Opinion ID: 1057801
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence Seized

Text: First, R.D.S. argues that the evidence seized is inadmissible as tainted under the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. [3] Because we hold that R.D.S. was not subjected to a custodial interrogation and that his statements were admissible, any evidence obtained therefrom would not be tainted as fruit of the poisonous tree. Moreover, the marijuana was found not as a result of any statements made by R.D.S., but as a result of the appearance of and statements made by G.N. None of R.D.S.'s incriminating statements were made until after Deputy Lambert found the marijuana. Therefore, there is no taint on the evidence.
The issue of whether probable cause or reasonable suspicion should be applied to law enforcement officers conducting a search of a student in a school setting is a matter of first impression in Tennessee. R.D.S. argues that Deputy Lambert was acting in a specialized law enforcement capacity, i.e. a School Resource Officer (SRO), but that her position did not allow a relaxation of the constitutional requirement of probable cause to search R.D.S.'s truck. The State counters that the search was reasonable because Deputy Lambert had probable cause to believe that some measure of criminality was afoot after her encounter with G.N. and his statements about being in R.D.S.'s truck. The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects [t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. This protection is not limited to only searches by law enforcement officers, but also guards against unreasonable searches by civil authorities as well. Elkins v. United States, 364 U.S. 206, 213, 80 S.Ct. 1437, 4 L.Ed.2d 1669 (1960); see New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 336, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985); Burdeau v. McDowell, 256 U.S. 465, 475, 41 S.Ct. 574, 65 L.Ed. 1048 (1921). As the United States Supreme Court observed in Camara v. Mun. Court, 387 U.S. 523, 528, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 18 L.Ed.2d 930 (1967), [t]he basic purpose of this Amendment . . . is to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions by government officials. The reasonableness of a search centers around the context within which [it] takes place. T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 337, 105 S.Ct. 733. Reviewing courts should balance the need to search against the invasion which the search entails[,] Camara, 387 U.S. at 536-37, 87 S.Ct. 1727; thereby weighing an individual's legitimate expectations of privacy and personal security on one hand and the government's need for effective methods to deal with breaches of public order on the other, T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 337, 105 S.Ct. 733. Generally, government actors cannot conduct a search unless they possess a judicial warrant that was obtained upon a showing of probable cause to believe a crime had been committed. Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 586, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). Therefore, a warrantless search is presumed unreasonable, unless it falls within one of the narrow and well-delineated exceptions to the warrants requirement. [4] Flippo v. West Virginia, 528 U.S. 11, 13, 120 S.Ct. 7, 145 L.Ed.2d 16 (1999). Even if one of those exceptions applies and a warrant is not required, a search must still ordinarily be based on `probable cause' to believe that a violation of the law has occurred. T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 340, 105 S.Ct. 733; see Almeida-Sanchez v. United States, 413 U.S. 266, 273, 93 S.Ct. 2535, 37 L.Ed.2d 596 (1973); Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 62-66, 88 S.Ct. 1889, 20 L.Ed.2d 917 (1968). However, the need for probable cause is not the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment. The United States Supreme Court has stated that the fundamental command of the Fourth Amendment is that searches and seizures be reasonable, and although `both the concept of probable cause and the requirement of a warrant bear on the reasonableness of a search, . . . in certain limited circumstances neither is required.' T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 340, 105 S.Ct. 733 (quoting Almeida-Sanchez, 413 U.S. at 277, 93 S.Ct. 2535 (Powell, J., concurring)) (emphasis added). Similarly, the Tennessee Constitution mandates [t]hat the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions, from unreasonable searches and seizures; . . . Tenn. Const. Art. I, section 7. We have previously held that Article I, section 7 is identical to the intent and purpose of the Fourth Amendment. State v. Downey, 945 S.W.2d 102, 106 (Tenn.1997) (quoting Sneed v. State, 221 Tenn. 6, 423 S.W.2d 857, 860 (1968)). Consequently, federal cases addressing issues of searches and seizures are particularly persuasive. Downey, 945 S.W.2d at 106. In T.L.O., supra , the United States Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of searches of students by teachers and school officials. In T.L.O., a school official searched a student's purse and found marijuana and evidence implicating T.L.O. in marijuana dealing. 