Opinion ID: 1814933
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Legality of the 1993 Search Warrant.

Text: Seager argues, and the district court ruled, that the illegal 1979 search tainted the 1993 warrant, rendering the second search and seizure illegal. The State asserts the 1993 warrant is valid because it was obtained through a demonstration of probable cause independent of and untainted by the 1979 search. As we consider these contentions, it is helpful to keep in mind not only the applicable legal principles, but the rationales underlying them as well. A. The exclusionary rule and its exceptions. The Fourth Amendment requires that a search warrant be supported by probable cause. U.S. Const. amends. IV, XIV, § 1. Probable cause to search requires a probability determination that `(1) the items sought are connected to criminal activity and (2) the items sought will be found in the place to be searched.' Gogg, 561 N.W.2d at 363 (quoting United States v. Edmiston, 46 F.3d 786, 789 (8th Cir.1995)). Where a warrant is not supported by probable cause, any evidence seized pursuant to that warrant must be suppressed. See Seager, 341 N.W.2d at 428 (suppressing evidence seized pursuant to a warrant that lacked probable cause). Additionally, testimony concerning knowledge acquired during an unlawful search is inadmissible. Murray v. United States, 487 U.S. 533, 536, 108 S.Ct. 2529, 2533, 101 L.Ed.2d 472, 480 (1988). Not only is the illegally-obtained evidence suppressed, but derivative evidence, both tangible and testimonial, that is the product of the primary evidence, or that is otherwise acquired as an indirect result of the unlawful search is subject to exclusion. Id. at 536-37, 108 S.Ct. at 2533, 101 L.Ed.2d at 480. The exclusionary rule is designed to deter illegal police conduct. Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431, 444, 104 S.Ct. 2501, 2508, 81 L.Ed.2d 377, 386-87 (1984). It applies to evidence gained indirectly as well as directly through unconstitutional conduct to ensure the prosecution is not put in a better position than it would have been in if no illegality had transpired. Id. at 443, 104 S.Ct. at 2508, 81 L.Ed.2d at 387. Evidence obtained illegally does not, however, become sacred and inaccessible. Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385, 392, 40 S.Ct. 182, 183, 64 L.Ed. 319, 321 (1920). [I]f the connection between the illegal police conduct and the discovery and seizure of the evidence is `so attenuated as to dissipate the taint,' the evidence is not excluded. Segura v. United States, 468 U.S. 796, 805, 104 S.Ct. 3380, 3385, 82 L.Ed.2d 599, 608 (1984) (quoting Nardone v. United States, 308 U.S. 338, 341, 60 S.Ct. 266, 268, 84 L.Ed. 307, 312 (1939)). For example, it is possible to remove the taint of a prior illegality by obtaining the same information or evidence through means independent of the illegal conduct. Silverthorne, 251 U.S. at 392, 40 S.Ct. at 183, 64 L.Ed. at 321; State v. Hamilton, 335 N.W.2d 154, 158 (Iowa 1983). Similarly, if the evidence ultimately or inevitably would have been discovered by lawful means, the exclusionary rule serves no purpose and does not apply. Williams, 467 U.S. at 444, 104 S.Ct. at 2509, 81 L.Ed.2d at 387-88 (adopting the inevitable discovery rule). These exceptions to the exclusionary rule are based on the belief the interest of society in deterring unlawful police conduct and the public interest in having juries receive all probative evidence of a crime are properly balanced by putting the police in the same, not a worse, position [than] they would have been in if no police error or misconduct had occurred. Id. at 443, 104 S.Ct. at 2509, 81 L.Ed.2d at 387 (emphasis in original). Thus, if the police have obtained or would have obtained evidence through a source unrelated to the illegality, the challenged evidence is admissible because to exclude such evidence would put the police in a worse position than they would have been in absent any error or violation. Id. We think it helpful at this point to contrast these principles of law with Seager's belief that there is something inherently wrong with the State's attempt to cleanse the rifle of the taint of its earlier illegal seizure. The Supreme Court has specifically held that the government may reseize evidence previously seized illegally when the later seizure is pursuant to a warrant issued on facts and for reasons independent of the initial illegality. Murray, 487 U.S. at 541-42, 108 S.Ct. at 2535, 101 L.Ed.2d at 483 (government conducted an illegal, warrantless seizure, but later reseized the evidence pursuant to a warrant obtained on the basis of information gained independently of the illegal search and seizure). Thus, Seager's belief that the State simply should not be able to do what it is attempting to do is inconsistent with the principles of law we must apply in this case. We now summarize the governing legal principles. The philosophy underlying the exclusionary rule and