State v. Parkman

517 S.W.3d 685, 2017 WL 2255270, 2017 Mo. App. LEXIS 489
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 23, 2017
DocketNo. SD 34614
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 517 S.W.3d 685 (State v. Parkman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri 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. Parkman, 517 S.W.3d 685, 2017 WL 2255270, 2017 Mo. App. LEXIS 489 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

DON E. BURRELL, J.

The State brings this timely interlocutory appeal1 to seek a reversal of the trial court’s order granting Angie Lynn Parkman’s (“Defendant”) motion to suppress the seizure and search of her “person, home, purse, and cell phones” (“the suppression motion”) after an evidentiary hearing.2 The police searched Defendant’s residence based on information suggesting that she was involved in illegal drug activity. Because the trial court did not decide whether Defendant had consented to the search, we reverse its ruling and remand the matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Applicable Principles of Review and Governing Law

The State must present evidence that convinces the trial court, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a motion to [687]*687suppress should be denied. State v. Grayson, 336 S.W.3d 138, 142 (Mo. banc 2011). “The circuit court’s duty is ‘to resolve any issues of credibility before ruling on the motion to suppress and to base its ruling on the facts as it perceived them to be true.’” State v. Nebbitt, 455 S.W.3d 79, 86 (Mo. App. E.D. 2014) (quoting State v. Sanders, 16 S.W.3d 349, 351 (Mo. App. W.D. 2000)).

A trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress will be reversed only if it is clearly erroneous. State v. Sund, 215 S.W.3d 719, 723 (Mo. banc 2007). This Court defers to the trial court’s factual findings and credibility determinations and considers all evidence and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling. Id. Whether conduct violates the Fourth Amendment is a question of law, which is reviewed de novo.

State v. McNeely, 358 S.W.3d 65, 68 (Mo. banc 2012).

Evidentiary and Procedural Background

The suppression motion asserted that the search of Defendant’s home and subsequent seizure of evidence “was without probable cause, without a warrant, and without consent.” At the beginning of the evidentiary hearing, defense counsel agreed with the prosecutor’s statement that Defendant was subject to a special condition of probation at the time of the search that she “shall consent to a search of [her] person, any car [s]he’s driving or a passenger in, or [her] place of residence at any time [s]he’s requested to do so by any law enforcement officer or probation officer” (“the special condition”).3

Defense counsel maintained that despite the special condition, the search “was an improper search resulting in an improper seizure, because [Defendant] did not adequately give consent.” In support of that position, defense counsel argued both that there had been “a show of force from law enforcement, and [Defendant] has an option of violating her probation or she has an option of taking on a new case, perhaps.”

Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group Task Force Officer B.A. Pratt testified that he went to Defendant’s home on June 22, 2015 because he “had received information that [Defendant] was involved in the distribution and use of opiates and other controlled substances.” Officer Pratt could not “really give ... specific sources” for the information, and he could not remember whether the sources were “law enforcement officers, concerned citizens,” or something else. At the time he went to Defendant’s house, Officer Pratt knew that Defendant was on probation as a result of a previous “undercover narcotics investigation[.]”

[688]*688Another officer, Missouri State Highway-Patrol Sergeant Wertz,4 testified on behalf of the State, and Defendant also testified. The accounts provided by the officers conflicted with Defendant’s testimony regarding whether she consented to a search. Defendant’s testimony contradicted the officers’ testimony about whether Officer Pratt used profanity or yelled when speaking with Defendant, and she also testified that she was unaware of the special condition until the officers told her about it on the day of the search.

Officer Pratt’s testimony was that Defendant “answered the door and stepped outside on the front porch.” Officer Pratt identified himself, and Defendant confirmed that she was on probation. Officer Pratt asked for consent to search, and Defendant “said, I’ll let you search. Can I put my kids down in their bedroom downstairs?” Officer Pratt agreed and after a few minutes Defendant returned and led the officers into the residence.

Sergeant Wertz testified:

[W]hen Officer Pratt knocked on the door, [Defendant] answered. He—and there was conversation between the two about why we were there. Officer Pratt asked for consent to search, and [Defendant] wanted to have her kids go downstairs so they didn’t see us, which she— Officer Pratt granted. She shut the front door, went down—went into the apartment, and then a short time later came back to the door and said, okay, my kids are downstairs. You can search.

Defendant’s testimony on the matter was that the officers “just wanted to talk, come in and ask [her] a few questions.” She asked if she could “make sure [her] children weren’t in the room.” After doing so, she “went and stood on the front porch with the officers.” The officers asked to go inside to talk and she let them inside. Instead of speaking with her, the officers “proceeded directly past [her] to the back and went straight into [her] bedroom” where they “conducted a search[.]”

The trial court’s order granting the suppression motion stated that Officer Pratt “testified that he did not remember who gave him the information about [Defendant], nor how he received it[,]” and the officer had “no notes nor any contemporaneous rendition as to any details giving rise to the search which has resulted in [the suppression motion].” The trial court then made the following findings:

The first issue which must be considered is the reliability of the information received by the investigating officer. If said information is rehable, then the question as to [Defendant’s consent to the search, and/or the probationary condition of her giving her consent will be addressed. [State v. Miller], 894 S.W.2d 649 (Mo. banc 1995).
There was also testimony from one other officer and [Defendant], but there is no evidence touching upon the information received by the investigating officer. However, ah the testimony shows that there was no misconduct by any officer regarding the search. The Attenuation Doctrine
[689]*689The State must show a preponderance of the evidence that the [suppression motion] should be overruled. [Citing Grayson, 336 S.W.3d at 142]. This the State has failed to do. There is no evidence that the information supplied to the officer was reliable. [The suppression motion] is granted.

Analysis

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Western Blue Print Co., LLC v. Myrna Roberts
Missouri Court of Appeals, 2024
State of Missouri v. Thomas Eugene Antle
Missouri Court of Appeals, 2021
State of Missouri v. Deion D'Wayne Crum
Missouri Court of Appeals, 2021

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
517 S.W.3d 685, 2017 WL 2255270, 2017 Mo. App. LEXIS 489, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-parkman-moctapp-2017.