State v. Tucker

574 P.2d 1295, 118 Ariz. 76, 1978 Ariz. LEXIS 173
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 30, 1978
Docket3738
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 574 P.2d 1295 (State v. Tucker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona 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. Tucker, 574 P.2d 1295, 118 Ariz. 76, 1978 Ariz. LEXIS 173 (Ark. 1978).

Opinions

STRUCKMEYER, Vice Chief Justice.

Appellant, Arnold Ray Tucker, was convicted after trial by jury of one count of first degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of robbery. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for 25 years on the conviction for murder and appeals.

The evidence established that Tucker had been living in a bedroom of a house owned and otherwise occupied by Linda Shinauld and her husband. On the evening of July 15,1976, two persons, Harry Seth and Robert Guy, went to the Shinauld residence intending to purchase marijuana from Lester Fenderson, Lex Allen and Russell Caldwell, three friends of Tucker who were waiting at the Shinauld house. The transaction had previously been arranged by Tucker. After Seth and Guy went into the house, Tucker left with Linda Shinauld in her car to go to a neighborhood laundromat. Seth and Guy were assaulted and robbed by [78]*78Tucker’s three friends. Guy was carried out of the room and a few seconds later Seth heard the sound of a gunshot. Guy was placed in the passenger area of the car in which he had driven with Seth to the Shinauld residence. Seth was then carried out of the house and placed in the trunk of the car, and after a few minutes the car was driven away from the house.

After Seth had been placed in the trunk of the car, but before it was driven away, Tucker walked back toward the house. As he approached the house, he noticed Seth’s bound feet handing out of the trunk of Guy’s vehicle. Tucker then returned to where he had left the Shinauld vehicle. When he drove back to the house, he saw the Guy vehicle being driven away. Tucker entered the house, called the police and reported a robbery and kidnapping. After the Guy automobile left the Shinauld residence, Seth escaped from the trunk. While he was running, after breaking out of the trunk, he heard a number of shots coming from the car. Some time during the course of these events, Guy was murdered, although it is not certain whether the homicide occurred before or after the car was driven away from the house.

Officer Gary Garrett, patrolman for the Yuma Police Department, arrived in response to Tucker’s call. He was invited into the house by Tucker to discuss what had happened and was shown the disarray, which was especially severe in Tucker’s bedroom. Tucker first told Garrett that he had been a victim of the robbery. However, Garrett suspicioned that the appellant was involved in the marijuana dealings and read him the Miranda rights. No search of the house or appellant’s bedroom was made at this time. Later another police officer, Detective Doyne L. Turner, searched the entire house, including Tucker’s bedroom. Photographs were taken and certain physical evidence was seized.

The State attempts to justify the search on the basis of Linda Shinauld’s consent. A warrantless search of property is valid if conducted pursuant to a voluntary consent. United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 39 L.Ed.2d 242, 94 S.Ct. 988 (1974); Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). However, the voluntary consent by a third person to a search of the living quarters of another is valid only if the third person “possessed common authority over or other sufficient relationship to the premises or effects sought to be inspected.” United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 171, 94 S.Ct. 988, 993, 39 L.Ed.2d 242, 250 (1974). The Supreme Court clarified its holding with this statement in a footnote:

“Common authority is, of course, not to be implied from the mere property interest a third party has in the property. The authority which justifies the third-party consent does not rest upon the law of property, with its attendant historical and legal refinements, * * * but rests rather on mutual use of the proper-. ty by persons generally having joint access or control for most purposes, so that it is reasonable to recognize that any of the co-inhabitants has the right to permit the inspection in his own right and that the others have assumed the risk that one of their number might permit the common area to be searched.” Id. n. 7.

Since evidence was seized in Tucker’s bedroom, this issue turns on whether Linda Shinauld had “common authority” over that room.

The record shows the room was used as sleeping quarters and storage room by Tucker. There is no evidence that it was used for other purposes. Hence, even though Linda Shinauld was an owner of the house, it cannot be said that she had “joint access or control” within the meaning of Matlock, supra. Tucker’s bedroom was not such a “common area” of the house that it can be said he had assumed the risk that Linda Shinauld might permit it to be searched.

The State argues further that appellant’s acts of reporting that he was a victim of the crime and inviting Officer Garrett into the house to discuss the crime showed an “implied consent” to search the house. A consent to search may, of course, be [79]*79evidenced by conduct as well as by words. However, the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches demands a waiver by unequivocal words or conduct expressing consent. State v. Tigue, 95 Ariz. 45, 386 P.2d 402 (1963) (overruled on other grounds by State v. Harvill, 106 Ariz. 386, 476 P.2d 841 (1970)). We think the appellant’s conduct shows such consent beyond equivocation.

As stated, Officer Garrett, a patrolman, was the first to arrive at the Shinauld residence. Appellant invited Garrett into the house to discuss what had happened and told Garrett that he, Tucker, had been the victim of a robbery. Officer Turner, a detective for the City of Yuma Police Department, thereafter arrived to make an investigation. Mrs. Shinauld admitted Officer Turner to the house. He photographed the entire residence, “mostly the areas that had been ransacked.” This included the bedroom occupied by appellant. While Detective Turner saw Tucker there, he did not talk to him. He testified:

“Q. Do you know whether Mr. Tucker ever gave permission to have his particular room searched?
A. No, I didn’t ask him.
Q. Do you know whether anyone else may have been led to that room by Mr. Tucker?
A. I believe Officer Garrett was when Tucker pointed out what areas of the house had been ransacked in reporting his alleged kidnapping-robbery.
Q. And that is what Officer Garrett has already testified to?
A. Yes, Officer Garrett took me into the house and showed me what portion of the house had been ransacked.”

On cross-examination, Officer Turner testified:

“Q. Am I correct in understanding that when you processed and photographed this room this was prior to the time that Mr. Tucker became a suspect in this case?
A. To my knowledge, yes. At the time I processed it I was under the impression that it was a kidnapping. That is why the house, other rooms of the house were not processed more thoroughly that evening.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
574 P.2d 1295, 118 Ariz. 76, 1978 Ariz. LEXIS 173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tucker-ariz-1978.