its exceptions is to put the parties in the same position as if the illegal police conduct had not occurred. The exclusionary rule ensures the prosecution does not gain an advantage from the illegality that it would not otherwise have had. In this way, the rule discourages illegal police conduct. On the other hand, the exceptions to the exclusionary rule assure the prosecution is not put in a worse position than it would have been in had the police misconduct not occurred. These exceptions limit the sweep of the exclusionary rule in recognition of the enormous price [exacted] from society and our system of justice by suppressing relevant information. Segura, 468 U.S. at 816, 104 S.Ct. at 3391, 82 L.Ed.2d at 616. We keep in mind these competing interests and the delicate balance achieved by the exclusionary rule and its exceptions as we analyze the validity of the 1993 search warrant. B. Connection of rifle to criminal activity. As noted above, the first prong of probable cause is a determination that the items sought are connected to criminal activity. The application for the 1993 search warrant indisputably established probable cause to believe the Mossberg rifle was connected to criminal activity, the Beavers murders. The application contained a recitation of the results of the DCI investigation including (1) Seager owned a Mossberg rifle that was one of five weapons capable of shooting bullets with the class characteristics of the bullets taken from the victims, (2) Seager was a type O secretor and saliva on one of the victims was from a type O secretor, and (3) ballistics tests on bullets recovered from the target-shooting site used by Seager showed one of the recovered bullets was shot by the murder weapon. [5] We agree with the district court's conclusion that the DCI investigation leading to this information was not prompted by the illegal seizure of the rifle or its subsequent testing. By July 26, 1979, the authorities had clearly focused on Seager as a suspect in the Beavers murders. There is no evidence to suggest the DCI investigation of Seager's possible connection to the murders would have been abandoned had the authorities not seized Seager's rifle in July of 1979. We conclude the first prong of the probable-cause test is established by evidence obtained from an independent sourcethe ongoing DCI investigationuntainted by the 1979 illegal search. We now turn to the second prong of the probable-cause requirement. C. Location of the item to be seized at the place to be searched. The authorities first learned of the location of the Mossberg rifle owned by Seager in April of 1979 when they saw it at his residence during execution of the Wheelock search warrant. After the State's July 1979 seizure of the weapon and its subsequent suppression, the first criminal action was dismissed. Because no one came forward to claim the rifle, it was forfeited to the State in 1984. Thereafter, the rifle was lawfully retained by the DCI in its evidence room located at the state patrol post in Mt. Pleasant. The application for the search warrant stated the rifle would be found at that location. Seager argues the second prong of the probable-cause requirement is tainted by the 1979 search because the State's fourteen-year possession of the evidence is fatal to the State's claim of independence. The district court agreed with this contention, finding the State was able to locate Seager's rifle in 1993 only because of the illegal 1979 search and seizure. Upon our de novo review, we conclude for several reasons that the taint of the illegal search is so attenuated that it does not invalidate the 1993 warrant. 1. Seager's failure to claim the rifle after the dismissal of the first charges. The State had possession of the rifle in 1993 because Seager did not claim the rifle upon dismissal of the first charges. Thus, although the State originally came into possession of the rifle due to its illegal seizure, the State remained in possession of the rifle for reasons totally unrelated to the 1979 search; Seager was unable to claim the rifle at the forfeiture hearing because he was by then imprisoned for the murder of Susan Wheelock. Furthermore, the State could not have returned the rifle to Seager because, as a felon, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm. United States v. Jeffers, 342 U.S. 48, 53-54, 72 S.Ct. 93, 96, 96 L.Ed. 59, 65 (1951) (holding defendant was not entitled to return of illegally seized narcotics because possession of narcotics was illegal); see Iowa Code § 724.26 (1983) (prohibiting possession of firearm by a felon). To allow Seager to prolong the taint of the illegal seizure by not claiming the rifle in 1984 would create an unassailable loophole for defendants. A defendant could virtually ensure that evidence illegally seized from him could never be used against him because the State would be unable to remove the taint of the illegal search so long as the evidence remained in the State's possession. Even if