Opinion ID: 1386250
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Validity of the Warrantless Arrest and Search

Text: Defendant contends that the trial court committed reversible error in admitting evidence obtained as the result of his warrantless arrest. The relevant facts are as follows: At 8:30 p.m. on the day of the killings, based on information provided by Valdiviezo and members of the Guerrero family, officers of the San Jose and Palo Alto police departments arrived at the apartment defendant shared with his mother and stepfather to arrest him for the murders of the Guerrero brothers a few hours earlier. Because the murders occurred in San Jose, but defendant lived in Palo Alto, officers of both the San Jose and Palo Alto police departments participated in the arrest. San Jose homicide Detective James Smith was in charge. He had no arrest or search warrant. He did not learn defendant's identity and address until after 6:30 p.m., and believed that the extra time involved in obtaining a warrant after regular working hours increased the likelihood that defendant would leave California or dispose of evidence. He did consider obtaining a telephonic warrant (see งง 1526, subd. (b), 1528, subd. (b)), but concluded that it would be too time consuming and too risky under the circumstances. Detective Smith and two other officers went to the front door of the apartment. Smith knocked on the door and defendant's mother, Mrs. Golden, answered. Smith asked if defendant was at home; Mrs. Golden answered, Yes, and stepped back. As she did so, the officers entered the apartment. Officer Moises Reyes ordered defendant to come out of a locked bathroom, arrested him, took him outside, and had him sit in the back of a police car. Reyes then advised defendant of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436, 479 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 726, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974]. After waiving his rights, defendant admitted killing the two Guerrero brothers. Defendant's stepfather, Don Golden, gave written authorization for the officers to search the apartment. Golden removed from his car suitcases belonging to defendant and handed them to the police. On the way to the police station, defendant led Officer Reyes to some bushes near Orestes Guerrero's jewelry store where defendant had abandoned the gun used in the killings. At the station, defendant signed a written authorization for a search of his suitcases. They contained jewelry taken from the display cases in Orestes Guerrero's store. (1a) Before trial, defendant moved under section 1538.5 to suppress the jewelry, the empty jewelry boxes, the gun used in the killings, and the statements he had made to the police (see People v. Superior Court ( Zolnay ) (1975) 15 Cal.3d 729, 733 [125 Cal. Rptr. 798, 542 P.2d 1390]), claiming that the evidence was the product of his unlawful arrest without a warrant. The prosecution argued that the arrest was valid based on either of two exceptions to the warrant requirement: exigent circumstances or the consent of defendant's mother to the officers' entry into the apartment. The trial court agreed there were exigent circumstances and denied defendant's suppression motion. The court also determined that the written consents to search by defendant and his stepfather were voluntarily given. We find no error in these rulings. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. (2) [T]he arrest of a person is `quintessentially a seizure' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. ( Payton v. New York (1980) 445 U.S. 573, 585 [63 L.Ed.2d 639, 650, 100 S.Ct. 1371], citation omitted.) Although a warrantless arrest in a public place does not offend the Fourth Amendment so long as the arresting officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a felony ( United States v. Watson (1976) 423 U.S. 411, 422 [46 L.Ed.2d 598, 608, 96 S.Ct. 820]; see ง 836, subd. 3; People v. Campa (1984) 36 Cal.3d 870, 878 [206 Cal. Rptr. 114, 686 P.2d 634]), an arrest in a person's home requires an arrest warrant. ( Payton v. New York, supra, at pp. 589-590 [63 L.Ed.2d at p. 653]; People v. Ramey (1976) 16 Cal.3d 263, 275 [127 Cal. Rptr. 629, 545 P.2d 1333].) The warrant requirement is excused, however, when exigent circumstances require prompt action by the police to prevent imminent danger to life ... or to forestall the imminent escape of a suspect or destruction of evidence. (16 Cal.3d at p. 276.) Although the United States Supreme Court has recognized exigent circumstances as an exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement ( Payton v. New York, supra, 445 U.S. at pp. 588-590 [63 L.Ed.2d at pp. 652-653]), it has yet to delineate the precise contours of that exception. The court has, however, described an in bank opinion by a federal appeals court, Dorman v. United States (D.C. Cir.1970) 435 F.2d 385, as a leading federal case defining exigent circumstances.... ( Welsh v. Wisconsin (1984) 466 U.S. 740, 751, 752 [80 L.Ed.2d 732, 744, 104 S.Ct. 2091].) (3) To determine whether exigent circumstances support the decision to make an arrest without first obtaining a warrant, Dorman v. United States, supra, 435 F.2d at pages 392-393, sets out the following pertinent factors: the gravity of the offense involved; whether the subject of the arrest is reasonably believed to be armed; whether probable cause is clear; whether the suspect is likely to be found on the premises entered; and the likelihood that the suspect will escape if not promptly arrested. We recently applied the Dorman factors in People v. Williams (1989) 48 Cal.3d 1112, 1139 [259 Cal. Rptr. 473, 774 P.2d 146]. (1b) Here, application of the factors specified in Dorman v. United States, supra, 435 F.2d at pages 392-393, establishes the existence of exigent circumstances, thus justifying the warrantless arrest of defendant in his home. Detective Smith knew that two men had just been shot to death. Information from eyewitness Valdiviezo and from other members of the Peruvian community provided the police with strong probable cause to believe that defendant was the killer, that he was likely to be armed, and that he would be at the apartment he shared with his mother and stepfather. The police also knew that defendant was a Peruvian national who had recently come to California from New York, and that he was aware that Valdiviezo could identify him, which increased the likelihood that defendant would flee. These circumstances, when considered together, were more than sufficiently urgent to justify the warrantless arrest of defendant at home. ( People v. Williams, supra, 48 Cal.3d 1112, 1139.) Accordingly, the trial court's admission of evidence resulting from that arrest was proper. Because of our conclusion that the warrantless arrest of defendant was valid, we need not address the prosecution's alternative theory of consent.