Title: Hinkel v. Anchorage
Citation: 618 P.2d 1069
Docket Number: 4508
State: Alaska
Issuer: Alaska Supreme Court
Date: October 24, 1980

618 P.2d 1069 (1980) Ida Marie HINKEL, Appellant, v. ANCHORAGE, a Municipal Corporation, Appellee. No. 4508. Supreme Court of Alaska. October 24, 1980. Joseph A. Kalamarides, Eckert, Kalamarides &amp; Associates, Anchorage, for appellant. Donald L. Starks, Asst. Municipal Prosecutor, and Theodore Berns, Municipal Atty., Anchorage, for appellee. Before RABINOWITZ, C.J., and CONNOR, BOOCHEVER,[*] BURKE and MATTHEWS, JJ. MATTHEWS, Justice. On February 26, 1978, Anchorage police officer William Thompson witnessed an automobile accident involving Ida Marie Hinkel. Hinkel's vehicle, traveling at a high rate of speed, ran a red light and smashed into a vehicle in the intersection. Thompson first assisted the driver of the other vehicle. He then turned his attention to Hinkel who was still sitting in her car in the middle of the street. Thompson asked Hinkel to show him her driver's license and to get out of the car. Both requests were refused. He then advised Hinkel that if she did not cooperate she would be placed under arrest. The officer then opened the right front door of the vehicle and asked her to step out of the car. She again refused. Thompson advised her that she was under arrest, took hold of her and her purse which was next to her on the front seat, and proceeded to pull her out of the vehicle. In the course of the struggle the purse was left in the vehicle. Hinkel was escorted by Thompson to the back seat of his patrol car. Shortly thereafter a wrecker appeared in response to Thompson's call. Another policeman, Officer Cox, also arrived and began to assist the wrecker driver. Cox took Hinkel's purse from the vehicle and brought it to Thompson in the patrol car, remarking that the purse was quite heavy. Thompson opened the purse and discovered that it contained a loaded handgun. Thompson testified that the purse was taken from Hinkel's vehicle because it was going to be towed away and that it would have been normal procedure to return the *1070 purse to a person under arrest in Hinkel's position, but not without first searching it. Hinkel was subsequently charged with carrying a concealed weapon in violation of an Anchorage Municipal ordinance, and with reckless driving. The district court granted her motion to suppress the handgun. The Municipality petitioned for review and the superior court reversed. Hinkel was then convicted of the concealed weapon charge after a jury trial. She has appealed from that conviction, claiming that the search of her purse was unlawful. A search conducted incident to an arrest is an exception to the general rule that no search is lawful without a warrant.[1] The question for decision in this case is whether the search of Hinkel's purse falls within that exception. A container on the person of an arrestee at the time of the arrest may be seized, opened, and searched as an incident to the arrest, Middleton v. State, 577 P.2d 1050, 1055 (Alaska 1978); McCoy v. State, 491 P.2d 127, 139 (Alaska 1971), unless the container is too small to contain a weapon and the arrest is for a crime, such as reckless driving, for which no evidence could exist in the container. Middleton v. State, 577 P.2d at 1055; Zehrung v. State, 569 P.2d 189, 199-200 (Alaska 1977). This is so even though it is not strictly necessary to open a closed container found on the person of one who is arrested in order to protect the arresting officer from the use of a hidden weapon or to prevent the destruction of evidence. These goals can ordinarily be accomplished simply by seizing the container and removing it from the reach of the arrestee. The most complete discussion of this point is found in McCoy v. State, 491 P.2d 127, 131-39 (Alaska 1971). In McCoy, the defendant was arrested for attempting to use a forged airline ticket. He was taken to the police station and while in an interrogation room a package was found in his jacket which he had draped over the back of the chair in which he was seated. The package was opened without a warrant and found to contain cocaine. The contention was made that the two reasons justifying searches incident to arrests, protecting the arresting officer and preventing the destruction of evidence, suggested by Mr. Justice Frankfurter in his dissent in United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U.S. 56, 70 S. Ct. 430, 94 L. Ed. 653 (1950) and relied on by the majority in Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S. Ct. 2034, 23 L. Ed. 2d 685 (1969), serve as limitations on searches of the person of the arrestee as well as those of the area within his immediate control. Justice Erwin, writing for this court, considered the argument and rejected it: 491 P.2d at 133-4 (footnotes omitted). The court in McCoy also concluded that the exigencies of the search were to be judged at the time of the arrest rather than at the time that the item is opened: 491 P.2d at 137 (footnote omitted). We have most recently reaffirmed McCoy in Middleton v. State, 577 P.2d 1050, 1055 (Alaska 1978). Middleton was arrested for armed robbery of a liquor store, taken to the police station, and placed in an interrogation room. Twenty minutes to a half hour later she was asked to take everything out of her pockets and place them on a table. She placed her billfold there and a policeman took it and searched it. He found a folded piece of paper which he opened and discovered that it contained a sketch of the floor plan of the premises which had been robbed. Middleton argued that this search was unlawful because once the billfold was in the possession of the police there was no justifying exigency, since there was then no danger that its contents could be destroyed. We unanimously rejected this argument on the authority of McCoy. 