469 U.S. at 328, 105 S.Ct. 733. T.L.O. sought to suppress the evidence of marijuana dealing, claiming the search was unconstitutional. Id. at 329, 105 S.Ct. 733. The Court upheld the search, holding that the standard of reasonableness applied to a search of a student by a teacher or other school official. Id. at 341, 105 S.Ct. 733. The Court began its analysis by holding that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to searches of students conducted by public school officials. T.L.O., 469 U.S. at 333-37, 105 S.Ct. 733. The Court emphasized that the State has a substantial interest in maintaining a proper educational environment for the school children entrusted to its custody and tutelage. Id. at 337, 105 S.Ct. 733. In balancing the competing interests of a school's need to maintain a proper educational environment and the student's legitimate expectations of privacy, the Court held that teachers and school officials do not need a warrant before searching a student and need not adhere to the requirement that searches be based on probable cause. Id. at 341, 105 S.Ct. 733. Rather, the legality of a search of a student should depend simply on the reasonableness, under all the circumstances, of the search. Id. As with any search, the action must be `justified at its inception,' and the search as actually conducted must be `reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place.' Id. (quoting Terry v. State, 392 U.S. 1, 20, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968)). In holding that the standard of reasonableness applied to a search of a student by a school official, the Court in T.L.O. was careful to point out that it was only addressing searches conducted by school authorities acting alone and on their own authority and that they offered no opinion on the the question of the appropriate standard for assessing the legality of searches conducted by school officials in conjunction with or at the behest of law enforcement agencies. Id. at 341 n. 7, 105 S.Ct. 733. Since T.L.O. was decided, there has been an increasing presence of law enforcement officers in public schools through a variety of programs and arrangements aimed at combating crime and providing students with a safe and secure learning environment. Michael Pinard, From the Classroom to the Courtroom: Reassessing Fourth Amendment Standards in Public School Searches Involving Law Enforcement Authorities, 45 Ariz. L.Rev. 1067, 1067-68 (2003) (Pinard); see generally Jacqueline A. Stefkovich & Judith A. Miller, Law Enforcement Officers in Public Schools: Student Citizens in Safe Havens?, 1999 BYU Educ. & L.J. 25, 31-32 (1999). Many local governments have elected to blend the traditional duties of school officials and law enforcement officers in an effort to protect students and teachers. One such program is the national School Resource Officer program, [5] which places law enforcement officers in schools to perform traditional law enforcement duties in addition to teaching law enforcement-related classes and counseling students based on the expertise of a law enforcement officer. J.W. ex rel. Watts v. Maury County, No. M2001-02768-COA-R3-CV, 2003 WL 1018138, at  (Tenn.Ct. App. Mar.11, 2003); see Pinard, 45 Ariz. L.Rev. at 1068; see also Ferrell v. Gwinnett County Bd. of Educ., 481 F.Supp.2d 1338, 1340-42 (N.D.Ga.2007) (providing an in-depth discussion of the role of an SRO). Other programs place law enforcement officers in schools through liaison programs between public schools and local police departments, or outside of physically placing officers in schools, some . . . school districts have forged interdependent relationships between school officials and local police departments. Pinard, 45 Ariz. L.Rev. at 1068. Increasingly, SROs and other law enforcement officers are becoming more involved in searches on school premises. The majority of jurisdictions which have faced the issue of what standard to apply to SROs or law enforcement officers assigned to schools have applied the reasonable suspicion standard. See, e.g., People v. Dilworth, 169 Ill.2d 195, 214 Ill.Dec. 456, 661 N.E.2d 310, 317 (1996) (holding that reasonable suspicion applies to liaison officer searching on own initiative); Commonwealth v. J.B., 719 A.2d 1058, 1062 (Pa.Super.Ct.1998) (holding that searches of public school students conducted by school police officers are subject to reasonable suspicion standard); Russell v. State, 74 S.W.3d 887, 891 (Tex.App.2002) (applying reasonableness standard to officer assigned to school); In re Angelia D.B., 211 Wis.2d 140, 564 N.W.2d 682, 690 (1997) (holding that the reasonable grounds standard applied to search conducted by officer at request of and in conjunction with school officials). But see A.J.M. v. State, 617 So.2d 1137, 1138 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 1993) (holding that a school resource officer employed by sheriff's office must have probable cause to search); Patman v. State, 244 Ga.App. 833, 537 S.E.2d 118, 120 (2000) (holding that a police officer working special duty at a high school must have probable cause). These courts have considered such facts as whether the law enforcement officer was in uniform, had an office on the school's campus, and how long each day the officer remained at the school. See T.S. v. State, 863 N.E.2d 362, 369 (Ind. App.2007); In re William V., 111 Cal. App.4th 1464, 4 Cal.Rptr.3d 695, 697 (2003). The Indiana Supreme Court in Dilworth relied in part upon a school handbook that delineated the duties of the school liaison officer. 