Opinion ID: 1817605
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Did the State unreasonably invade defendant's legitimate expectation of privacy?

Text: As discussed above, we conclude that Breuer had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the stairway of his apartment building and thus, Dideriksen's actions constitute a search under the Fourth Amendment. We must now decide whether the search was unreasonable, in other words, we consider whether the State unreasonably invaded Breuer's legitimate expectation of privacy with respect to the stairway area of his apartment building. [6] See Halliburton, 539 N.W.2d at 342; Becker, 458 N.W.2d at 608 (driver of automobile had legitimate expectation of privacy in passenger compartment of his vehicle, but State did not unreasonably intrude on that interest where officer had probable cause to stop vehicle). A. In examining the lawfulness of deputy Dideriksen's actions, we balance the intrusion on Breuer's Fourth Amendment interests against promotion of legitimate governmental interests. State v. Keehner, 425 N.W.2d 41, 44 (Iowa 1988) (citing Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. at 654, 99 S.Ct. at 1401, 59 L.Ed.2d at 674). This balancing of interests involves a consideration of whether the officer's action, in the sum of its form, scope, nature, incidents and effect, appears fundamentally unfair or unreasonable in the specific situation. State v. Johnson, 395 N.W.2d 661, 664 (Iowa App.1986) (officer's actions in briefly detaining and questioning defendant to determine identity did not constitute a seizure under the Fourth Amendment). This balancing of competing interests also ensures that the individual's reasonable expectation of privacy is not subject to the unbridled discretion of the officer in the field, Keehner, 425 N.W.2d at 44, and is necessary as part of our task to properly and effectively manage the `necessar[y] ... conflict between the need to apply realistic standards of law enforcement in such cases and the need to protect citizens from unreasonable intrusions into their privacy.' State v. Wiese, 525 N.W.2d 412, 415 (Iowa 1994) (quoting People v. Parisi, 393 Mich. 31, 222 N.W.2d 757, 759 (1974)). B. In determining whether a law enforcement officer's actions unlawfully infringed upon a person's reasonable expectation of privacy, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals stated a court should consider the following: [F]irst, whether the agents' observation was made in a place to which [defendant's] expectation of privacy would reasonably be said to extend; and, second, if so, whether the agents' intrusion was justified by some ... legitimate reason for being present unconnected with a search directed against the accused. United States v. Anderson, 552 F.2d 1296, 1299-1300 (8th Cir.1977) (quoting Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 466, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 2038, 29 L.Ed.2d 564, 583 (1971)). In Anderson, the court noted that although federal agents invaded defendant's reasonable expectation of privacy by walking around to the rear of defendant's home, the court concluded that the initial intrusion was justified by the agents' legitimate objective of finding defendant to question him about a theft. Id. The North Dakota supreme court recently considered an issue very similar to the one raised in this appeal. In Kitchen, 572 N.W.2d 106, police officers approached an outer door of co-defendants' home and rang the doorbell to serve a warrant. The officers could hear loud music playing inside the residence, but no one answered the doorbell. The officers then entered an enclosed entry-way and knocked on a second door leading into the living area of the home. One of the defendants opened the inner door and met the officers in the entryway. The officers spoke to the defendant a few minutes until that defendant went back into the residence to get another person with whom the officers wanted to speak. As the defendant opened the inner door to step back into the residence, the officers smelled an odor of marijuana coming from inside the residence. The officers eventually entered the residence and secured the premises until a search warrant was obtained. Officers searched the residence and seized marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Defendants argued that the marijuana should be suppressed because they had an expectation of privacy in the entryway to their home and thus the officers' warrantless entry into that part of their home was an illegal search under the Fourth Amendment. See id. at 108. The North Dakota supreme court held that defendants did not have a legitimate expectation of privacy in the entryway to their home, and even if they did, it was not unreasonable for the officers to step into the entryway to knock at the inner door. First, the court noted that police officers may enter certain areas around a home where a person may have a reasonable expectation of privacy, when the officers are conducting legitimate business. Id. at 109. Second, the court noted that the officers waited a reasonable time after ringing the doorbell and that the loud music playing inside the home might have prevented the occupants from hearing the doorbell. Id. at 111. Additionally, the court noted that even though defendants did not subjectively expect visitors to enter the outer door and walk into the entryway, the court noted that the door to the entryway was unlocked and thus was impliedly open to at least some access by the public. Id. at 112. After careful consideration of the facts of this case, and of the principles discussed in the above-cited authorities, we conclude that deputy Dideriksen did not unreasonably invade Breuer's legitimate expectation of privacy by opening the unlocked outer door of the apartment building and proceeding up the stairway to Breuer's apartment door without a warrant. See also Artes-Roy v. City of Aspen, 31 F.3d 958, 962-63 (10th Cir.1994) (no search, intrusion minimal where city building inspector opened door and stepped into entryway of home). First, the trial record shows that Dideriksen went to defendant's apartment to question him concerning the reckless driving complaint. Thus, Dideriksen's intrusion into defendant's expectation of privacy with respect to the hallway was related to a legitimate objective of gathering information as part of an investigation. See Anderson, 552 F.2d at 