577 P.2d at 1055. Certain containers in the possession of one who is arrested and which are located in the immediate area of the arrest may be seized but not searched under the incident to arrest exception. We so held in Metcalfe v. State, 593 P.2d 638, 640 (Alaska 1979). Metcalfe was arrested while carrying a box in his arms. He was taken to the police station where the box was searched. We held that the search of the box could not be upheld under the incident to arrest exception because no exigent circumstances justified it. In so holding we quoted the following from United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 15, 97 S. Ct. 2476, 2485, 53 L. Ed. 2d 538, 551 (1977): 593 P.2d at 640. The question in this case is whether the search of Hinkel's purse is to be governed by Middleton and McCoy or by Metcalfe. The answer, we believe, is suggested by the language quoted from Chadwick in Metcalfe, set forth above, which pointedly excepts personal property "immediately associated with the person of the arrestee" from the requirement that an exigency must exist to justify a search. This language must mean that containers found in clothing pockets may be searched. In our view it also suggests that containers such as purses which are often worn on the person and generally serve the same function as clothing pockets are also excepted from the strict exigency requirement. It would be possible, of course, to treat containers found in clothes pockets, such as billfolds, differently from items such as purses which are not carried in pockets but serve the same purpose. However, we can think of no reasons to justify such a distinction. We conclude that Hinkel's purse was property immediately associated with her person and, therefore, was properly searched incident to her arrest.[2] Our conclusion is supported by a recent case of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States v. Berry, 560 *1072 F.2d 861 (7th Cir.1977), vacated on other grounds, 571 F.2d 2 (7th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 840, 99 S. Ct. 129, 58 L. Ed. 2d 138 (1978). The court noted the distinction made in Chadwick between personal property which is immediately associated with the person of the arrestee and that which is not: 560 F.2d at 864. The item seized in Berry was an attache case. The court concluded that it was more like luggage than property immediately associated with the person and indicated that a purse would be within the latter category: Id.[3] As we have indicated there is a line to be drawn between containers which may be searched incident to an arrest and those which may not be, once any danger that the arrestee may gain access to the container to seize a weapon or destroy evidence no longer exists. Such a line is required if Middleton and McCoy on the one hand and Metcalfe on the other are to be reconciled. We think such a reconciliation is possible and adopt the approach suggested by Chadwick to accomplish it. We recognize, however, that it may legitimately be questioned whether the line drawn is sufficiently perceptible to be observed in practice. Ultimately, of course, experience will give us the answer. We think that the only logical alternative to today's decision would be to overrule Middleton *1073 and McCoy. We could then adopt the rule that no container found on the person of an arrestee could be searched without a warrant so long as the alternative of seizure and removal from the reach of the arrestee were available. If the arrestee desired the return of the container prior to his release from custody he could consent to its search. While such a rule would not be difficult to follow, we are not persuaded that overruling Middleton and McCoy is necessary or desirable. AFFIRMED. RABINOWITZ, Chief Justice, dissenting, with whom CONNOR, Justice, joins. I cannot agree that the warrantless search of Hinkel's purse was a constitutional search incident to a valid arrest. In my opinion the search conducted by Officer Thompson was not within the narrowly drawn exception to the warrant requirement for searches incident to arrest. Thus, I would hold under both the Alaska and Federal Constitutions that the search was in violation of Hinkel's rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.