Title: State v. Murray

State: washington

Issuer: Washington Supreme Court

Document:

84 Wn.2d 527 (1974) 527 P.2d 1303 THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, Petitioner, v. JOHN MURRAY et al., Respondents. No. 42897. The Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc. November 7, 1974. HUNTER, J. The defendants (respondents), John Murray and Linda Simpson, were convicted of grand larceny by knowingly possessing a stolen Sony television set, following a jury verdict of guilty. The Court of Appeals, Division Three, reversed the judgment of the trial court, and dismissed the information on the grounds of an illegal search and seizure. The petitioner, State of Washington, filed a petition for review with this court, which we granted. The facts, as shown by the record, are as follows. On August 11, 1971, members of the Spokane police department arrived at an apartment house in Spokane, Washington, to assist an informant in obtaining clothing which she had left in apartment No. 1. While in the apartment the *528 officers observed video television equipment and learned from the informant that these items were stolen. The police later discovered that the items in apartment No. 1 were stolen from the Liberty High School. The informant also indicated that she thought there was some more equipment in apartment No. 11 of the same building. Pursuant to a search warrant, the items in apartment No. 1 were seized. During the course of this search Sergeant McGougan noticed a letter from the informant addressed to a known prostitute, stating that Linda Simpson was living with the defendant Murray in apartment No. 11. Thinking that the defendant Simpson would know the whereabouts of one Robert Stigall, who the police wanted for burglary of the items seized in apartment No. 1, he and another officer set out in a patrol car to see if they could locate her. Shortly thereafter, the police observed a vehicle in which the defendant Simpson was riding and stopped it. According to the testimony of the police officers, the defendant Simpson was requested to get into the back seat of the car, but was not ordered to do so. The officers further stated that the conversation was not intimidating or coercive; rather, the officers stated that they were merely counseling her, and admitted asking questions about the defendant's child and explained that they had a genuine concern about the child's well-being. Later in the evening, about 9:30 p.m., the officers returned to the apartment building and found the defendant Simpson sitting on the front porch. They asked her to come to the car and sit in the back seat. Sergeant McGougan then requested to search her apartment, but she refused. After more conversation, Sergeant McGougan informed the defendant Simpson that they could obtain a search warrant even if she didn't consent, and that they would leave an officer there to make certain none of the property was taken from the premises during the time they were away acquiring the search warrant. The defendant Simpson stated that the policeman told her that she should be willing *529 to let them search the apartment if she had nothing to hide, but she said that, although she was unfamiliar with the law, she didn't believe they could search the apartment without a warrant. The police advised her that this was true but that they could easily obtain a warrant. It was about this time that John Weimerskirch, a friend of the defendant Simpson, arrived on the scene, and he was also questioned by the police. Thereafter, the officers again asked for permission to search apartment No. 11, and the defendant Simpson asked what they were looking for. They told her that they were looking for office and video equipment, such as typewriters, calculators, etc. Thereafter, the defendant Simpson told them that they could search the premises and look for the items mentioned. In searching the apartment the officers made an extensive search of the premises, opening closets, examining equipment which the defendant owned and, although disputed by the officers, Simpson stated that they looked in the refrigerator. On the way out of the premises, Sergeant McGougan asked Detective Tiegan to get the serial number off the portable television set which was resting on a chair. He tipped it and wrote down the serial number. The officers then left. Shortly thereafter, the officers checked the serial number on the television set, and determined that it had been stolen, not from Liberty High School but from the Sunset Pharmacy in Spokane, Washington. A search warrant was later procured around midnight, and the police officers returned to apartment No. 11 approximately 2 hours later and seized the television set pursuant to the search warrant. As a result of the seizure of the Sony television set, the defendants were charged with grand larceny by information filed on September 30, 1971. A pre-trial suppression hearing was held, and the evidence was thereafter held admissible at trial where the defendants were convicted after a jury verdict of