State v. Ruem

313 P.3d 1156, 179 Wash. 2d 195
Washington Supreme Court·Decided November 27, 2013·No. No. 86214-1·Published·Cited by 23 cases

Opinions

Stephens, J.

¶1 We are asked to determine whether law enforcement officers must expressly advise a person of his or her right to refuse entry into a home — i.e., provide Ferrier1 warnings — when the officers seek to execute an arrest warrant. We hold that Ferrier warnings are not required in this instance, though any consent obtained must be voluntary under the totality of the circumstances.

¶2 On the facts of this case, we conclude that Pierce County sheriff’s deputies unlawfully entered Dara Ruem’s mobile home in an attempt to execute an arrest warrant for Ruem’s brother, Chantha Ruem. The deputies lacked probable cause to believe Chantha was present, and Ruem revoked his initial consent to the entry. Thus, the evidence recovered from the search of the home was illegally obtained and unlawfully admitted. We reverse the Court of Appeals and vacate Ruem’s conviction.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶3 Over a period of several months in 2008, Pierce County sheriff’s deputies attempted to execute an arrest warrant for Chantha. The address on the warrant was 10318 East McKinley Avenue. Two dwellings — a house and a mobile home — sat on the property. The mobile home was located adjacent to the house.

¶4 In March 2008, Chantha’s father allowed Deputy Jeff Reigle into the house and showed him Chantha’s room. Chantha’s girlfriend told Reigle that Chantha was not there. Reigle identified one of the cars parked in the driveway as registered to Chantha. Reigle did not encounter Chantha that day.

[198] ¶5 Reigle surveilled the McKinley Avenue address intermittently over the next few months. Chantha’s car was often at the property. The only person Reigle observed driving the car was Chantha’s girlfriend. Reigle encountered Chantha’s brother, David, at the mobile home, and David told him that Chantha was in California. On one occasion, Reigle made a traffic stop of a vehicle leaving the property. The driver did not know who Chantha was but told Reigle that David was at the mobile home. Reigle never saw Chantha at the McKinley Avenue address.

¶6 On the evening of June 4, 2008, Reigle and a team of deputies again attempted to serve the warrant for Chantha. Reigle went to the house to ask for Chantha, while Deputy Kevin Fries and Sergeant Thomas Seymour went to the mobile home. Ruem answered Fries’ knock on the front door of the mobile home and told Fries that Chantha was not there. Fries asked for Ruem’s identification because Ruem resembled photographs that Fries had seen of Chantha. Ruem told Fries that he lived in the mobile home with his brother; Fries assumed that Ruem meant Chantha.2

¶7 Ruem identified Chantha’s car, which was parked on the property, but told Fries that Chantha had moved to California and bought a new car. Fries informed Ruem that he was going to go inside to look for Chantha and asked Ruem “if that was okay.” Verbatim Report of Proceedings (VRP) (Dec. 10, 2008) at 33. Ruem initially agreed but stopped the deputies as they started to cross the threshold, saying, “ ‘Now is not a good time.’ ” Id. at 33, 38. At this point, Fries and Seymour could smell burnt marijuana. Fries assured Ruem that they were not interested in arresting him for personal use of marijuana and then entered the mobile home.

[199] ¶8 Fries and another deputy searched the mobile home while Seymour stayed with Ruem in the living room. The deputies testified they were looking for Chantha, and they did not open drawers or spaces too small to hide a person. In the kitchen, Fries spotted several small marijuana plants. The plants were visible from the living room. Seymour arrested Ruem and informed him of his Miranda3 rights. Seymour then called for a search warrant. In the process of looking for identifying features on the outside of the mobile home, Seymour discovered more marijuana plants. The deputies did not find Chantha in the mobile home or in the main house.

¶9 Later that same day, deputies from the Pierce County sheriff’s special investigations unit executed the search warrant at the mobile home. They found significant amounts of contraband, including more than 100 marijuana plants in various stages of growth, equipment associated with growing and processing marijuana, several packages of marijuana throughout the mobile home, a DVD (digital video disk) labeled “ ‘High Times Ultimate Grow,’ ” and more than $4,700 in cash. Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 3. They also found a semiautomatic handgun.

Procedural History

¶10 Ruem was charged with one count each of manufacturing marijuana while armed with a firearm, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver while armed with a firearm, and unlawful possession of a firearm. He moved to suppress all evidence from the search, arguing that the deputies failed to advise him of his right to refuse their entry and did not have probable cause to believe that Chantha was present on June 4, 2008. The trial court denied the motion on the ground that the warrant for Chantha’s arrest authorized the deputies’ presence in the home and the marijuana plants were in plain view.

[200] ¶11 Ruem appealed his subsequent jury conviction, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The court held that the search was valid because Ruem consented to the entry and the deputies were not required to provide Ferrier warnings in seeking to execute the arrest warrant on Chantha.4 State v. Ruem, noted at 162 Wn. App. 1009, slip op. at 6-9 (2011). We granted Ruem’s petition for review. State v. Ruem, 172 Wn.2d 1006, 268 P.3d 944 (2011).

ANALYSIS

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State v. Ruem, 313 P.3d 1156, 179 Wash. 2d 195 (Wash. 2013).

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