[1] The United States Supreme Court has recently, in Arkansas v. Sanders, 442 U.S. 753, 99 S. Ct. 2586, 61 L. Ed. 2d 235 (1979), summarized the principles behind the protection of the Fourth Amendment: 442 U.S. at 757-60, 99 S. Ct. at 2589-91, 61 L. Ed. 2d at 241-42 (footnotes and citations omitted). In State v. Daniel, 589 P.2d 408, 416 (Alaska 1979), this court reiterated its previous observations that the protection provided by the Alaska Constitution against unreasonable *1074 searches and seizures goes beyond that afforded under the Federal Constitution and that "protection of the interiors of closed luggage, briefcases, containers and packages transported in a vehicle reflects fundamental expectations of privacy which Alaska society would recognize as reasonable." This protection is clearly implicated in the subject warrantless search of Hinkel's purse, which was found lying on her car seat subsequent to her arrest. In the case at bar, this court must decide whether the purse is within the scope of the narrowly drawn exception to the warrant requirement set forth in Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S. Ct. 2034, 23 L. Ed. 2d 685 (1969), for a search of the arrestee's person and the area within the arrestee's immediate control. The majority concludes that the purse in this case was indeed within Hinkel's immediate control at the time of the search. Similar arguments were advanced by the government in United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S. Ct. 2476, 53 L. Ed. 2d 538 (1977), in which the Court concluded that a footlocker taken from the trunk of the arrestee's car was not within the immediate control of the arrestee: 433 U.S. at 14-16, 97 S. Ct. at 2485-86, 53 L. Ed. 2d at 550-51 (footnotes and citations omitted). This analysis is fully applicable to the case at bar. Officer Thompson first observed Hinkel when her car ran a red light and struck another vehicle in the intersection. When Thompson approached the car, Hinkel refused to exit her vehicle or to produce a driver's license. Thompson advised her she would be arrested if she continued to refuse to cooperate. Hinkel persisted in her refusal and was then arrested. At this point, Hinkel's cloth purse was lying on the front seat next to her. In the process of arresting Hinkel, Thompson took hold of her purse and a struggle ensued. The purse remained in the car while Hinkel was placed in the back seat of Thompson's patrol car. While Thompson proceeded with the paperwork on the accident, Officer Cox arrived and began to secure Hinkel's vehicle in preparation for its removal.[2] Cox removed the purse and gave it to Thompson, noting that it was "awful heavy." Thompson then opened the purse and discovered that it contained a loaded revolver. During the arrest, Thompson had recognized appellant as Ida May Hinkel; he was aware that Hinkel had been arrested several times for prostitution and that she was a suspect in certain armed robberies and assaults. If Hinkel had had the purse in her reach at the time of the arrest, and if the officer had seized the purse at the time of arrest, then I think the officer would have had ample cause, pursuant to the arrest, to search the purse. Concern for the officer's own safety and a need to ascertain whether an arrestee has access to a weapon is one of the two rationales behind this particular exception to the warrant requirement.[3] In this case, Thompson's knowledge of Hinkel's prior criminal record gives ample support for such a search. But I would find that this rationale is no longer applicable once Hinkel had been removed from her vehicle and the purse was no longer within her immediate control. The purpose of the exception allowing a search incident to an arrest is to allow officers to take reasonable precautions to prevent an arrestee from either seizing a weapon or destroying evidence. The purse left in Hinkel's vehicle was not within her control in any sense. Nor were there other exigent circumstances that would warrant a search of the purse. The item searched here was a normal woman's purse and not a gun case or other container which, by its nature, fails to support any reasonable expectation of privacy because the contents can be disclosed or suggested by the item's outward appearance. See Arkansas v. Sanders, 442 U.S. 753, 764 n. 13, 99 S. Ct. 2586, 2593 n. 13, 61 L. Ed. 2d 235, 245 n. 13 (1979). Nor was there a passenger in Hinkel's car, which might have created a justifiable apprehension in the police officer that the passenger might try to destroy evidence or use a weapon. Further, Hinkel had already been arrested and was safely secured for transportation to the police station when her purse was searched. This case is thus distinguishable from cases in which the arrestee or a passenger was to be returned to his or her vehicle thereby creating an apprehension that the person might grab a weapon or attempt to destroy evidence that might exist in the vehicle.[4] *1076 The purse was within the exclusive control and supervision of the police and, thus its search was not incident to the arrest. The only justification, then, for searching the purse would be for inventory purposes. In this case, the second officer could reasonably have been concerned over liability in transporting the purse with the vehicle. Given this concern, it was proper for the second officer to attempt to return the purse to its owner or, at least, to Officer Thompson. If the purse was being returned to Hinkel's custody, then the concerns that are present when a search is made incident to arrest again arise-the purse would once again be in the possession and immediate control of the arrestee. If it contained, as this purse did, a weapon, then the arrestee may have tried to escape or injure the officer. Thus, it is reasonable, before an officer places any such object in the control of an