Opinion ID: 884059
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Did the District Court err in denying Loh's motion to suppress evidence found in plain view by fire fighters and police officers during an emergency entry of Loh's home?

Text: Loh argues that the District Court erred in denying her motion to suppress and that the search of her home violated her Fourth Amendment rights. Loh concedes that the officers lawfully entered her home under exigent circumstances, but she contends that the evidence upon which she was convicted was discovered after it was determined that no persons were in danger. She maintains that when the officers discovered the evidence on which her conviction was based, they were unlawfully in her home, without a search warrant. The State claims that the record does not support Loh's argument. The State contends that in the course of searching for persons in the house, the officers saw the evidence in plain view. Moreover, the State notes that none of the evidence seized after the drug team arrived and conducted a concededly unlawful warrantless search was relied upon to convict Loh. The only evidence used to convict Loh was that observed during the initial lawful entry and search for persons. The District Court adopted this view of the evidence. We will not overturn a district court's findings of fact regarding suppression hearing evidence unless those findings are clearly erroneous. State v. Kaluza (1993), 262 Mont. 360, 361, 865 P.2d 263, 264. The Fourth Amendment provides: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Warrantless searches are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment  subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions. Katz v. United States (1967), 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 514, 19 L.Ed.2d 576, 585. One of these exceptions  the plain view doctrine  allows peace officers, under certain circumstances, to seize evidence in plain view without a warrant. State v. Sorenson (1979), 180 Mont. 269, 272, 590 P.2d 136, 139 (citing Coolidge v. New Hampshire (1971), 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564). As the United States Supreme Court recently described the doctrine in Horton v. California (1990), 496 U.S. 128, 110 S.Ct. 2301, 110 L.Ed.2d 112, [t]he plain view doctrine is often considered an exception to the general rule that warrantless searches are presumptively unreasonable, but this characterization overlooks the important difference between searches and seizures. If an article is already in plain view, neither its observation nor its seizure would involve any invasion of privacy. A seizure of the article, however, would obviously invade the owner's possessory interest. If plain view justifies an exception from an otherwise applicable warrant requirement, therefore, it must be an exception that is addressed to the concerns that are implicated by seizures rather than by searches. [Citations omitted.] Horton, 496 U.S. at 133-34, 110 S.Ct. at 2306. A search compromises the individual interest in privacy; a seizure deprives the individual of dominion over his or her person or property. Horton, 496 U.S. at 133, 110 S.Ct. at 2306. The seizure of property in plain view involves no invasion of privacy. Texas v. Brown (1983), 460 U.S. 730, 103 S.Ct. 1535, 75 L.Ed.2d 502. [This] principle is grounded on the recognition that when a police officer has observed an object in `plain view,' the owner's remaining interests in the object are merely those of possession and ownership. Texas, 460 U.S. at 739, 103 S.Ct. at 1541. In Coolidge, the United States Supreme Court set forth the criteria that generally guides plain view seizures. The Court held that the police violated the Fourth Amendment when they seized two automobiles parked in plain view in the defendant's driveway and that, therefore, evidence of gunpowder obtained from vacuuming the inside of the cars was inadmissible. A search sought to be upheld under the plain view doctrine begins with the premise that the police officer had a prior justification for an intrusion, in the course of which he came inadvertently across a piece of evidence incriminating the accused. Coolidge, 403 U.S. at 465-66, 91 S.Ct. at 2037-38. The Court placed two limitations on the plain view doctrine, however: first, plain view alone is never enough to justify the warrantless seizure of evidence, and second, the discovery of evidence in plain view must be inadvertent. Coolidge, 403 U.S. at 468-69, 91 S.Ct. at 2039-40. For example, [w]here the initial intrusion that brings the police within plain view of such an article is supported, not by a warrant, but by one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement, the seizure is also