Opinion ID: 1135969
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Heading: Search and Seizure of Defendant's Belongings

Text: Defendant raises three arguments related to the evidence the police obtained from the search and seizure of his belongings. Specifically, he challenges the seizure of his belongings by the Las Vegas police, the subsequent search by the Bullhead City police detectives, and the inventory search by the Las Vegas police. We address these arguments in turn and set forth the relevant facts as follows. In Las Vegas, Nevada, defendant met Marcia and Gary Vint and arranged to pay them $50 per week to sleep on the couch at their apartment (the Arville Street apartment). During the first couple of days, defendant gave the Vints $50, apparently to pay for groceries. Defendant kept his belongings, which were contained in a duffel bag, a backpack, and a white trash bag, in one side of the apartment's dining room closet. The Vints also kept things in this closet. On March 30, the Vints leased a new apartment (the Ida Street apartment), to which they planned to move on March 31. On March 30, defendant spent the night at the Ida Street apartment, although his belongings remained at the Arville Street apartment. On the morning of March 31, the Vints read in the newspaper that a person named Danny Lee Jones was suspected of murdering Tisha and Robert Weaver. The Vints looked through defendant's belongings to verify his name and then notified the Las Vegas police that defendant was staying with them. The police arrested defendant that day at the Ida Street apartment. The police then returned to the Arville Street apartment because the Vints told them that defendant had left some belongings there which they did not want to keep. The police took possession of defendant's belongings from the dining room closet and a .22 rifle, identified as similar to one that Robert owned, found under the living room sofa. They also conducted a cursory search of defendant's bags to check for weapons and placed the items in the trunk of the patrol car. The police did not have a search warrant. While the Las Vegas police were still at the Arville Street apartment, two Bullhead City police detectives arrived and searched defendant's belongings, which were being stored in the trunk of a patrol car. The Bullhead City detectives, who also did not have a search warrant, identified the bloodstained clothing that defendant wore on the night of the murders. The Las Vegas police then impounded all of defendant's belongings and conducted an inventory search at the police station. Before trial, defendant moved to suppress the clothing that the police obtained from the Arville Street apartment, but not the.22 rifle. The trial court held that the Vints had authority to consent to the search and seizure of defendant's property because defendant did not have exclusive authority over any area of the Arville Street apartment, the Vints believed they had no further duty to store defendant's belongings, and defendant had no agreement for indefinite storage of his property at the apartment. The court also held that any subsequent searches or seizures were valid. We review a trial court's denial of a motion to suppress under a clear abuse of discretion standard. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 603, 832 P.2d 593, 620 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1084, 113 S.Ct. 1058, 122 L.Ed.2d 364 (1993). 1. Initial Search and Seizure of Defendant's Belongings by the Las Vegas Police Defendant argues that the Las Vegas police illegally seized his belongings from the Arville Street apartment because they did not have a search warrant and the Vints lacked authority to turn the property over to the police. Defendant first asserts that he and the Vints had established a landlordtenant relationship and that, under Nevada law, a landlord is required to store a tenant's property safely for 30 days after the abandonment or eviction of the tenant or the end of the rental period. See Nev.Rev.Stat. § 118A.460(1)(a) (Supp. 1995). Defendant asserts that the Vints violated this statute when they allowed the Las Vegas police to seize his belongings. Defendant, however, raises this argument for the first time on appeal. An issue not raised below is waived absent fundamental error, and we find none here. State v. Bolton, 182 Ariz. 290, 297, 896 P.2d 830, 837 (1995); see also State v. Gendron, 168 Ariz. 153, 155, 812 P.2d 626, 628 (1991), quoting State v. Smith, 114 Ariz. 415, 420, 561 P.2d 739, 744 (1977) (defining fundamental error as error of such dimensions that it cannot be said it is possible for a defendant to have had a fair trial). Even if we assume that this statute applies and that the Vints violated it, the remedy would be civil or criminal liability on the part of the Vints and not suppression. See Nev.Rev.Stat. § 118A.460(1)(a). Therefore, the argument, even if accepted, would not have affected the trial's outcome. Defendant next argues that the seizure of his belongings was unconstitutional because the Vints lacked authority to consent to the seizure. Generally, the police must obtain a warrant before searching or seizing premises or property in which an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy. U.S. Const. amends. IV & XIV; see also Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 353, 88 S.Ct. 507, 512, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967); State v. Castaneda, 150 Ariz. 382, 389, 724 P.2d 1, 8 (1986). An exception to this requirement, however, exists where a third party with common authority over or other sufficient relationship to the premises or effects sought to be inspected voluntarily consents to the search or seizure. United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 