arrestee, that the object be searched for weapons. However, in this case, there was no justification for returning the purse to Hinkel and the record does not reflect that Hinkel requested the return of her purse. The officer, upon such a request, can insist that the arrestee consent to a search of the item prior to its return. But absent such a request, the officer who retains exclusive control over an item such as a purse is not justified in searching it. If the officer has suspicions that the item contains a weapon, as Thompson said he had when he felt a heavy object in the purse, then the officer should keep the item out of the victim's control and obtain a warrant to search the item once it has been transferred to the police station. This was the conclusion reached by the district court judge who originally granted the motion to suppress: I am in agreement and find that this search was improper. The majority rely on dicta in United States v. Berry, 560 F.2d 861, 864 (7th Cir.1977), vacated, 571 F.2d 2 (7th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 840, 99 S. Ct. 129, 58 L. Ed. 2d 138 (1978), to suggest that since a purse is generally carried on the person it is therefore subject to search incident to arrest regardless of its actual location. I cannot agree with this. A search of a purse carried on the person is certainly warranted "incident to arrest" when the purse is literally within the person's immediate control such that the person has access to objects in the purse as he or she would to objects in his or her pockets. However, a very different situation is presented under the facts of this case. At the time of seizure, Hinkel's purse was not within her control and it would have been impossible for her to extract anything from it. An almost identical situation occurred in Ulesky v. State, 379 So. 2d 121, 125-26 (Fla. App. 1979). In Ulesky, a police officer, upon seeing the defendant narrowly avoid a traffic accident, stopped her, found her in possession of marijuana and arrested her. After the police officer placed the defendant in custody in the back of his patrol car, he returned to the truck and searched her purse which she had left in the cab. The court concluded that such a search was not proper incident to arrest: Id. at 126. I would similarly find the search improper in this case.[5] [*] This case was submitted to the court for decision prior to Justice Boochever's resignation. [1] Middleton v. State, 577 P.2d 1050 (Alaska 1978); Zehrung v. State, 569 P.2d 189 (Alaska 1977); Schraff v. State, 544 P.2d 834 (Alaska 1975); McCoy v. State, 491 P.2d 127 (Alaska 1971). [2] This holding is consistent with the limitations expressed in McCoy v. State, 491 P.2d 127, 138 (Alaska 1971) and Zehrung v. State, 569 P.2d 189, 199-200 (Alaska 1977) referred to at page 1070, supra, because the search involved here was for weapons not evidence. [3] Other authorities supporting our view that a purse is an item immediately associated with the person are: United States v. Moreno, 569 F.2d 1049, 1052 (9th Cir.1978), cert. denied 435 U.S 972, 98 S. Ct. 1615, 56 L. Ed. 2d 64 (1978); United States v. Venizelos, 495 F. Supp. 1277 (S.D.N.Y. 1980); Sumlin v. State, 587 S.W.2d 571, 577 (Ark. 1979) (en banc); People v. Harris, 164 Cal. Rptr. 296, 303, 105 Cal. App. 3d 204 (Cal. App. 1980); People v. Flores, 160 Cal. Rptr. 839, 844, 100 Cal. App. 3d 221 (Cal. App. 1979); State v. Sabater, 601 P.2d 11, 13-14 (Kan. App. 1979), cert. denied 446 U.S. 918, 100 S. Ct. 1851, 64 L. Ed. 2d 272 (1980); State v. Thompson, 596 P.2d 174, 179 (Kan. App. 1979); Dawson v. State, 40 Md. App. 640, 395 A.2d 160, 167 (1978); State v. Webb, 560 S.W.2d 318 (Mo. 1977). Contra United States v. Farrar, 470 F. Supp. 128, 131 (S.D.Miss. 1979); People v. Redmond, 73 Ill. App.3d 160, 28 Ill.Dec. 774, 780-85, 390 N.E.2d 1364, 1370-75 (1979); Ulesky v. Florida, 379 So. 2d 121, 125-26 (Fla.App. 1979). [1] Federal Constitution, Fourth Amendment; Alaska Constitution art. I, § 14. [2] Thompson testified that while the vehicle was not technically impounded, the police department was responsible for the vehicle and "if the person is arrested and removed, the property must be secured to the best of our ability." [3] See generally W. LaFave, 2 Search and Seizure § 5.2(d), at 277-81 (1978). [4] See, e.g., Brown v. State, 358 So. 2d 596, 601 (Fla.App. 1978) (search of a car on suspicion that "an accessible weapon is hidden" in the vehicle is permissible "even though the occupants have been temporarily removed," but only if "it appears that the suspect should be allowed to return to his vehicle"). See also W. LaFave, 3 Search and Seizure § 9.4, at 136-37 (1978). [5] I think it appropriate to note my agreement with the court's observation that an alternative to the decision reached today would be to overrule McCoy v. State, 491 P.2d 127, 138 (Alaska 1971). For the reasons expressed in my dissent in McCoy, I would embrace this alternative and adopt the suggested rule "that no container found on the person of an arrestee could be searched without a warrant so long as the alternative of seizure and removal from the reach of the arrestee were available." Implicit in the foregoing is my conclusion that it is unnecessary to overrule Metcalfe v. State, 593 P.2d 638 (Alaska 1979), as a predicate to adoption of this alternative.