State v. Rounsville

42 P.3d 100, 136 Idaho 869, 2002 Ida. App. LEXIS 12
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 13, 2002
Docket25842
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 42 P.3d 100 (State v. Rounsville) 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. Rounsville, 42 P.3d 100, 136 Idaho 869, 2002 Ida. App. LEXIS 12 (Idaho Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

LANSING, Judge.

Jeff Walter Rounsville was convicted of possession of methamphetamine after the drug was found during a search of his home. The warrant for the search was based on information obtained through a known informant who claimed to have purchased methamphetamine from Rounsville. Motions by Rounsville to suppress evidence found in the search and statements he made to the police were denied, as was a later motion by Rounsville to withdraw Iris guilty plea. On appeal, Rounsville challenges the rulings on these motions, the denial of a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, and the length of his sentence.

*871 i.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Bonner County Sheriffs deputies obtained a warrant for the search of Rounsville’s home based upon information obtained from an informant named Campbell. Campbell had been arrested for possession of methamphetamine and was questioned by deputies about his source for the drug. It is a matter of dispute as to whether Campbell initially named Rounsville or a man named Johnson as his source, but it is clear that Campbell eventually told the deputies that he had acquired methamphetamine from Rounsville. Based on this information, the deputies applied for a warrant to search Rounsville’s home, outbuildings and vehicles. In support of the warrant application, Campbell personally appeared before the magistrate and testified that he had purchased methamphetamine from Rounsville. Based on Campbell’s testimony, the magistrate issued the warrant. The resulting search turned up baggies of methamphetamine and evidence of methamphetamine manufacturing. Rounsville was charged with possession of methamphetamine, Idaho Code § 37-2732(c)(l).

Rounsville filed a suppression motion challenging the validity of the warrant for the search of his property. He requested a hearing pursuant to Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978), to show that the deputies who obtained the warrant withheld material exculpatory information from the magistrate. After conducting a Franks hearing at which the deputies and Campbell testified, the district court found that the deputies had not withheld material information, and the court denied the suppression motion. Rounsville also moved to suppress two statements he made to police during the search of his home. The district comb suppressed a statement given by Rounsville before he had been advised of his Miranda rights, 1 but denied the motion as to Rounsville’s further comments made after the Miranda warnings.

Rounsville thereafter entered a guilty plea, reselling his right to appeal the district comb’s rulings on his suppression motions. Before sentencing, Rounsville moved to withdraw his guilty plea. The district court denied this motion and sentenced Rounsville to a unified term of six years with three years determinate. A subsequent motion to reduce the sentence was denied.

On appeal, Rounsville challenges the denial of his suppression motions and his motion to withdraw his guilty plea, and he contends that the district court abused its discretion in imposing sentence and in denying Rounsville’s motion to reduce the sentence.

II.

DISCUSSION

A. Scope of Franks Hearing

Rounsville’s first issue on appeal is whether the district comb improperly limited the scope of his Franks hearing by precluding Rounsville from cross-examining the deputies about whether they had reason to believe that Campbell “was a liar” when they arrested him. The district comb held that this attempted cross-examination went beyond the subject matter of the requested Franks hearing because Rounsville’s request for a hearing had been based solely upon a contention that the deputies had concealed from the magistrate the fact that Campbell initially named a man other than Rounsville as the soui'ce of his methamphetamine. On appeal, Rounsville contends that this limitation on his cross-examination was improper.

In Franks, the United States Supreme Comb held that a criminal defendant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing to challenge the veracity of evidence used by officers to obtain a search warrant if the defendant makes a substantial preliminary showing that the evidence included an intentionally false statement or a statement made with reckless disregard for the truth. The Franks doctrine applies not only to affirmative falsehoods in a warrant application but also to a deliberate or reckless omission of material exculpatory information. State *872 v. Guzman, 122 Idaho 981, 983-84, 842 P.2d 660, 662-63 (1992); State v. Peterson, 133 Idaho 44, 47, 981 P.2d 1154, 1157 (Ct.App.1999); State v. Kay, 129 Idaho 507, 511, 927 P.2d 897, 901 (Ct.App.1996); State v. Beaty, 118 Idaho 20, 24-26, 794 P.2d 290, 294-96 (Ct.App.1990).

The United States Supreme Court made it clear that a Franks evidentiary healing is not to be lightly granted but may be allowed only “where the defendant makes a ‘substantial preliminary showing’ ” of an intentional or reckless falsehood. Franks, 438 U.S. at 155, 98 S.Ct. at 2676, 57 L.Ed.2d at 672. The nature of the defendant’s burden to make this preliminary showing was further described as follows:

To mandate an evidentiary hearing, the challenger’s attack must be more than eonelusory and must be supported by more than a mere desire to cross examine. There must be allegations of deliberate falsehood or of reckless disregard for the truth, and those allegations must be accompanied by an offer of proof. They should point out specifically the portion of the warrant affidavit that is claimed to be false; and they should be accompanied by a statement of supporting reasons. Affidavits or sworn or otherwise reliable statements of witnesses should be furnished, or them absence satisfactorily explained. Allegations of negligence or innocent mistake are insufficient.

Id. at 171, 98 S.Ct. at 2684, 57 L.Ed.2d at 682.

Rounsville supported his request for a Franks evidentiary hearing with an affidavit from the informant, Campbell. In the affidavit, Campbell stated that when officers initially asked him where he obtained the methamphetamine found in his possession, he told the officers that he got it from a man named Johnson. According to the affidavit, when Campbell was later asked by another deputy where he got the methamphetamine, and Campbell responded that he got it from Johnson, the deputy said that he did not believe Campbell and asked if the drug really came from Rounsville.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
42 P.3d 100, 136 Idaho 869, 2002 Ida. App. LEXIS 12, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rounsville-idahoctapp-2002.