State v. Marshall

239 P.3d 1286, 149 Idaho 725, 2008 Ida. App. LEXIS 123
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 5, 2008
Docket33764
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 239 P.3d 1286 (State v. Marshall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Marshall, 239 P.3d 1286, 149 Idaho 725, 2008 Ida. App. LEXIS 123 (Idaho Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

LANSING, Judge.

Terry Lynn Marshall appeals from his judgment of conviction for possession of a controlled substance, Idaho Code section 37-2732(c)(1), contending that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence found in his residence. We affirm.

I.

BACKGROUND

On February 28, 2003, Laurie Nelson, Marshall’s girlfriend and roommate, was placed on probation in Bonneville County district court. The order placing Nelson on probation included a term that she would consent to warrantless searches of her person, her residence, and her vehicle at the request of a probation officer. The order imposed a three-year period of probation but also stated: “Probation has been ordered for a specific length of time; however, probation shall not be terminated until the Court has both reviewed the performance of the probationer and has signed an order discharging the probationer.”

In reliance on the consent condition of Nelson’s probation, on June 23, 2006, a probation officer accompanied by several law enforcement officers conducted a warrantless search of the residence shared by Nelson and Marshall. Cocaine was found, and Marshall was charged with possessing the drug. Marshall moved to suppress the cocaine, contending that the warrantless search violated the protections of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 17 of the Idaho Constitution. The State maintained that a search warrant was unnecessary because of the consent that was a term of Nelson’s probation. Marshall argued, however, that Nelson’s probation was for a three-year term that had expired before the search occurred.

At the conclusion of the suppression hearing, the district court held that under the terms of the probation order, Nelson’s probation continued until she was discharged by a written order, and because no order discharging Nelson from probation had been shown, the warrantless search was permissible as a consent search. Accordingly, the court denied Marshall’s suppression motion. Marshall then conditionally pleaded guilty, reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion.

II.

ANALYSIS

On review of a suppression motion, we defer to the trial court’s findings of fact that are supported by substantial evidence, but freely review the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found. State v. Atkinson, 128 Idaho 559, 561, 916 P.2d 1284, 1286 (Ct.App.1996).

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as article I, § 17 of the Idaho Constitution, prohibit unreasonable searches. While a warrantless search is presumptively unreasonable, it will nevertheless be lawful if it falls within an established exception to the warrant requirement. Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 372, 113 S.Ct. 2130, 2135, 124 L.Ed.2d 334, 343-44 (1993); State v. Weaver, 127 Idaho 288, 290, 900 P.2d 196, 198 (1995); State v. Garcia, 143 Idaho 774, 777, 152 P.3d 645, 648 (Ct.App.2006). A search conducted with consent that was freely given is such an exception. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 219, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 2043-44, 36 L.Ed.2d 854, 858 (1973); State v. Dominguez, 137 Idaho 681, 683, 52 P.3d 325, 327 (Ct.App.2002). This exception encompasses consents given as a condition of probation or parole. State v. Gawron, 112 Idaho 841, 843, 736 P.2d 1295, 1297 (1987); State v. Pecor, 132 *727 Idaho 359, 364, 972 P.2d 737, 742 (Ct.App.1998); State v. Peters, 130 Idaho 960, 963, 950 P.2d 1299, 1302 (Ct.App.1997).

Whether the consent-to-search condition of Nelson’s probation validated the search turns upon the length of her probation. If the probation term was three years, it expired on February 28, 2006, four months before the search, and the consent could not be relied upon to justify the search. Conversely, if she was still on probation at the time of the search, the consent remained in force. Idaho Code section 20-222 provides that a period of probation “may be indeterminate or may be fixed by the court____” Here, the order first imposed a three-year period of probation, but then made the term indeterminate through a further provision that the probation would not be terminated “until the Court has both reviewed the performance of the probationer and has signed an order discharging the probationer.” Marshall does not assert that these terms violate section 20-222. Rather, he simply argues that the length of Nelson’s probation was three years.

The question thus presented is the intent of the court that imposed Nelson’s probation. That intent is to be derived from the language of the order. State v. Phillips, 99 Idaho 354, 355, 581 P.2d 1173, 1174 (1978); State v. Bailey, 98 Idaho 387, 389, 565 P.2d 580, 582 (1977). Like the district court, we find no ambiguity in the order as to when Nelson’s probation would end. The plain language shows that the three-year period of probation is modified by the additional provision that Nelson would remain on probation until the court signed an order discharging her from that probation. The effect was to create an indeterminate period of probation with a three-year minimum term.

Marshall’s next contention is that the State did not discharge its burden to show that Nelson had not been released from probation before the search. Marshall complains that for this factual issue the district court impermissibly placed the burden of proof upon him rather than upon the State. Marshall bases his contention on the district court’s statement at the close of the hearing that “the only way that you show to me that she is off probation is an order signed by the court saying it has been terminated.”

On a suppression motion challenging a warrantless search, the defendant bears the evidentiary burden to show that a search occurred, that there was no warrant, and that the defendant has “standing” to challenge the search. By “standing” we mean that the defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place or thing that was searched. See Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 104, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2561, 65 L.Ed.2d 633, 641 (1980); Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978); State v. Holland, 135 Idaho 159, 162,

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511 P.3d 273 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2022)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
239 P.3d 1286, 149 Idaho 725, 2008 Ida. App. LEXIS 123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-marshall-idahoctapp-2008.