State v. Schanefelt

765 P.2d 154, 115 Idaho 129, 1988 Ida. App. LEXIS 154
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 30, 1988
DocketNo. 17265
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 765 P.2d 154 (State v. Schanefelt) 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. Schanefelt, 765 P.2d 154, 115 Idaho 129, 1988 Ida. App. LEXIS 154 (Idaho Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal by the state from an order of the district court suppressing evidence seized during the search of a residence. The search was conducted pursuant to a warrant issued by a magistrate. Although the warrant contained a description of physical characteristics of the house to be searched, the district court held that the warrant did not describe the property with sufficient particularity because the warrant did not specify the name of the street upon which the house was situated. We conclude the district court erred and we reverse the suppression order.

Based upon an affidavit presented by an Ada County deputy sheriff, a magistrate issued a warrant authorizing any sheriff, constable, marshal or policeman in Ada County to search for certain specified items relating to a drug investigation. The [130]*130place to be searched was described in the warrant as follows:

The residence at 11723 is a single story, single family residence with an attached two car garage on the east side. The residence is wood siding, gray in color with the number 11723 near the front door.

The name of the street where the house was located was not included in the warrant.1

Armed with the warrant, the deputy and several other officers searched a home located at 11723 Santa Barbara, a street in Ada County, Idaho. Growing marijuana was found outside the house. Bags of marijuana and other drug-related items were found within the house. After seizure of the evidence discovered in the search, Timothy and Shirley Sehanefelt— the occupants of the house — were arrested on charges of possession of controlled substances with the intent to deliver and of manufacturing a ' controlled substance. Their motion to suppress the seized evidence, on the ground that the residential property had not been sufficiently described, was granted by the district court. The state appealed from the suppression order, under I.A.R. 11(c)(7).

The dispositive issue is whether the warrant sufficiently described the premises to be searched. We hold that it did.

On appeal from an order suppressing evidence because of alleged insufficiency of a search warrant to particularly describe the place to be searched, the appellate court exercises free review. See e.g., State v. Carlson, 101 Idaho 598, 618 P.2d 776 (1980); State v. Sapp, 110 Idaho 153, 715 P.2d 366 (Ct.App.1986). Both the federal constitution and the constitution of Idaho mandate particularity in description of the place to be searched. State v. Carlson, supra. The purpose of the particularity requirement is to minimize the risk that officers executing search warrants will mistakenly search a place other than the place intended by the magistrate. 2 W. LAFAVE, SEARCH AND SEIZURE § 4.5 (1987). As stated by our Supreme Court,

[t]he applicable test for determining the sufficient degree of particularity is whether “the officer with a search warrant can with reasonable effort ascertain and identify the place intended.” Steele v. United States, 267 U.S. 498, 503, 45 S.Ct. 414 [416], 69 L.Ed. 757 (1925). This Court has expanded on this test: “The description must be sufficiently clear so that the property to be searched is recognizable from other neighboring properties.” State v. Yoder, 96 Idaho at 653, 534 P.2d at 773.

State v. Carlson, supra at 599, 618 P.2d at 777.

In State v. Yoder, 96 Idaho 651, 534 P.2d 771 (1975), the Court held that where the only distinguishable description contained in the warrant is a street address, then an incorrect house number renders the warrant deficient in particularity with regard to the property to be searched. Subsequently, in State v. Hart, 100 Idaho 137, 594 P.2d 647 (1979), in State v. Carlson, supra, in State v. Gomez, 101 Idaho 802, 623 P.2d 110 (1980), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 963, 102 S.Ct. 503, 70 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981), and again in State v. Schaffer, 112 Idaho 1024, 739 P.2d 323 (1987), the Court was faced with variations of the issue discussed in Yoder. In Hart, the warrant described the property to be searched as “a certain building to-wit: green, single story wood-frame house, 1628 N. 31st St., the southeast corner of 31st and Bella St. address is written on the door frame molding.” As it turned out, the house number in that warrant was incorrect; the correct address was 1620 N. 31st Street. The Court held the description was sufficient notwithstanding the inclusion of the incorrect [131]*131house number, noting that the warrant contained more than just a house-number description of the property. 100 Idaho at 139, 594 P.2d at 649. In Carlson, the sole defect in the search warrant was the misnaming of one of two roads disclosed in the description of the property. The Court said:

If this were the only description utilized, as was so in Yoder, then the description might have been insufficient. Here, however, there was adequate additional description given, namely that the house was a white, single story, wood frame family residence located just south of a yellow frame house and near an intersection, with one road of the intersection correctly named.

101 Idaho at 599, 618 P.2d at 777. In Gomez, the warrant identified the house to be searched as one with the number 204 posted on the front of the house. Conflicting testimony indicated that the number “204” did not appear on the house at the time of the search. However, the Court held that, although there was an error in the description, the residence was sufficiently identified by additional physical features recited in the search warrant. 101 Idaho at 811, 623 P.2d at 119.

Finally, in Schaffer, the Court considered the following description contained in a search warrant.

Traveling north from Bonners Ferry on Highway 95, Turning East on Highway 2 to County Road 76. Located there is a white mail box with Schaffer’s name on it, turn right on County Road 76, driving South on County Road 76 to a fork, staying right and traveling to the next fork, turning left and continuing to a wood residence and greenhouse with opaque windows.

The Schaffers asserted the description in the warrant was defective because they did not have a white mailbox but received their mail at a local post office and that they did not live on or near County Road 76, but instead lived off of County Road 77 (not mentioned in the warrant). Our Supreme Court upheld the district court’s conclusion that the description was sufficient. Discussing Carlson and Gomez, the Court noted that inherent in both those decisions was the determination that no reasonable prospect existed that the wrong location would be searched in reliance on the search warrant. The Court said:

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Bluebook (online)
765 P.2d 154, 115 Idaho 129, 1988 Ida. App. LEXIS 154, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-schanefelt-idahoctapp-1988.