State v. Westfall

37 P.3d 1030, 178 Or. App. 343, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1885
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 19, 2001
Docket98CR3169FE; A112499
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 37 P.3d 1030 (State v. Westfall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Westfall, 37 P.3d 1030, 178 Or. App. 343, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1885 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

HASELTON, P. J.

In this prosecution for drug, theft, firearm, and forgery-related offenses, the state appeals from an order suppressing evidence on the ground that, with respect to certain items, the warrant authorizing the search of defendant’s hotel room and vehicles was unsupported by probable cause. ORS 138.060(3). Defendant cross-assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to controvert information contained in the search warrant affidavit. We reverse and remand.

On October 26, 1998, Douglas County Sheriffs Office Deputy Bradbum executed an affidavit in support of an application for a warrant to search defendant’s room at the Riverside Lodge Motel in Canyonville as well as two vehicles at the motel. That affidavit recounted the following matters:

• On October 26, 1998, Bradburn spoke with Douglas County Deputy Strickland and learned that a third officer, Deputy Fitzgerald, had spoken with the manager at the Riverside Lodge Motel. The manager told Fitzgerald that a man and a woman, registered under the name “Martin,” had been staying in unit # 8 since October 19 and were driving two vehicles, a white 1998 Dodge Neon with Oregon license WLV696 and a 1988 Jeep Cherokee with Oregon license UAZ921. The couple had told the motel manager that they did not want motel staff coming into their room to clean it. On October 25, the manager had entered the room to do some cleaning. Inside the room, the manager saw a computer and three large trash bags filled with bank receipts and bank statements. The manager believed that the couple may have been printing out unauthorized bank checks, and contacted the police.

* Also on October 26, Bradburn spoke with Grants Pass Police Detective Runyon. Runyon told Bradbum that the Grants Pass Police were looking for a 1998 Dodge Neon with Oregon license number WLV696. According to Runyon, the car had been rented to Chester Westfall (defendant), who was wanted pursuant to a felony warrant for a probation violation. Runyon further told Bradbum that defendant and his wife, Nancy Westfall, had been moving between motels in an effort to elude detection by police. Defendant’s wife was on felony probation for possession of a controlled substance, and defendant was the [346]*346prime suspect in an ongoing financial fraud investigation. According to Runyon, he had probable cause to arrest defendant for forgery, aggravated theft, burglary, and felon in possession of firearms and anticipated obtaining warrants based on those offenses that same day.

• Bradburn then conducted a records check. That inquiry confirmed that there was a warrant for defendant’s arrest and that defendant’s wife was on probation for possession of a controlled substance. A criminal history background check revealed that defendant had prior convictions for possession of a controlled substance and for felon in possession of a firearm.

• In response to the information from the motel manager, Deputy Strickland drove to the Riverside Lodge Motel to investigate. Bradburn and two other detectives joined Strickland shortly thereafter. Bradburn saw both the 1998 Dodge Neon with license number WLV696 and a grey 1988 Jeep Cherokee with license number UAZ921 parked at the motel. While the officers were in front of the motel, Bradburn saw a woman meeting the description of defendant’s wife walking toward the white Neon. Bradburn approached her, identified himself as a police officer, and asked her if defendant was in unit # 8. She indicated that he was and then said that she had nothing to say and wanted to talk to an attorney.

• While Bradburn was speaking with defendant’s wife, Detective Sanders walked over to unit # 8. Through the partially open door, Sanders saw defendant sitting in front of a computer. Next to the computer was a mirror bearing a white powdery substance. There was a razor blade and a clear plastic bindle next to the mirror. Based on Sanders’ experience, he believed the substance to be methamphetamine. Accordingly, Sanders arrested defendant for possession of a controlled substance. Defendant was subsequently also arrested based on the outstanding felony warrant.

• In Bradburn’s training and experience encompassing more than eight years in law enforcement, he has learned that methamphetamine is an addictive drug and methamphetamine use is an expensive habit. To pay for that habit, “a great many addicts resort to burglary, theft and robbery in order to obtain property to sell or to trade for methamphetamine.” Moreover, “persons who are involved in the manufacture, distribution, and possession of controlled substances often keep firearms as a means of protection from persons seeking to take the illegal substances from them including police.”

[347]*347Relying on Bradburn’s affidavit, a magistrate issued a warrant on October 26. The warrant authorized the search of unit # 8 at the Riverside Lodge Motel, the grey 1988 Jeep Cherokee, and the white 1998 Dodge Neon for credit cards, personal checks, computers, computer data storage devices, drugs and other drug-related evidence, and “[a]ny other evidence of the crimes of: forgeries, credit card fraud, theft, burglary and felon in possession of firearms.” That same day, officers executed the warrant and seized numerous items of evidence relating to forgery, theft, drug, and firearms offenses.

Before trial, defendant moved to controvert certain information included in Bradburn’s affidavit and to suppress the evidence found during the search of the motel room and the vehicles. Defendant’s motion to controvert was based on, inter alia, the omission from Bradburn’s affidavit of the fact that, before defendant was arrested, Deputy Fitzgerald had previously entered defendant’s room with the motel manager’s permission. According to defendant, Bradburn’s omission constituted a “failfure] to fully reveal adverse information known to him * * * [that] resulted in a disruption of the magistrate’s inference drawing process and evaluation of the affidavit.” The trial court denied the motion:

“I don’t think there’s any evidence that the affiant Officer Bradburn acted in bad faith or was dishonest. I think there is evidence he didn’t put everything in the affidavit that you would want him to put in the affidavit. He didn’t put the fact that Officer Fitzgerald had been in the motel room before. I don’t find that to be a fatal flaw. * * * I just don’t find any falsity or bad faith on the part of the affiant.”

The trial court, however, partially granted defendant’s motion to suppress. Specifically, although the court declined to suppress the drug-related evidence, the court did suppress all of the evidence related to theft, forgery, and firearms offenses:

“I think there’s probable cause in the search warrant to search for controlled substances and after hearing the testimony I believe that the officer had probable cause to search for evidence of forgeries, theft, maybe a gun, but I don’t think that’s set forth in the affidavit [.] * * * I just don’t [348]*348find probable cause to search for and seize credit cards, personal checks, computers. * * * So I guess the affidavit, my ruling is, sufficient in terms of searching for and seizing the suspected methamphetamine and nothing else that’s asked for.”

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Related

State v. Parker
398 P.3d 437 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2017)
State v. Tropeano
241 P.3d 1184 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2010)
State v. Clapper
173 P.3d 1235 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
37 P.3d 1030, 178 Or. App. 343, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1885, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-westfall-orctapp-2001.