Opinion ID: 1441601
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The DEB search

Text: Defendant, in his petition to this court, [1] contends that the DEB agents' warrantless entry and search was not justified by exigent circumstances and thus violated the provisions of art. II, § 8 of the Arizona Constitution. [2] A search conducted without a warrant is unconstitutional absent one of the specific and well-established exceptions to the warrant requirement. State v. Castaneda, 150 Ariz. 382, 389, 724 P.2d 1, 8 (1986). The state argues that the dangerous nature of chemicals used to manufacture illegal drugs and the risk of fire or explosion constituted a set of exigent circumstances that justified the DEB agents' subsequent entry. We agree with the court of appeals that the officers' actions at the scene belie the post hoc assertion of this contention. See DeWitt, 182 Ariz. at 352, 897 P.2d at 654. Rather than taking appropriate safeguards consistent with the threat of fire or explosion, the police detained one suspect in the house and the other on the front walkway. Moreover, the police at the scene remained in, or within close proximity to, the house, never called the fire department, never evacuated the neighbors, and never attempted to ventilate the house. The officers' conduct makes the state's argument unpersuasive at best. Accordingly, the DEB agents' warrantless entry and search must be justified, if at all, on grounds other than exigent circumstances.
The state argued and the court of appeals' majority found that although there was no exigency justifying the DEB agents' warrantless entry, the agents' actions were nonetheless justified because such actions were only to confirm or refute McCaslin's suspicions of an illegal drug laboratory.... DeWitt, 182 Ariz. at 353, 897 P.2d at 655. We disagree. The DEB agents' actions, under the court of appeals' rationale, epitomize the search now, warrant later theory of a warrantless confirmatory search. The court of appeals relied on People v. Duncan, 42 Cal.3d 91, 227 Cal. Rptr. 654, 720 P.2d 2 (1986), to bring the DEB agents' actions within Arizona's constitutional norms. We believe the court of appeals misconstrues Duncan. Taken as a whole, Duncan is a unique exigent circumstances case, not an approval of confirmatory searches. Duncan is clearly distinguishable, as Judge Grant's dissent correctly observes. DeWitt, 182 Ariz. at 357-58, 897 P.2d at 659-60. In Duncan, it was unclear whether a drug laboratory was actually operating, the smell of ether was so strong that it made the first officer dizzy, and when the second officer entered he hurried the first officer out of the house because he feared an explosion. Duncan, 227 Cal. Rptr. at 655, 720 P.2d at 4. As already noted, the officers at Defendant's residence took no such action. In Duncan, continuing exigencies justified the ongoing presence of the officers attempting to deal with the problems. Here, the original exigency had lapsed. Moreover, the items were not contraband, they were not in use, and they could have been used for a number of lawful purposes. The state concedes that prior to the DEB agents' entry and search they lacked probable cause to obtain a warrant. It follows, therefore, that the items' evidentiary value was not immediately apparent to McCaslin or Saylor. With no probable cause and no warrant, and the exigent circumstances justifying McCaslin's and Saylor's warrantless entries having evaporated, the police were without justification to remain for an additional warrantless entry and search. See Cook, 115 Ariz. at 194, 564 P.2d at 883. The Cook rule does not permit the ongoing presence of officers waiting to confirm mere suspicion. As this court has stated previously, the Arizona Constitution provides broad protection in preserving the sanctity of homes and in creating a right of privacy. Bolt, 142 Ariz. at 264-65, 689 P.2d at 523-24. It is precisely a warrantless entry that constitutes the invasion of the home and the infringement of the right of privacy therein. Martin, 139 Ariz. at 474, 679 P.2d at 497.