted Lt. Ronquillo, his superior, to “back him up.” Within several minutes Ronquillo arrived and entered the house with Martinez to further investigate the crime and to dust for fingerprints.

While in the apartment, Officer Martinez answered a telephone call. An unidentified speaker stated, “Popoy, necesito chi-va” which translates literally as “Popoy, I need some shit.” This call was followed by a series of as many as 20 telephone calls. Although the record does not reflect the contents of each discussion, evidence adduced at trial pertaining to several calls indicated that they concerned requests for “pills”, “papers” and “shit”.

After receiving the first call the officers began a visual inspection of the apartment. Upon receiving several more calls, Ron-quillo attempted to obtain a search warrant. He testified that three of the four county judges he attempted to contact were out of town and that he had tried to locate a fourth magistrate but was informed that he, too, was not in the area. 1 The lieutenant then called the Chief of Police and was told to go ahead with the search. During the course of the subsequent warrantless search, heroin was discovered above a false ceiling panel.

Appellant’s initial contention is that the “second entry” by Martinez and Ronquillo violated his Fourth Amendment rights and Art. 2, § 8 of the Arizona Constitution. The Fourth Amendment outlaws only unreasonable searches and seizures. State v. Hutton, 108 Ariz. 504, 502 P.2d 1323 (1972). Generally, in order to be reasonable a search of private premises should be pursuant to a legally issued warrant. Vale v. Louisiana, 399 U.S. 30, 90 S.Ct. 1969, 26 L.Ed.2d 409 (1970); State v. Sainz, 18 Ariz.App. 358, 501 P.2d 1199 (1972). However, the courts have recognized exceptions to this general rule. One such exception is an entry occasioned by emergency or exigent circumstances. State v. Sainz, supra.

It is clear that the initial entry of Martinez was lawful despite the absence of a warrant. From the bloodstains and condition of the house it was logical and prudent for the officer to believe that a serious crime had been committed and that a life was endangered. The fact that a victim was not actually fpund does not negate the possibility that existed. United States v. Herndon, 390 F.Supp. 1017 (S.D.Fla.1975). The second entry by Martinez and *439 Ronquillo minutes later was merely a continuation of the lawful investigation. Lt. Ronquillo had been called as a backup man and entered the dwelling to observe the scene of the crime and to perform the technical function of dusting for fingerprints. The officers were still not completely certain whether there had been a crime of violence in addition to the burglary. Rather, they were performing their public duty with the hope of uncovering some clue which would lead them to the perpetrator of the crime. We cannot say this “second entry” was improper.

Appellant next contends that the answering of the telephone by the officers while in the residence was an invasion of privacy and violated both the Fourth Amendment and A.R.S. § 13-1051, et seq., (Supp.1973). We do not agree. This court, of course, recognizes that communications may be the subject of a search and seizure. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967). However, appellant’s reliance on Katz and A.R.S. § 13-1051, et seq., is misplaced. In Katz, the Supreme Court held that even in the absence of physical trespass, an electronic surveillance of a telephone conversation between a suspect and a third person constituted a search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment. However, the factual situation in the case at bar clearly is outside the scope of the holding of Katz. We fail to see how the communications here were “seized.” There was no channeling into the lines of communications nor use of tapping or eavesdropping equipment. Rather, both officers were parties to the calls. United States v. Anthony, 444 F.2d 484 (9th Cir. 1971).

Likewise, A.R.S.

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Bluebook (online)
555 P.2d 1124, 27 Ariz. App. 436, 1976 Ariz. App. LEXIS 635, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mankel-arizctapp-1976.