guilty. The defendants appealed. The Court of Appeals, Division Three, reversed the judgment *530 and sentence by the trial court, and affirmed the trial court's finding that the defendant's consent to the search of the apartment was voluntary, but ruled that the Sony television set was inadmissible for the reason that the "plain view" exception to searches conducted without a warrant did not apply to the facts of this case. The petitioner thereafter filed a petition for review with this court, which we granted. As a background for determining the key issue in the petition for review, we must first consider the testimony of the police officers in this case. The record shows some inconsistent statements by Detective Tiegan as to what the police officers were looking for when they searched apartment No. 11, but there is no dispute in the record as to what items the officers told Linda Simpson they were looking for, i.e., office and video equipment, such as typewriters, calculators, etc., and that the consent for the search was granted upon that representation. It is admitted that the officers did not find the equipment they were looking for and the court so found. This is implicitly demonstrated by the following colloquy at the pre-trial suppression hearing during Detective Tiegan's testimony on direct examination: The court, in its memorandum decision in the suppression hearing, also implicitly found that the officers were looking only for adding machines, calculators and video *531 equipment, and expressly determined that none of these items was found. The court stated: The admission of the officers that they were not looking for the Sony television set is as follows. Sergeant McGougan, at the suppression hearing, stated: Detective Tiegan, at the suppression hearing, testified as follows: Detective Tiegan, at the trial on the merits, further testified: (Italics ours.) The judge at the suppression hearing, however, held that the plain view doctrine applied to the following facts: (Italics ours.) The suppression hearing judge, in his memorandum opinion, further stated: (Italics ours.) The issue then before this court is whether the plain view doctrine can be applied under the facts of this case where the Sony television set, which was tilted, and from which the serial numbers were taken, was not seized as a result of the search for which the consent was given. The judge at the suppression hearing held that the plain view doctrine did apply and the trial judge at the trial on the merits adopted the reasoning of the suppression hearing judge, also holding that the plain view doctrine applied. [1] The plain view doctrine was extensively discussed and reenunciated by the United States Supreme Court in the recent case of Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 29 L. Ed. 2d 564, 91 S. Ct. 2022 (1971). The quotations from that decision by our Court of Appeals in the instant case (State v. Murray, 8 Wn. App. 944, 948, 509 P.2d 1003 (1973)), are most pertinent: (Footnotes omitted.) The court continued, at page 466: The Court of Appeals, in State v. Dimmer, 7 Wn. App. 31, 33, 497 P.2d 613 (1972), correctly analyzes Coolidge v. New Hampshire, supra, and the application of the plain view doctrine as follows: (Italics ours.) In the instant case the initial intrusion by the officers was justified since they had obtained the consent of the defendant Simpson to search apartment No. 11. However, the search under this record was limited to items that had been stolen from the Liberty High School. The Sony television was not one of these items and it was not subject to seizure under the plain view doctrine since the officers did not have immediate apparent knowledge that they had incriminating evidence before them. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, supra. Under these facts, the police did not know the television set was incriminating until after the serial numbers had been checked with police headquarters. In this regard, the petitioner contends that the television set was incongruous and the exigencies of the circumstances caused the officers to suspect that it had been stolen. We agree with the Court of Appeals, however, that there was nothing unusual about the location of this set as to its utility and usability in the defendant's premises. To say it looked incongruous because, as stated by Detective Tiegan, he thought the television set was more than likely stolen since the defendant was apparently *535 unemployed at the time and could probably not afford a television set, would be pure speculation. We, therefore, hold that the trial court erred in allowing the seizure of the television set under the plain view doctrine since the officers did not possess the requisite immediate knowledge upon which they could reasonably conclude that they had incriminating evidence before them. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, supra. [2] The petitioner further argues that the taking of the serial numbers was not a seizure. The facts cannot support this conclusion. The serial numbers were not within the plain view of the officers, and their being obtained by the tilting of the Sony television constituted a warrantless seizure of those numbers. United States v. Gray, 484 F.2d 352 (6th Cir.1973), supports our holding that the taking of the serial numbers constituted a seizure. In that case Kentucky law enforcement officers had reliable information that the operator of a grocery store was selling beer without a license. The officers properly obtained a search warrant which directed the seizure of "any intoxicating liquors, apparatus for manufacturing intoxicating liquors or materials used in the manufacture of intoxicating liquors." In searching the store premises for the specific items described in the warrant, one of the officers noticed two rifles leaning against a wall in an upstairs closet, and removed the rifles from the closet and took them to the store area where he copied down the serial numbers of the weapons. The serial numbers were later checked, and it was discovered that the firearms had been stolen. A second search warrant was later procured upon which the officers returned and seized the two rifles. After holding that the seizure of the rifles was not justified under the plain view doctrine, the United States Court of Appeals of the 6th Circuit stated as follows on page 356: (Footnote omitted. Italics ours.) The petitioner further argues that Detective Tiegan stated that he was looking for any television screens, and that he suspicioned the Sony television could have been an item stolen from the Liberty High School since one of the items stolen in apartment No. 1 looked like a television set. This rationalization to justify the seizure is untenable in view of his admission at the trial that the Sony television was not one of the items they were looking for, and in view of the factual determination by the suppression hearing judge that the Sony television was not included in any of the items stolen from the Liberty High School for which they were searching. The determination of the Court of Appeals is affirmed and the trial court is reversed. ROSELLINI, STAFFORD, UTTER, and BRACHTENBACH, JJ., concur. WRIGHT, J. (dissenting) I dissent. The recitation of the facts by the majority is accurate and I adopt such facts. I would reverse the Court of Appeals for two reasons, either of which would adequately justify such a reversal and the reinstatement of the judgment of the trial court. The reasons are (1) a television set is video equipment, and as such is within the consent given to search the apartment, (2) the act of slightly tipping a television set sitting on a chair and copying the serial number therefrom is not a *537 constitutionally impermissible act under the facts and circumstances here present. Consent was given to search for video and office equipment. The definition of "video" as found in Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1968), whether as an adjective or as a noun is equivalent to "television," and reads as follows: "relating to or used in the transmission or reception of the television image." A consent to search for video equipment would include the consent to search for television sets. A search can be by consent. State v. Greco, 52 Wn.2d 265, 324 P.2d 1086 (1958); Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 36 L. Ed. 2d 854, 93 S. Ct. 2041 (1973). The burden of proof is upon the State to establish that consent was freely given without coercion. The trial court found that the consent was voluntary. The Court of Appeals affirmed that finding. State v. Murray, 8 Wn. App. 944, 509 P.2d 1003 (1973). In a number of recent cases it has been held the observing and checking of serial numbers even if in places which are difficult to observe is not a search. One of the cases most similar to the present case is United States v. Gunn, 428 F.2d 1057 (5th Cir.1970), in which it was held the copying of serial numbers of tires was not a search. In that case the officer had to crawl under the vehicle to read the numbers. Therein the court said in part at page 1060: In this case the police had reason to believe they had found something which should be investigated. The fairly expensive color television set was sitting upon a chair in the apartment of a person who would not normally be expected to have such an item. The television set was of the general kind and type of equipment known to have been stolen. As one experienced officer testified, in the setting in which he saw the television set, he would normally expect it had been stolen. It was in plain view and thus came within the rule of Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 29 L. Ed. 2d 564, 91 S. Ct. 2022 (1971). See also State v. Dimmer, 7 Wn. App. 31, 497 P.2d 613 (1972); and State v. Porter, 5 Wn. App. 460, 488 P.2d 773 (1971). For either of the reasons stated, the Court of Appeals should be reversed and the judgment of the trial court should be reinstated. HALE, C.J., and FINLEY and HAMILTON, JJ., concur with WRIGHT, J. Petition for rehearing denied December 18, 1974.