Opinion ID: 2132943
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Inappropriate Admission of Evidence from an Improper Search

Text: Quick contends that three pieces of evidence should not have been admitted because of an improper search: (1) a computer and letters taken from the room he was staying in at his cousin's home, (2) shells taken from the trunk of his vehicle, and (3) notes taken from his wife's home. The computer and letters taken from his room were not admitted into evidence and are, therefore, outside the record and not an issue. See Thiele v. Stich, 425 N.W.2d 580, 582-83 (Minn.1988). As for the shells and the notes, Quick contends that both the search of his vehicle and the search of his wife's home were improper because the search warrant was not valid. Quick argued at the Omnibus hearing that there were insufficient facts to support the section of the search warrant which allowed a no-knock entry and a nighttime search and that some search of his wife's home occurred before the issuance of the warrant. [9] With regard to the no-knock entry, both the application for the search warrant and the search warrant itself are not clear as to whether a no-knock entry was requested or authorized. On both documents, the specific statement addressing a no-knock entry was marked as N/A, while the general boilerplate language allowed for a no-knock entry. While these discrepancies make the warrant less than clear, it appears that neither the police nor the judge intended to include a no-knock entry in the warrant. Both purposefully marked the specific statement referring to a no-knock entry as N/A, while failing to cross out other language to the contrary. Further, the record is not clear whether the warrant was actually executed with a no-knock entry. Thus, we cannot say that the search was improper due to the inadvertent inclusion of a no-knock entry in the search warrant. As to the nighttime search provision, search warrants are to be executed between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. unless the court determines that a nighttime search is necessary. Minn.Stat. § 626.14 (2002). In this case, both the house and Quick's vehicle in the driveway were part of a crime scene. Because of the necessity of preserving and testing evidence at a crime scene in a timely manner, the nighttime provision was justified. Therefore, we conclude that Quick's argument that the search warrant is improper because of the nighttime provision is without merit. In his brief for the Omnibus hearing, Quick also asserted that some search of his wife's home must have occurred before the issuance of the search warrant because the warrant included information about personal items of Quick's being on the premises, including his vehicle, and that a body was found. This information, however, was obtained when the police first arrived on the scene after receiving the 911 call from Quick's wife and upon entering the house to arrest Quick and check on Mueller. In addition, Quick failed to provide any evidence in support of this contention. We therefore hold that Quick's argument that the search was improper because is occurred before the issuance of the search warrant is without merit. We note that the district court found Quick did not have capacity to object to the search of the house because he did not reside there, was barred by a restraining order, and was a trespasser at the time of the incident. Because we conclude that the warrant for the search of the house and Quick's vehicle was proper, we need not address the issue of capacity.