State v. Tillman

2012 S.D. 57, 2012 SD 57, 817 N.W.2d 812, 2012 S.D. LEXIS 87, 2012 WL 2856498
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 11, 2012
Docket26102
StatusPublished

This text of 2012 S.D. 57 (State v. Tillman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota 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. Tillman, 2012 S.D. 57, 2012 SD 57, 817 N.W.2d 812, 2012 S.D. LEXIS 87, 2012 WL 2856498 (S.D. 2012).

Opinion

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] A neighbor’s complaint about marijuana directed Spearfish police officers to an apartment unit, where the officers smelled the odor of burnt marijuana outside the door. One tenant let the officers inside, but when the officers observed raw marijuana in plain view, another tenant demanded that the officers obtain a search warrant before they conducted any search. While the officers sought a warrant, .they secured the apartment and detained all the tenants at the police station. On a motion to suppress, the circuit court found that the officers had probable cause to arrest two of the three tenants and search their apartment, but the detention at the station was unreasonable and violated their constitutional rights. The court suppressed all evidence. We granted an intermediate appeal to review the suppression order.

Background

[¶ 2.] On September 13, 2010, the Spearfish Police Department dispatched Corporal Verla Little and Officer Patrick Johnson to an apartment house at 740 University Street in response to a neighbor’s complaint about the smell of burning marijuana from Unit 4. When the officers entered the house, they went upstairs toward Unit 4, where they too could smell burnt marijuana. They knocked, and Vincent Rossi opened the door. Rossi permitted the officers to enter. They asked Rossi if there was anyone else in the apartment. He went back and got Jessica Wallace. The officers then asked Wallace and Rossi if anyone else lived in the apartment. Wallace told the officers that her boyfriend, Tyler Tillman, also lived there, but was not home at the time.

[¶ 3.] While the officers were inside the apartment, Corporal Little observed a rolled up towel by the entry door on the floor, which she knew to be commonly used to keep the smell of marijuana from drifting out of a room. She also observed a small amount of raw marijuana on a dresser and what she suspected to be burnt marijuana residue. Corporal Little noticed several bottles of air freshener, which she knew from her training and experience were used to mask the odor of burning marijuana. Officer Johnson also made several observations, namely, some rolling papers next to the television. Ros-si claimed that he rolled his own ciga *815 rettes, but could not produce smoking tobacco when asked. Officer Johnson saw a package of commercial cigarettes on the table.

[¶ 4.] Corporal Little and Officer Johnson advised Rossi and Wallace that they received a complaint that someone smelled the odor of burnt marijuana. Both denied using any illegal substance. Officer Johnson asked Rossi if there were any drugs in the apartment and requested a consent to search. Wallace, as the leaseholder, asked that the officers obtain a search warrant. After Wallace refused consent, the officers chose to detain Rossi and Wallace and secure the scene while they obtained a warrant. Neither one was formally arrested. But the officers searched them for weapons, handcuffed them, and placed them in the back of the patrol cars. To secure the scene, Officer Candi Birk stayed outside the apartment unit to prevent anyone from entering.

[¶ 5.] At 1:45 p.m., Officer Johnson and Corporal Little transported Wallace and Rossi to the police station and placed them in individual holding rooms. Officer Johnson began the process of obtaining a search warrant. This was his first time preparing a warrant affidavit. Special Agent Steven Ardis and Detective Jason Deneui helped Officer Johnson by reviewing the affidavit after it was prepared. Although much of the language he used was boilerplate, Officer Johnson took three hours and nine minutes to fax a completed warrant affidavit and other documents to Magistrate Judge Michelle Percy. Wallace and Rossi remained detained at the station. At 4:17 p.m., Tillman was detained when he returned to the apartment, and he too was taken to a holding room at the station.

[¶ 6.] Judge Percy granted the warrant request, and, at 5:45 p.m., the warrant was executed. In addition to marijuana, the officers found psilocybin mushrooms and prescription drugs. Following the search, Agent Ardis returned to the station to interview Rossi, but first a urine sample was taken from him. The interview began at 6:30 p.m. Agent Ardis read Rossi his Miranda rights, and Rossi agreed to answer questions. He made several incriminating statements about the evidence in the apartment.

[¶ 7.] Shortly after he concluded his interview with Rossi, Agent Ardis was told that the warrant did not include psilocybin mushrooms, prescription drugs, or cell phones. He recommended that those items be added to the search warrant as a precaution, after which, Officer Johnson called Judge Percy and made an oral amendment request. At 8:00 p.m., Judge Percy orally granted the amendment. The officers concluded the search of the apartment at 8:15 p.m.

[¶ 8.] Around 8:00 p.m., Agent Ardis interviewed Tillman. Tillman waived his Miranda rights. He spoke with Agent Ar-dis and made incriminating statements about the evidence found in the apartment. He also provided a urine sample. The interview concluded at 9:30 p.m. Agent Ardis then attempted to question Wallace. She declined to speak. All three were released at 10:00 p.m.

[¶ 9.] Rossi and Tillman were indicted for possession of a controlled drug or substance in violation of SDCL 22^2-5 and SDCL 22-3-3, and possession of marijuana (less than two ounces) in violation of SDCL 22-42-6. Wallace was indicted for possession of a controlled drug or substance with intent to distribute in violation of SDCL 22-42-2, and two counts of possession of a controlled drug or substance in violation of SDCL 22-42-5. Rossi, Tillman, and Wallace moved to suppress the evidence. At the hearing, the defendants collectively argued that the seizure of their *816 persons and apartment violated their constitutional right against unreasonable searches and seizures. They relied on Illinois v. McArthur, in which the United States Supreme Court assessed the reasonableness of a home seizure pending the application for a search warrant. See 531 U.S. 326, 121 S.Ct. 946, 148 L.Ed.2d 838 (2001).

[¶ 10.] The circuit court issued a memorandum decision, findings of fact and conclusions of law, and an order. In assessing the reasonableness of the officers’ actions, the court applied the four-part test endorsed in McArthur. That test asks the following questions:

1. Did law enforcement officers have probable cause to believe that the apartment “contained evidence of a crime and contraband, namely, unlawful drugs”?
2. Did the officers have “good reason to fear that, unless restrained, [the defendants] would destroy the drugs before [the officers] could return with a warrant”?
3.

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Bluebook (online)
2012 S.D. 57, 2012 SD 57, 817 N.W.2d 812, 2012 S.D. LEXIS 87, 2012 WL 2856498, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tillman-sd-2012.