State v. Wilson

852 P.2d 910, 120 Or. App. 382, 1993 Ore. App. LEXIS 750
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 19, 1993
Docket90-CR-0291-TM; 90-CR-0292-TM; CA A68141
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 852 P.2d 910 (State v. Wilson) 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. Wilson, 852 P.2d 910, 120 Or. App. 382, 1993 Ore. App. LEXIS 750 (Or. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

*384 DEITS, J.

Defendants, husband and wife, were each charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm silencer. ORS 475.992; ORS 166.272. The state appeals from a pretrial order suppressing evidence obtained after an alleged violation of the “knock and announce” rule. ORS 133.575(2). Defendants cross-appeal the denial of their motions to suppress evidence obtained in the search on the basis of their challenge to the affidavit supporting the search warrant. We reverse and remand on appeal and affirm on cross appeal.

On April 26,1990, at approximately 7 a.m., the police executed a search warrant at defendants’ residence in Bend. Defendants were found in their bedroom when the police first entered. During the search, police found marijuana, methamphetamine and a firearms silencer. Both defendants moved to suppress the evidence obtained in the search, challenging the sufficiency of the affidavit supporting the search warrant and alleging that the police had violated ORS 133.575(2) in making their entry. The hearings on the motions were consolidated.

ORS 133.575(2) provides:

“The executing officer shall, before entering the premises, give appropriate notice of the identity, authority and purpose of the officer to the person to be searched, or to the person in apparent control of the premises to be searched, as the case may be.”

The trial court concluded that the police entry violated that statute. It then found that the circumstances did not present a risk to the officers’ safely and held that the evidence obtained after the entry must be suppressed.

The state assigns error to the trial court’s granting of defendants’ motions to suppress. It argues that the evidence does not support the trial court’s determination that the entry occurred contemporaneously with the knocking and announcing and that the court erred in its legal conclusion that the statute had been violated.

*385 The trial court apparently relied on the testimony of Officer Kipp in making its findings:

“I have reviewed the record of Officer Kipp’s testimony and his testimony was, with regard to the timing of the utterance of the words ‘Police — Warrant’, in conjunction with the attempt to enter. (He also testified that the police had with them a battering ram and a pry bar to use, depending on whether the door opened in or out.) An officer knocked on the door, said ‘Police — Search Warrant’ and * * * [the police] tried to ‘open the door as quickly as possible’ by prying it. * * * [T]he officers ‘attempted to pry the door with a crowbar at the same time yelling ‘Police — Search Warrant.’
“After attempting to pry the door unsuccessfully, an officer took the crowbar and broke the window and reached inside and opened the door. As the officer was breaking the window, he was saying ‘Police — Search Warrant.’ ”

Our review of the trial court’s findings is limited to whether the evidence supports them. As explained in State v. Ford, 310 Or 623, 638, 801 P2d 754 (1990):

“What actually transpired is a question of fact for the finder of fact. If the evidence sustains such historical factual findings, they will not be disturbed on appeal. If findings are not made on all such facts, and there is evidence from which such facts could be decided more than one way, we will presume that the facts were decided in a manner consistent with the ultimate conclusion made by the finder of fact.”

Kipp’s testimony supports the trial court’s findings regarding the announcement and the attempt to pry the door open, but Kipp also testified about an earlier knock and announce:

‘ ‘ Q When you knocked on the door what — where about on the door did you knock?
“A Well, the door had this small window, 12 by 12 window, above the door — above that window one of the officers knocked and advised, ‘Police, search warrant.’
‘ ‘ Q And did you hear him say that?
“A Yes, I did.
íí* H* ❖ ❖ ❖
“Q And did anybody answer the door?
“A No.
*386 “Q Then what was the next step taken?
“A To open the door as quickly as possible. The officers attempted to pry the door with the crowbar, at the same time yelling, ‘Police, search warrant. ’ Several attempts were made to try to pry the door open unsuccessfully.”

After reciting the events as Kipp had described them, the trial court determined that

“[t]he only reasonable inference to be drawn from this testimony is that the police tried to pry the door at the same time they began voicing ‘Police — Search Warrant.’
“[T]he attempt at entry by prying was contemporaneous with the announcement of the identity and purpose of the officers.”

On this basis, the court concluded that the police conduct violated ORS 133.575(2) and suppressed the evidence.

However, the trial court’s conclusion based on its “inference” regarding the officers’ conduct is not consistent with the evidence and does not support its legal conclusion. There is no evidence in the record that contradicts Kipp’s testimony that an announcement occurred before attempted entry and before the actual entry. The trial court did not find that Kipp was not credible. Further, an attempt to pry a door is not an entry. The relevant time period for the trial court to decide if appropriate notice was given is from the first announcement to the actual entry. On remand, the trial court should assess the time period between what it finds to be the initial announcement and the actual entry to determine whether appropriate notice was given under ORS 133.575(2). State v. Bost, 114 Or App 519, 837 P2d 536 (1992), rev allowed, 315 Or 643 (1993). Accordingly, we remand to the trial court to make further findings regarding when the police announcements occurred and their relationship in time to the police entry and to determine if this constituted appropriate notice under the statute. State v. Wise, 305 Or 78, 82 n 2, 749 P2d 1179 (1988).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
852 P.2d 910, 120 Or. App. 382, 1993 Ore. App. LEXIS 750, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wilson-orctapp-1993.