Opinion ID: 1195377
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: There were probable cause and exigent circumstances to justify the seizure.

Text: [A]ny warrantless search of a constitutionally protected area is presumptively unreasonable unless there is both probable cause and a legally recognized exception to the warrant requirement. [ State v.] Bonnell, 75 Haw. [124,] 137, 856 P.2d [1265,] 1273 [(1993)]; see also State v. Propios, 76 Hawai`i 474, 477, 879 P.2d 1057, 1060 (1994); State v. Perham, 72 Haw. 290, 292, 814 P.2d 914, 915, reconsideration denied, 72 Haw. 616, 841 P.2d 1074 (1991); State v. Wiley, 69 Haw. 589, 591, 752 P.2d 102, 103 (1988); State v. Ritte, 68 Haw. 253, 256-57, 710 P.2d 1197, 1201 (1985); State v. Barrett, 67 Haw. 650, 653-54, 701 P.2d 1277, 1280 (1985); [ State v.] Fields, 67 Haw. [268,] 281, 686 P.2d [1379,] 1384 [(1984)]; State v. Ortiz, 67 Haw. 181, 184, 683 P.2d 822, 825 (1984); State v. Russo, 67 Haw. 126, 137, 681 P.2d 553, 561 (1984); State v. Clark, 65 Haw. 488, 493, 654 P.2d 355, 359-60 (1982); State v. Kaluna, 55 Haw. 361, 363, 520 P.2d 51, 55 (1974). In general, these exceptions provide for those cases where the societal costs of obtaining a warrant, such as danger to law officers or the risk of loss or destruction of evidence, outweigh the reasons for prior recourse to a neutral magistrate. Clark, 65 Haw. at 494, 654 P.2d at 360 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); see also [ State v.] Meyer, 78 Hawai`i [308,] 312, 893 P.2d [159,] 163 [(1996)]. State v. Wallace, 80 Hawai`i 382, 393, 910 P.2d 695, 706 (1996). Probable cause exists when the facts and circumstances within one's knowledge and of which one has reasonably trustworthy information are sufficient in themselves to warrant a person of reasonable caution to believe that an offense has been committed. Navas, 81 Hawai`i at 116, 913 P.2d at 42 (citing State v. Jerome, 69 Haw. 132, 134, 736 P.2d 438, 439 (1987)). In the present matter, Officer Unga's training in drug recognition gave him probable cause to believe that the two packets on the ground next to the passenger's side of the truck contained evidence of a crime or contraband, i.e., crystal methamphetamine or ice. See, e.g., Wallace, 80 Hawai`i at 400, 910 P.2d at 713 (noting that police officer had probable cause to believe that transparent packets contained cocaine). The next consideration is whether exigent circumstances justified the warrantless entry and seizure of the pouch containing the handgun. The exigent circumstances exception exists when the demands of the occasion reasonably call for an immediate police response. More specifically, it includes situations presenting an immediate danger to life or serious injury or an immediate threatened removal or destruction of evidence. However, the burden, of course, is upon the government to prove the justification..., and whether the requisite conditions exist is to be measured from the totality of the circumstances. And in seeking to meet this burden, the police must be able to point to specific and articulable facts from which it may be determined that the action they took was necessitated by the exigencies of the situation. State v. Pulse, 83 Hawai`i 229, 245, 925 P.2d 797, 813 (1996) (quoting Clark, 65 Haw. at 494, 654 P.2d at 360 (internal citations, quotation marks, and brackets omitted)) (ellipsis points in original). In this case, the evidence adduced demonstrates, based on the totality of the circumstances, that Officer Unga reasonably believed that Trice and Jenkins posed a danger to him. It was dark, the area was deserted, Trice and Jenkins exhibited an unusual degree of movement, and Trice refused to obey Officer Unga's order to remain in the truck. See, e.g., State v. Bennett, 62 Haw. 59, 64, 610 P.2d 502, 506 (1980) (upholding the validity of an investigatory stop and scanning interior of car with flashlight where it was dark and the defendant refused to comply with an order to keep both hands on the dash board); cf. Knowles v. Iowa, 525 U.S. 113, 119 S.Ct. 484, 488, 142 L.Ed.2d 492 (1998) (observing that concern for officer safety is not absent in the case of a routine traffic stop, but that concern for officer safety does not by itself justify the often considerabl[e] ... intrusion attending a full field-type search (emphasis added)). Accordingly, Officer Unga's warrantless seizure was reasonable.