the State transferred the evidence to another public entity, as permitted by section 691.9(2), the ultimate location of the evidence would always be traceable to the State's initial unlawful seizure of the evidence. To apply the exclusionary rule in the manner suggested by Seager would put the State in a worse position than if the illegal search had not occurreda result clearly at odds with the underlying philosophy of the exclusionary rule. See Williams, 467 U.S. at 445, 104 S.Ct. at 2510, 81 L.Ed.2d at 388 (rejecting application of exclusionary rule that would have put the police in a worse position, noting the enormous societal cost of excluding truth in the search for truth). Therefore, we hold the defendant's failure to reclaim the rifle for reasons unrelated to the 1979 search and seizure removes the taint from the State's possession of the rifle. 2. The State's pre-illegality knowledge of the location of the rifle. Before the 1979 search, the authorities knew or were at least reasonably certain of the location of the rifle because DCI agents saw the Mossberg rifle and the CCI ammunition at the Seager residence three months earlier during execution of a valid search warrant in the Wheelock murder investigation. The deficiency in the State's probable-cause showing for the first warrant went to the rifle's connection to the murders, not its location. Under Seager's interpretation of the exclusionary rule the State's untainted knowledge of the weapon's location becomes tainted because of the illegal seizure and resulting possession of the rifle by the State. Thus, the State would be in a worse position because of the illegal search than it would have been in had the search not occurreda result clearly not contemplated by the exclusionary rule. See Murray, 487 U.S. at 541, 108 S.Ct. at 2535, 101 L.Ed.2d at 483 (rejecting application of exclusionary rule where it would put the police (and society) not in the same position they would have occupied if no violation occurred, but in a worse one) (emphasis in original). We note the United States Supreme Court has expressly anticipated that the taint of an illegal search and seizure could be removed by a later search and seizure even when the police retain the seized evidence. It seems to us, however, that reseizure of tangible evidence already seized is no more impossible than rediscovery of intangible evidence already discovered. The independent source doctrine does not rest upon such metaphysical analysis, but upon the policy that, while the government should not profit from its illegal activity, neither should it be placed in a worse position than it would otherwise have occupied. So long as a later, lawful seizure is genuinely independent of an earlier, tainted one (which may well be difficult to establish where the seized goods are kept in the police's possession) there is no reason why the independent source doctrine should not apply. Id. at 542, 108 S.Ct. at 2535, 101 L.Ed.2d at 483 (emphasis added). The implicit premise of the Court's discussion about reseizure of evidence is that, although it may be difficult to establish an independent source where the police retain the seized evidence, it is not impossible. Because the Court clearly anticipated that a valid reseizure could occur, the location of the evidence in the hands of the government cannot automatically invalidate the reseizure. We think the present case is one where the prosecution has met the difficult task to establish an independent source for its knowledge of the location of the seized evidence. That is because we view the situation as if the illegal search had not occurred, thereby putting the prosecution in the same position, not a worse position. If the 1979 search and seizure had not occurred, the rifle would have remained at the Seager residence. [6] The State knew it was located there from sources independent of the illegal search. Absent the illegal search, the DCI investigation would have continued and an untainted search warrant would have been obtained to search the Seager residence and seize the rifle. The United States Supreme Court has held that when ... the evidence in question would inevitably have been discovered without reference to the police error or misconduct, there is no nexus sufficient to provide a taint and the evidence is admissible. Williams, 467 U.S. at 448, 104 S.Ct. at 2511, 81 L.Ed.2d at 390 (emphasis added). This rationale is even more compelling under the facts of this case because the location of the evidence had actually been discovered before the police misconduct. Under these unique circumstances, we think the nexus between the illegal search and the 1993 location of the weapon is not sufficient to provide a taint. Id. In summary, we find probable cause for the 1993 search warrant is not tainted by the illegal search of the Seager residence in 1979. Therefore, the exclusionary rule does not apply and the district court erred in sustaining the defendant's motion to suppress.