1300. Additionally, we note that Dideriksen observed a pickup truck parked in front of the apartment building matching the description of the vehicle listed in the reckless driving complaint. This suggests that Dideriksen reasonably expected Breuer to be at his apartment and negates any suggestion that Dideriksen randomly entered Breuer's apartment building. Second, there are no facts in the trial record that suggest Dideriksen went to defendant's apartment to search for drugs or that he had any prior knowledge that defendant was involved in drug activity. In fact, nothing in the trial record suggests that Dideriksen knew defendant prior to the date in question. We thus reject Breuer's contention that deputy Dideriksen's actions were a mere pretext for gaining entry into his apartment to search for drugs or for some other illegal purpose. See id. at 1300 n. 5 (rejecting defendant's argument that federal agents' purpose in walking to rear of home to determine if someone was with barking dog was pretext for real objective of conducting an illegal search). Furthermore, a person does not have a right to be free from inquiries by law enforcement officers. In fact, the law is well-established in Iowa and other jurisdictions that law enforcement officers may go onto a person's private property, approach the residence, and knock on a door to speak with a person regarding a police investigation. See State v. Dickerson, 313 N.W.2d 526, 532 (Iowa 1981) (officers did not invade defendant's reasonable expectation of privacy by going to his door). We held in Dickerson that an officer's observations into an entryway while standing at an outer door did not constitute a search because the visual observations through the window of the door were not an intrusion into a reasonable expectation of privacy, and thus the officer's observations did not constitute a search for purposes of the Fourth Amendment. See id.; see also State v. Crea, 305 Minn. 342, 233 N.W.2d 736, 739 (1975) (officers did not violate defendant/homeowner's expectation of privacy by walking onto driveway and observing items thought to be stolen property in plain view from driveway). [7] Although we have not addressed the issue, some courts have held that if no one responds to an officer's knock at the front door of a residence, then the officer may lawfully walk around the home to look for another door, all as part of a legitimate attempt to interview a person. United States v. Daoust, 916 F.2d 757, 758 (1st Cir.1990) ([T]here is nothing unlawful or unreasonable about going to the back of the house to look for another door, all as part of a legitimate attempt to interview a person.); see also Anderson, 552 F.2d at 1300. In light of these principles, we believe that deputy Dideriksen's actions in opening the unlocked outer door and proceeding up the stairway to Breuer's apartment door, as part of a legitimate objective to question Breuer regarding the reckless driving complaint, constitute a minimal intrusion upon Breuer's expectation of privacy with respect to the stairway. In considering this case, we recognize a citizen's expectation of privacy in those areas closely related to the home and the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The nature of this interest is substantial, and in fact, is the chief evil against which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is directed. Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740, 748-49, 104 S.Ct. 2091, 2096-97, 80 L.Ed.2d 732, 742 (1984) (quoting United States v. United States Dist. Ct., 407 U.S. 297, 313, 92 S.Ct. 2125, 2134, 32 L.Ed.2d 752, 764 (1972)). Against this interest we balance the State's interest in its ability to gather information relating to law enforcement investigations. Clearly, members of the public share this interest. We believe that the State's interest here outweighs the minimal intrusion upon Breuer's expectation of privacy. The argument could be made that there were other less intrusive means available to deputy Dideriksen instead of opening the outer door and walking up the stairway to knock on defendant's apartment door to speak to him. For instance, after receiving no answer at the outer door, deputy Dideriksen could have left Breuer's residence and later tried to contact Breuer by telephone or other means, or attempted to obtain a warrant to enter the building. Under this analysis, an officer would be required to leave a residence, even though the officer has reason to believe a person who may have important information relating to an investigation is inside the residence, simply because the officer receives no response at an outside door. We believe that such a result is impractical. First, `[t]he reasonableness of any particular governmental activity does not necessarily or invariably turn on the existence of alternative less intrusive means.' State v. Huisman, 544 N.W.2d 433, 439 (Iowa 1996) (holding that Constitution does not require that police seek less invasive alternatives to impoundment of vehicle) (quoting Illinois v. Lafayette, 462 U.S. 640, 647, 103 S.Ct. 2605, 2610, 77 L.Ed.2d 65, 72 (1983)). Furthermore, we believe that forcing an officer to leave a location, as in this case, when the officer has reason to believe a person who might have information concerning an investigation is at that location, would result in unnecessary delay and a waste of law enforcement resources when the officer could otherwise simply enter the hallway to knock on the apartment door. From a societal standpoint, we also may consider the scenario where an officer goes to a person's residence to notify him or her that a family member has been in an accident or for some other serious matter which necessitates that the officer immediately speak to someone inside the residence. Under this scenario, we believe the general public would welcome an officer's intrusion through an unlocked outer door, and undoubtedly would be disappointed if the officer did not immediately make an attempt to speak to the person inside the residence. Were we to reach a different conclusion in this case, the officer would be forced to wait at the outer door or be turned away. In summary, we conclude that deputy Dideriksen's actions in opening the unlocked outer door of Breuer's apartment building and proceeding up the stairway to knock on Breuer's apartment door did not unreasonably invade Breuer's legitimate expectation of privacy with respect to the stairway. [8]