State v. Wallin

125 Wash. App. 648
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 7, 2005
DocketNo. 52920-0-I
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 125 Wash. App. 648 (State v. Wallin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Wallin, 125 Wash. App. 648 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

¶1 — At issue in this appeal is whether a warrantless search by Department of Corrections (DOC) officers of the home of Jamie Wallin was done “without authority of law” as prohibited by article I, section 7 of the Washington Constitution. We are constrained to hold that the search was without authority of law and thus violates the state constitution. The evidence obtained by virtue of the search must be suppressed. Accordingly, we reverse.

Cox, C.J.

f 2 In 1994, Jamie Wallin pleaded guilty to one count of first degree child molestation and the court sentenced him under a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative (SSOSA). The charging period for the crime was July 2, 1988 to January 8, 1990. The SSOSA was subsequently revoked in March 1996, and Wallin was ordered to serve a 51 month sentence with one year of community placement upon release. Wallin was released from prison on April 29, 1998. On March 22, 1999, Wallin violated his community placement by repeatedly asking out a 16 year old girl who worked at a local espresso stand. Wallin frequented the establishment, lingering to chat with the girl, and bringing her cards and gifts. One condition of his community placement required that Wallin have no contact with minors without the approval of his Community Corrections Officer (CCO), or without the presence of an approved adult. As a result, the court modified Wallin’s sentence, imposing 60 days of confinement and extending the period of community placement to 10 years, the statutory maximum for his crime.1

[652]*652¶3 All parties present at these proceedings apparently believed the court had the power to extend Wallin’s community placement under former RCW 9.94A.120(10)(c) (1998). During the hearing, the DOC officer recommended that the court extend the order prohibiting contact with the victim. The DOC officer said “[M]y primary emphasis here is on no contact with [the victim]. [U]nder the law the court can extend the time past the active supervision period that no contact can occur. . . .” The defense requested that the court impose time served for the violation or, in the alternative, that Wallin be granted work release. Neither the prosecuting attorney nor the DOC officer objected to those terms. In that context, the defense attorney noted “[we] have no objection to extending supervision or the jurisdiction and certainly no objection to having no contact whatsoever with [the victim] or her family... .” Ultimately, the court denied work release, imposing 60 days of confinement, a no contact with the victim order, and extending community supervision “for the maximum statutory period.”

¶4 In March 2003, a neighbor telephoned the police to complain that Wallin had been taking pictures of her teenage nieces from his apartment window. The police spoke with Wallin, who denied taking photographs and showed the officers his blank digital camera. The police reported the incident to Wallin’s CCO, who felt that, given his history, the incident was a strong indication that Wallin was violating the terms of his community placement. As a result, several CCOs visited Wallin and searched his home and computer. The CCOs did not have a warrant. After finding large numbers of images on Wallin’s computer which appeared to be minors in sexually suggestive poses and activities, the officers contacted the Marysville police and arrested Wallin. Relying on information obtained from the CCOs, police officers obtained a warrant to search the home, computer, and media storage devices.

¶5 Officers discovered thousands of images portraying minors in sexually suggestive poses or activities in the [653]*653computer. Among these were a number of homemade photographs which were identified as having been taken with a Sony Cyber Shot camera. A detective recalled seeing such a camera in Wallin’s home when the search warrant was executed.

¶6 A second warrant was obtained to search for and seize the camera. But family members had removed it, along with other valuable items, from the apartment for safekeeping. Police spoke with Wallin’s grandparents who did not have the camera, but who took the officer’s contact information. A few hours later, Wallin’s father contacted the police and volunteered to turn over the camera he had removed from the apartment.

¶7 Police discovered a number of additional photographs on the camera’s memory stick, including the homemade images discovered on the computer. The homemade images included photographs of an adult male’s penis next to or penetrating the vagina of a minor female.

¶8 After the discovery of these photos, police interviewed Wallin about them. Wallin eventually admitted that he was the adult male in the photographs. He also admitted to having sexual contact with the nine year old girl in the photos, whom he identified.

¶9 The State charged Wallin with first degree rape of a child, first degree child molestation, sexual exploitation of a minor, and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Wallin moved to suppress the fruits of the corrections officers’ initial search of his apartment, including the computer, the camera, and his statement. Wallin argued that the 1999 order was invalid because the statute permitting extension of community placement applied only to offenses committed after July 1996, and did not apply to his offense. Thus, he contended, the CCOs lacked authority to conduct a warrantless search of his apartment.

¶10 The trial judge denied the motion, concluding the 1999 order was facially valid and the corrections officers [654]*654were entitled to rely on it. Following a stipulated bench trial, the court found Wallin guilty as charged. The court sentenced Wallin to life without the possibility of parole, finding that because of his 1994 conviction, the current convictions qualified him as a persistent offender.

¶11 Wallin appeals.

AUTHORITY OF LAW

¶12 Wallin argues that the evidence used to convict him was obtained in violation of the federal and state constitutions and should have been suppressed at trial. Specifically, Wallin contends that the order extending his community supervision beyond the statutory period was invalid on its face, providing no legal authority for the initial warrantless search and, as such, the officers were not entitled to rely upon it. We hold that the order did not provide authority of law for the warrantless search.

¶13 “A search must be conducted pursuant to a warrant, or else meet one of the exceptions to the warrant requirement.”2 As a general rule, our state constitution provides greater protection than does the federal constitution against warrantless searches and seizures.3 Therefore, our analysis begins with article I, section 7 of the state constitution.

¶14 The State has the burden to show that a warrantless search falls into one of the narrow exceptions to the warrant requirement.4 This court reviews de novo [655]*655conclusions of law from an order pertaining to the suppression of evidence.5

¶15 There is no dispute that the DOC officers who conducted the initial search of Wallin’s home did so without a warrant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
125 Wash. App. 648, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wallin-washctapp-2005.