State v. Young

39 P.3d 651, 136 Idaho 711, 2002 Ida. App. LEXIS 2
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 10, 2002
Docket27041, 27042
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 39 P.3d 651 (State v. Young) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Young, 39 P.3d 651, 136 Idaho 711, 2002 Ida. App. LEXIS 2 (Idaho Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

PERRY, Judge.

In these consolidated eases, the state appeals from the district court’s order granting Kim Young’s motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to a search warrant and his motion to suppress statements made prior to *714 receiving Miranda 1 warnings. The state also appeals from the district court’s order granting Raina Young’s motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to the same search warrant. We reverse the district court’s orders granting the Youngs’ motions to suppress and remand.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

A Bonneville County Sheriffs officer received information from two confidential informants that there was a methamphetamine lab located at the Youngs’ residence. Sometime thereafter, a third confidential informant advised the officer that a methamphetamine cooldng operation was in progress at the Youngs’ residence. The officer drove up and down the road located in front of the Youngs’ residence in order to survey the property, but the officer did not go directly to the Youngs’ home. The officer subsequently obtained a search warrant and executed it at the Youngs’ residence.

As a result of evidence found during the execution of the search warrant, the Youngs were charged with trafficking in methamphetamine by manufacture, I.C. § 37-2732B. The Youngs filed motions to suppress evidence obtained pursuant to the search warrant. Kim also filed a motion to suppress statements he made to investigating officers prior to receiving Miranda warnings. After an evidentiary hearing, the district court granted the Youngs’ motions to suppress evidence, finding that the search warrant failed to particularly describe the place to be searched. The district court also granted Kim’s motion to suppress statements, finding that Kim was in custody for purposes of Miranda at the time Kim’s statements were made. The state appeals, claiming that the district court erred by granting the Youngs’ motions to suppress. 2

II.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standard of review of a suppression motion is bifurcated. When a decision on a motion to suppress is challenged, we accept the trial court’s findings of fact which are supported by substantial evidence, but we freely review the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found. State v. Atkinson, 128 Idaho 559, 561, 916 P.2d 1284, 1286 (Ct.App.1996). Here, the state does not challenge the district court’s findings of fact. Therefore, the issues before us are purely questions of law over which we exercise free review.

III.

ANALYSIS

A. Particulai'ity of the Description of the Place to be Searched

The district court granted the Youngs’ motions to suppress evidence obtained pursuant to the search warrant because it concluded that, as a matter of law, the description of the place to be searched — the Youngs’ residence — -was constitutionally inadequate. The state asserts that the district court’s conclusion was erroneous because the district court failed to consider the impact of the executing officer’s knowledge of the place to be searched. The state additionally argues that the district court erroneously shifted the burden of proving the adequacy of the description in the search warrant to the state.

The purpose of the Fourth Amendment guarantee of the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures is to safeguard the privacy of citizens by insuring against the search of premises where probable cause is lacking. State v. Yoder, 96 Idaho 651, 653, 534 P.2d 771, 773 (1975). One such safeguard is the necessity of particularity in *715 a description of the place to be searched. Id. The description must be sufficiently clear so that the place to be searched is recognizable from other neighboring properties. Id. The test for determining the sufficiency of the description of the place to be searched is whether the place is described with sufficient particularity as to enable the executing officer to locate and identify the premises with reasonable effort, and whether there is any reasonable probability that another premise might be mistakenly searched. United States v. Gitcko, 601 F.2d 369, 371 (8th Cir. 1979).

Where one part of the description of the premises to be searched is inaccurate, but the description has other parts which identify the place to be searched with particularity, searches pursuant to such warrants have been routinely upheld. United States v. Turner, 770 F.2d 1508, 1511 (9th Cir.1985); Gitcho, 601 F.2d at 371. A correct street address, even when no other description is given, is sufficiently particular to withstand constitutional scrutiny because it meets both prongs of the particularity test. United States v. Dancy, 947 F.2d 1232, 1234 (5th Cir.1991). Extraneous information, such as a legal or detailed physical description of the premises to be searched, is not required. State v. Holman, 109 Idaho 382, 388, 707 P.2d 493, 499 (Ct.App.1985). Because search warrants are not deeds or tax notices, they are not subject to technical drafting requirements and should be interpreted in a commonsense and realistic fashion. Id.

Here, the search warrant described the Youngs’ residence as:

Premises located at 4121 East 65th South, Idaho Falls, Bonneville County, Idaho; more specifically described as a blue single story house on a hillside location with an exposed full entry basement on the west side and an overhanging porch on the north side. The residence is at the end of a lane leading south from 65th South, about 1/4 mile. Including barns, outbuildings, cellars and storage areas on the premises and any person and vehicles located on the premises.

It is undisputed that the address listed in the search warrant was the correct address for the Youngs’ residence. Although the search warrant did not allege that the street number would be located anywhere on them property, it is also undisputed that the street number was not displayed anywhere on the Youngs’ property. The part of the description at issue in the search warrant is the physical description of the Youngs’ home, not the correct address listed therein.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Jacobson
Idaho Court of Appeals, 2026
State v. Shaughnessy
Idaho Court of Appeals, 2025
State v. Lewis
509 P.3d 1196 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2022)
State v. Edward Ray Christensen
360 P.3d 348 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2015)
State v. Kirk Julliard Gosch
339 P.3d 1207 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2014)
Julie Berryman v. Farmers Insurance Company
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2013
State v. Robert Leroy Huck
Idaho Court of Appeals, 2013
State v. Leotis B. Branigh, III
313 P.3d 732 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. Harper
266 P.3d 1198 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2011)
State v. Reynolds
218 P.3d 795 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2009)
State v. Teal
188 P.3d 927 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2008)
State v. O'KEEFE
141 P.3d 1147 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2006)
Way v. State
101 P.3d 203 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
39 P.3d 651, 136 Idaho 711, 2002 Ida. App. LEXIS 2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-young-idahoctapp-2002.