171, 94 S.Ct. 988, 993, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974); see also Castaneda, 150 Ariz. at 389, 724 P.2d at 8. The state must prove consent by clear and positive evidence. State v. Lucero, 143 Ariz. 108, 110, 692 P.2d 287, 289 (1984). In this case, the parties do not contest that defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding his belongings at the Vints' apartment or that the Vints' consent was voluntary. Thus, our inquiry focuses on the Vints' authority over and relationship to defendant's property. The Court in Matlock explained that common authority exists when there is mutual use of the property by persons generally having joint access or control for most purposes, so that it is reasonable to recognize that any of the co-inhabitants has the right to permit the inspection in his own right and that the others have assumed the risk that one of their number might permit the common area to be searched. 415 U.S. at 171 n. 7, 94 S.Ct. at 993 n. 7; see also State v. Heberly, 120 Ariz. 541, 543-44, 587 P.2d 260, 262-63 (App. 1978) (adopting this language). Moreover, when determining whether common authority exists, the focus is on apparent authority, rather than actual authority. Castaneda, 150 Ariz. at 389, 724 P.2d at 8 ([I]f it reasonably appeared that a third party had common authority over the premises, then the consent to search would be valid.). We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied defendant's motion to suppress on the basis that the Vints had apparent authority to consent to the search. The uncontroverted evidence at trial was that the Vints had joint access to and control over the dining room closet where defendant's belongings were found and that defendant did not have the right to exclude them from this area. Moreover, it was reasonable to recognize that defendant assumed the risk that the Vints would allow the common area to be searched when defendant chose to leave his belongings at the Arville Street apartment. Therefore, the seizure of defendant's belongings was proper. 2. Search by the Bullhead City Police Detectives Defendant next argues that the warrantless search by the Bullhead City police detectives of his belongings while they were in the Las Vegas police patrol car was unconstitutional. Defendant reasons that the search does not fall within the inventory exception to the warrant requirement because the Las Vegas police department's standard inventory procedures do not include interim searches. Although defendant correctly asserts that this search does not fall within the inventory exception, the evidence is admissible under the inevitable discovery doctrine. The inevitable discovery doctrine, which is an exception to the exclusionary rule, provides that illegally obtained evidence is admissible [i]f the prosecution can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the illegally seized items or information would have inevitably been seized by lawful means.... State v. Ault, 150 Ariz. 459, 465, 724 P.2d 545, 551 (1986), citing Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431, 443, 104 S.Ct. 2501, 2509, 81 L.Ed.2d 377 (1984); see also State v. Lamb, 116 Ariz. 134, 138, 568 P.2d 1032, 1036 (1977) ([E]vidence obtained as a result of an unlawful search need not be suppressed where, in the normal course of the police investigation and absent the illicit conduct, the evidence would have been discovered anyway.). In this case, the Bullhead City police detectives searched defendant's belongings while they were in the trunk of the Las Vegas police patrol car, which was parked at the Arville Street apartment. During the search, the detectives discovered the clothing defendant wore on the night of the murders. When the detectives finished their search, the Las Vegas police transported defendant's belongings to the police station and conducted a lawful inventory search, which we discuss below. The Las Vegas police inevitably would have conducted their inventory search and found defendant's clothing, regardless of whether the Bullhead City detectives identified defendant's clothing. Therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied defendant's motion to suppress the evidence on this basis. 3. Inventory Search by the Las Vegas Police Defendant's final argument regarding the search and seizure of his belongings is that the inventory search by the Las Vegas police was unconstitutional because the police did not conduct the search pursuant to standardized criteria. Because defendant did not make this argument in his motion to suppress, our inquiry is limited to fundamental error analysis. See State v. Bolton, 182 Ariz. 290, 297, 896 P.2d 830, 837 (1995) (issue not raised with trial court is waived absent fundamental error). Even if defendant had properly preserved the issue, his argument lacks merit. Inventory searches are permissible if conducted pursuant to standardized criteria and not because of mere suspicions of criminal activity. State v. West, 176 Ariz. 432, 441, 862 P.2d 192, 201 (1993), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 1635, 128 L.Ed.2d 358 (1994) (testimony that police policy was to list contents of vehicles taken into possession sufficient to find valid inventory search). In this case, an officer testified at the suppression hearing that the Las Vegas police conduct an inventory search whenever they obtain evidence, which includes listing each item of evidence on an impound sheet and placing the evidence into an evidence vault, and that they followed this procedure in this case. The officer's testimony is sufficient to establish that the police followed standardized criteria when they conducted the inventory search, and the search presents neither error nor fundamental error.