legitimate. Coolidge, 403 U.S. at 465, 91 S.Ct. at 2037. The Court clarified plain view in Texas, noting that the doctrine merely reflects the application of the Fourth Amendment's requirement of reasonableness to the law governing seizures of property. Therefore, the question of whether the property in plain view may be seized turns on the legality of the intrusion that enables the officer to see and physically seize the property in question. Texas, 460 U.S. at 737, 103 S.Ct. at 1540-41. In a subsequent case, Horton, the United States Supreme Court further clarified and refined the doctrine, noting that the second limitation the Court had placed on plain view in Coolidge  inadvertency  was not supported by the majority of the Court and is not binding precedent. Horton, 496 U.S. at 137, 110 S.Ct. at 2308. The Horton Court stated that it was satisfied that the absence of inadvertence was not essential to the Court's rejection of the State's `plain-view' argument in Coolidge.  Horton, 496 U.S. at 137, 110 S.Ct. at 2308. In Horton, the Court set forth the predicate for application of the plain view doctrine and delineated the two conditions for its employment, as follows: It is ... an essential predicate to any valid warrantless seizure of incriminating evidence that the officer did not violate the Fourth Amendment in arriving at the place from which the evidence could be plainly viewed. There are, moreover, two additional conditions that must be satisfied to justify the warrantless seizure. First, not only must the item be in plain view; its incriminating character must also be immediately apparent..... Second, not only must the officer be lawfully located in a place from which the object can be plainly seen, but he or she must also have a lawful right of access to the object itself. [Citations omitted.] Horton, 496 U.S. at 136-37, 110 S.Ct. at 2308. The Court chose not to continue the Coolidge inadvertency requirement because it was a standard that depended on the subjective state of mind of the officer rather than an objective standard of conduct. Horton, 496 U.S. at 138, 110 S.Ct. at 2308-09. Moreover, in refuting the need for inadvertency, the Court observed that the seizure of an object in plain view does not involve an intrusion on privacy. If the interest in privacy has been invaded, the violation must have occurred before the object came into plain view and there is no need for an inadvertence limitation on seizures to condemn it. Horton, 496 U.S. at 141, 110 S.Ct. at 2310. Following this same rationale, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently adopted the Horton requirements in a case involving a warrantless, plain view seizure. See G & G Jewelry, Inc. v. City of Oakland (9th Cir.1993), 989 F.2d 1093. In G & G Jewelry, the court noted that in Horton, the United States Supreme Court had disposed of the inadvertence requirement of the plain view exception. G & G Jewelry, 989 F.2d at 1099. Moreover, the Circuit Court also analyzed the Supreme Court's reference at footnote 7 of the Horton decision to the Coolidge exigent circumstances requirement. Noting the Coolidge mandate that the officer [must not only] be lawfully located in a place from which the object can be plainly seen, but... must also have a lawful right of access to the object itself, the Horton Court observed that [t]his is simply a corollary of the familiar principle ... that no amount of probable cause can justify a warrantless search or seizure absent `exigent circumstances.' Horton, 496 U.S. at 137, 110 S.Ct. at 2308. The Ninth Circuit explained the reference, noting that in Texas, the Court had made it clear that there is no additional requirement of exigent circumstances for seizure of property that is in plain view, provided that the officer's presence on the property is lawful and the incriminating character of the evidence is immediately apparent. Footnote 7 in Horton is best understood as emphasizing that even though contraband plainly can be seen and identified from outside the premises, a warrantless entry into those premises to seize the contraband would not be justified absent exigent circumstances. G & G Jewelry, 989 F.2d at 1101. Thus, while exigent circumstances may serve as the predicate for the officer's initial lawful entry upon the premises, they are not required for seizure of contraband in plain view if the officer is already legally on the premises. Montana case law has varied in its application of the plain view doctrine; however, the majority of our cases rely on the Coolidge requirements. Montana first adopted the plain view doctrine in State v. Gallagher (1973), 162 Mont. 155, 509 P.2d 852. In Gallagher, an officer engaged in a search for a prowler, saw a blood-stained shirt, and what