State v. Thompson

810 P.2d 415, 157 Utah Adv. Rep. 6, 1991 Utah LEXIS 17, 1991 WL 38126
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 21, 1991
Docket880181
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 810 P.2d 415 (State v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Thompson, 810 P.2d 415, 157 Utah Adv. Rep. 6, 1991 Utah LEXIS 17, 1991 WL 38126 (Utah 1991).

Opinions

ON CERTIORARI TO THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS

HOWE, Associate Chief Justice:

We granted certiorari to review the decision of the Utah Court of Appeals in State v. Thompson, 751 P.2d 805 (Utah Ct.App.1988), on the propriety of the admission of evidence against defendants which had been gathered pursuant to the Subpoena Powers Act.

Defendants Michael C. Thompson and Bruce A. Conklin were convicted after a jury trial of five counts of bribery in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-508(l)(b), one count of antitrust violation under Utah Code Ann. §§ 76-10-914 and 76-10-920, [416]*416and one count of racketeering in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1603. Their sentences were stayed pending appeal.

I. ARGUMENT

Defendants assail the trial court’s denial of their motion to suppress all evidence gathered by the State under the Subpoena Powers Act, Utah Code Ann. §§ 77-22-1 through -3, contending that their right to be secure in their papers against unreasonable searches and seizures conferred by article I, section 14 of the Utah Constitution was violated. In 1983 and 1984, the attorney general issued subpoenas duces tecum under the Subpoena Powers Act to defendants’ bankers, accountants, business associates, and several corporations. In a related case,1 Utah Power and Light Co. (UP & L) challenged the validity of the subpoenas served upon it. Judge Bunnell of the Seventh Judicial District Court quashed some subpoenas, and the attorney general withdrew others, upon a finding that the subpoenas were “too broad” or “exceeded the parameters of the good cause affidavit.” We affirmed the dismissal of the UP & L investigation in In re Criminal Investigation, 754 P.2d 633 (Utah 1988).

This case differs from the UP & L case in that the subpoenaed persons (defendants’ banks) have not challenged the validity of the subpoenas duces tecum. Defendants contend that they have standing to make such a challenge because their right to be free of unreasonable searches has been violated. The State argues that even if we assume the subpoenas were over-broad or failed to comply with the procedural safeguards imposed by In re Criminal Investigation, only the subpoenaed persons’ rights have been violated. Defendants themselves were not subpoenaed and, as a general rule, do not have standing to assert the violation of fourth amendment rights belonging to a third party. Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165, 174, 89 S.Ct. 961, 966-67, 22 L.Ed.2d 176, 187 (1968); Simmon v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 389, 88 S.Ct. 967, 974, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247, 1256 (1968).

Defendants counter that under article I, section 14 of the Utah Constitution, they have an “expectation of privacy”2 in tax and bank records in the custody of accountants and banks. Our analysis is confined to bank records. The issue of tax records was not briefed with any specificity, nor were any authorities cited for defendants’ tax record contention.

II. ANALYSIS

Article I, section 14 of the Utah Constitution provides in part: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated....”

We have recently pointed out:

Article I, section 14 of the Utah Constitution reads nearly verbatim with the fourth amendment, and thus this Court has never drawn any distinctions between the protections afforded by the respective constitutional provisions. Rather, the Court has always considered the protections afforded to be one and the same.

State v. Watts, 750 P.2d 1219, 1221 (Utah 1988); see State v. Lopes, 552 P.2d 120, 121 (Utah 1976); State v. Criscola, 21 Utah 2d 272, 274, 444 P.2d 517, 518-19 (1968). However, we recognized in State v. Watts that it might be appropriate in some future case to give article I, section 14 a different interpretation from that given to the fourth amendment.

We did that very thing recently in State v. Larocco, 794 P.2d 460, 471 (Utah 1990), where a majority of this court held that the opening of a car door during a warrantless search for the vehicle identification number [417]*417constituted an unreasonable search under article I, section 14 of the Utah Constitution. Defendants similarly seek a different interpretation under the state constitution than is given to bank records under the fourth amendment.

The United States Supreme Court has held that a depositor has no legitimate expectation of privacy in his bank records and has no standing under the fourth amendment to challenge their seizure. That Court dealt with the issue before us today as follows:

Respondent urges that he has a Fourth Amendment interest in the records kept by the banks because they are merely copies of personal records that were made available to the banks for a limited purpose and in which he has a reasonable expectation of privacy. He relies on this Court’s statement in Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 353 [88 S.Ct. 507, 512, 19 L.Ed.2d 576] (1967), .quoting Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 304 [87 S.Ct. 1642, 1648, 18 L.Ed.2d 782] (1967), that “we have ... departed from the narrow view” that “ ‘property interests control the right of the Government to search and seize,’ ” and that a “search and seizure” become[ ] unreasonable when the Government’s activities violate “the privacy upon which [a person] justifiably reliefs].” But in Katz the Court also stressed that “[w]hat a person knowingly exposes to the public ... is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection.” 389 U.S. at 351 [88 S.Ct. at 507, 19 L.Ed.2d at 576]. We must examine the nature of the particular documents sought to be protected in order to determine whether there is a legitimate “expectation of privacy” concerning their contents. Cf. Couch v. United States, 409 U.S. 322, 335 [93 S.Ct. 611, 619, 34 L.Ed.2d 548] (1973).
Even if we direct our attention to the original checks and deposit slips, rather than to the microfilm copies actually viewed and obtained by means of the subpoena, we perceive no legitimate “expectation of privacy” in their contents. The checks are not confidential communications but negotiable instruments to be used in commercial transactions.

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Bluebook (online)
810 P.2d 415, 157 Utah Adv. Rep. 6, 1991 Utah LEXIS 17, 1991 WL 38126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-thompson-utah-1991.