State v. Unger

CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 28, 2014
DocketS060888
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Unger (State v. Unger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon 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. Unger, (Or. 2014).

Opinion

No. 58 August 28, 2014 59

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON

STATE OF OREGON, Petitioner on Review, v. MARK LAWRENCE UNGER, Respondent on Review. (CC 09C42443; CA A144192; SC S060888)

En Banc On review from the Court of Appeals.* Argued and submitted September 17, 2013. Rolf Moan, Assistant Attorney General, Salem, argued the cause for petitioner on review. With him on the briefs were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Anna M. Joyce, Solicitor General. Jason E. Thompson, Ferder Casebeer French & Thompson, LLP, Salem, argued the cause and filed the brief for respon- dent on review. BALMER, C. J. The decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings. Landau, J., concurred and filed an opinion. Walters, J., dissented and filed an opinion, in which Baldwin, J., joined. Brewer, J., dissented and filed an opinion. Baldwin, J., dissented and filed an opinion, in which Walters, J., joined.

______________ * Appeal from Marion Court Circuit Court, Thomas M. Hart, Judge. 252 Or App 478, 287 P3d 1196 (2012). 60 State v. Unger

Defendant moved to suppress evidence obtained pursuant to a voluntary con- sent search, arguing that his consent was the product of a prior unlawful search, and, therefore, that the evidence was inadmissible under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution. The trial court denied defendant’s motion, and a jury convicted defendant on four of the counts charged. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. Held: (1) The court disavowed the “minimal factual nexus” part of the exploitation analysis announced in State v. Hall, 339 Or 7, 115 P3d 908 (2005); (2) instead, when a defendant has established that an illegal stop or an illegal search occurred and challenges the validity of his or her subsequent con- sent to a search, the state bears the burden of demonstrating both that the con- sent was voluntary and that it was not the product of police exploitation of the illegal stop or search; (3) whether police exploited unlawful conduct to obtain a defendant’s consent to search depends on the totality of the circumstances, including the temporal proximity between the unlawful conduct and the consent, any intervening or mitigating circumstances, the nature, extent, and severity of the constitutional violation, and the purpose and flagrancy of the misconduct; and (4) in this case, the state met its burden of showing that, under the totality of the circumstances, detectives did not exploit their unlawful entry into defen- dant’s backyard to obtain his consent to enter his house or to obtain his consent to show the detectives around his house. The decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings. Cite as 356 Or 59 (2014) 61

BALMER, C. J. In this criminal case, we again consider when evi- dence discovered following a person’s voluntary consent to search must be suppressed on the theory that the police exploited a prior illegality to obtain the consent. Last year, we addressed that issue in State v. Hemenway, 353 Or 129, 295 P3d 617 (2013), and modified part of this court’s exploita- tion analysis previously described in State v. Hall, 339 Or 7, 34-35, 115 P3d 908 (2005). Shortly after issuing Hemenway, this court learned that the defendant in that case had died before the court had issued its opinion. Accordingly, we vacated our decision as moot. State v. Hemenway, 353 Or 498, 506, 302 P3d 413 (2013). In this case, as in Hemenway, the state asks this court to revisit the exploitation analysis in Hall and either overrule it or modify it as the court did in Hemenway. Defendant, on the other hand, asks this court to reaffirm Hall. The state charged defendant with manufacture of cocaine and endangering the welfare of a minor, among other things. Before trial, defendant moved to suppress physical evidence and statements obtained by detectives after they knocked on the back door of defendant’s house and obtained defendant’s consent to enter and then to search the house. Defendant argued both that his consent had not been vol- untary and that the detectives had exploited their unlawful conduct to obtain his consent in violation of Article I, sec- tion 9, of the Oregon Constitution.1 The trial court denied the motion, and a jury convicted defendant on four of the counts charged. The Court of Appeals reversed, reasoning that, under the Hall exploitation analysis, the detectives’ unlawful entry into defendant’s backyard to reach his back door had “tainted [defendant’s] subsequent consent.” State v. Unger, 252 Or App 478, 487-88, 287 P3d 1196 (2012). For the reasons that follow, we reverse the decision of the Court

1 Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution provides: “No law shall violate the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search, or seizure; and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath, or affirma- tion, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or thing to be seized.” 62 State v. Unger

of Appeals. In doing so, we modify part of the exploitation analysis announced in Hall. I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW The Marion County Sheriff’s Office received a com- plaint about drug activity at defendant’s house, and an informant had reported that young children were staying there and had access to drugs and guns. In response, three detectives from the sheriff’s office and one detective from the Canby Police Department went to the house around 10:00 a.m. to conduct a “knock-and-talk.” One detective knocked on the front door, but received no response. Another detective then knocked on a basement door on the lower level of the front of the house, but he also received no response. Despite the lack of responses, several cars were in the drive- way, and the detectives thought that someone likely was home. One detective, Roberts, eventually followed a path around the lower level of the house, which led up to a wrap- around porch in back, where there was a sliding glass door that was partially covered with drapes. Roberts knocked on the sliding glass door, and, when defendant came to the door, it appeared that defendant had just woken up. Roberts introduced himself as “Kevin [Roberts] with the sheriff’s office,” and he explained that there had been a complaint about the house. Defendant asked to put on a robe and then gave the detectives permission to enter the house. At some point during the initial interaction between defendant and Roberts, at least two of the other detectives joined Roberts at the sliding glass door.2 The sliding glass door opened into a bedroom, and defendant led the detectives through the bedroom, where a woman was in bed, to the kitchen. In the kitchen, the detec- tives introduced themselves and again explained why they were there. The detectives then asked if defendant would show them around the house, and defendant agreed.

2 In ruling on defendant’s motion to suppress, the trial court stated, “I find that [defendant] allowed [the detectives] consensual entry into the house and three out of the four of [the detectives] came through the back door * * *.” The trial court did not address whether or how the fourth detective had entered the house. Cite as 356 Or 59 (2014) 63

Defendant took the detectives on a tour of the house, and throughout that tour, defendant was “coopera- tive.” When defendant showed the detectives the lower level of the house, Roberts noticed a torn piece of a bag that was coated with a white powder and contained some small crys- tals. Roberts told Detective Cypert what he had found, and Cypert passed that information along to defendant.

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State v. Unger, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-unger-or-2014.