214 Ill.Dec. 456, 661 N.E.2d at 320. Additionally, the Florida District Court of Appeals cited a Florida statute outlining the duties of law enforcement officers assigned to the schools. See State v. N.G.B., 806 So.2d 567, 568 (Fla. Dist.Ct.App.2002) (citing Fla. Stat. § 1006.12 (2001) replaced by Fla. Stat. § 1006.12 (2003)). Another important consideration is whether the law enforcement officer is employed by the school system or an independent law enforcement agency. See T.S., 863 N.E.2d at 369 (noting that the school liaison officer was employed by the Indianapolis Public School Police); State v. D.S., 685 So.2d 41, 43 (Fla.Dist.Ct. App.1996) (noting that the law enforcement officer conducting the challenged search was employed by the local school system and not by an independent municipal or county law enforcement agency). In contrast, where law enforcement officers, not associated with the school system, initiate a search, or where school officials act at the behest of law enforcement agencies, the probable cause standard is generally applied. See, e.g., F.P. v. State, 528 So.2d 1253, 1254 (Fla.Dist.Ct. App.1988) (holding that the school official exception to the probable cause requirement does not apply when search is carried out at direction of police); State v. Tywayne H., 123 N.M. 42, 933 P.2d 251, 254 (Ct.App.1997) (holding that probable cause was required when a search was conducted completely at the discretion of the police officers); In re Thomas B.D., 326 S.C. 614, 486 S.E.2d 498, 499-500 (Ct. App.1997) (holding that probable cause was required when police conducted a search in furtherance of law enforcement objective, rather than on behalf of school). School officials and law enforcement officers play fundamentally different roles in our society. A school official's basic task is to educate students in a safe environment, whereas a law enforcement officer's primary duty is to detect and deter crime. Law enforcement officers must generally satisfy the higher probable cause standard in order to conduct a search, because they stand in an adversarial role to citizens and the punishment for violating a criminal statute is more severe than the consequences of violating a school regulation. In turning to the case at bar, Deputy Lambert initiated and conducted a search of R.D.S.'s truck on the grounds of Page High School. Mr. Brown accompanied Deputy Lambert to R.D.S.'s truck and was present during the search, but did not participate. [6] After balancing the competing interests between R.D.S.'s legitimate expectations of privacy and the State's need for effectively investigating breaches of public order, we hold that the reasonable suspicion standard is the appropriate standard to apply to searches conducted by a law enforcement officer assigned to a school on a regular basis and assigned duties at the school beyond those of a ordinary law enforcement officer such that he or she may be considered a school official as well as a law enforcement officer, whether labeled an SRO or not. However, if a law enforcement officer not associated with the school system searches a student in a school setting, that officer should be held to the probable cause standard. Here, the record before us is devoid of any factors that could allow us to decide which standard should apply to the search by Deputy Lambert. We know that Deputy Lambert was a duly sworn deputy sheriff conducting a search on her own initiative. Even though the parties have labeled Deputy Lambert an SRO, they failed to present any evidence about the duties of an SRO at Williamson County's Page High School. Accordingly, we remand this issue to the trial court for a new trial where the parties will be given the opportunity to develop the record in order for the trial court to determine whether the probable cause or reasonable suspicion standard applies to the search of R.D.S.'s truck. [7] The trial court should consider any evidence introduced regarding the specific duties of Deputy Lambert, including information about her daily activities, any interactions with students she has, any specialized training she has received, any agreements between the Williamson County Sheriff's Office and Board of Education about the SRO program, any stated policies in regards to the SRO program in Williamson County, which governmental entity pays her salary, who are Deputy Lambert's direct supervisors, what classes she teaches, what topics she lectures, what topics she counsels students, and whether she is in a uniform and armed. This is not an exhaustive list of factors for the trial court to take into account, but this evidence would be appropriate for deciding whether to hold Deputy Lambert to either a reasonable suspicion or probable cause standard. Reviewing courts should apply the reasonable suspicion standard when a law enforcement officer, whose duties more closely align with the duties of a school official, conducts a search of a student in a school setting. Here, the parties conclusively labeled Deputy Lambert an SRO, but did not provide sufficient facts for the trial court to appropriately label her as a school official or a law enforcement officer. As such, this case is remanded to the trial court for a new trial to determine whether Deputy Lambert should be held to a reasonable suspicion or probable cause standard.