appeared to be blood-stained pants and socks belonging to the defendant. We held that the evidence should have been admitted as evidence seized under the plain view doctrine. Gallagher, 509 P.2d at 858. In so holding, we adopted the conditions set forth in Coolidge: [w]here there is prior justification for the police to search an area, and in searching the area, they inadvertently find incriminating evidence which they had no reason to anticipate, they may lawfully seize that incriminating evidence. In State v. Lane (1977), 175 Mont. 225, 573 P.2d 198, we reiterated the predicate to and the conditions of the plain view doctrine as set forth in Coolidge. Noting that the doctrine is not without limits, we stated that an officer is not justified in making a warrantless seizure of evidence absent a showing of exigent circumstances rendering immediate seizure imperative. Lane, 573 P.2d at 201. In Lane, the officer sold his mobile home to the defendant and returned to the home looking for a pair of hip-waders that he had left behind. As he stood at the door to the home, the officer looked in the window and saw marijuana plants. The officer entered the home, arrested the defendant, and seized the marijuana plants. The officer did not have prior justification to enter the defendant's home; there were no exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless entry. We held that the plain view doctrine does not extend to pre-intrusion observation of evidence within a constitutionally protected area. Lane, 573 P.2d at 202. In State v. Godsey (1982), 202 Mont. 100, 106, 656 P.2d 811, 814, we held that an officer investigating a traffic complaint did not violate the Fourth Amendment when he seized a bag of marijuana he saw in the front seat of the car. This Court reasoned that for the evidence to fall within the plain view doctrine, it must be demonstrated that: (1) the police officer had a prior justification for the intrusion; (2) that he then inadvertently came across the evidence incriminating the accused; and (3) that exigent circumstances existed that rendered immediate seizure imperative. Godsey, 656 P.2d at 813. Curiously, in the context of this three-part test, Godsey placed the exigent circumstances requirement, not as justification for the warrantless entry, but, rather, as the predicate for a warrantless seizure. In State v. Osteen (1985), 216 Mont. 258, 700 P.2d 188, we returned to the two-part test for application of the plain view doctrine: the officers must have prior justification for the intrusion and the incriminating evidence must be discovered inadvertently in the course of the justified intrusion. Osteen, 700 P.2d at 191 (citing Sorenson, 590 P.2d at 139 (requiring prior justification and inadvertence)). In Osteen, we held that because the officers failed to obtain a warrant and the state failed to demonstrate any other valid basis for entry into the defendant's home, the district court did not err in suppressing evidence seized after the officer's entered the defendant's home without a warrant. Osteen, 700 P.2d at 192. In State v. Hembd (1989), 235 Mont. 361, 767 P.2d 864, the state appealed the district court's order granting defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized from the trunk of his vehicle pursuant to a search warrant. Hembd, 767 P.2d at 865. The defendant contended that the search warrant did not permit the officers to search any bag or container in the trunk other than the bag mentioned in the affidavit. In Hembd, we stated that under the plain view doctrine, four requirements must be met to seize items which are not described in a warrant; 1) there must be a prior justification for the intrusion into the protected area; 2) the articles must be in plain view; 3) the incriminating nature of the items must be apparent; and 4) the discovery of the articles must be inadvertent. Hembd, 767 P.2d at 869; see also State v. O'Neill (1984), 208 Mont. 386, 679 P.2d 760. In State v. Williams (1994), 268 Mont. 428, 887 P.2d 1171, this Court acknowledged that the Fourth Amendment prohibition against warrantless searches and seizures is not violated when circumstances fall within the plain view doctrine. In Williams, this Court noted that the elements of the plain view doctrine were first enunciated in Coolidge and we proceeded to set forth the two-part Coolidge test of prior justification and inadvertence. However, as we did in Godsey, we stated that [e]xigent circumstances are necessary to justify immediate seizure of evidence in plain view, but that the requirement did not apply in Williams because the deputies obtained a warrant before seizing the evidence. Williams, 887 P.2d at 1174. Most recently, in State v. Stubbs (1995), 270 Mont. 364, 372, 892 P.2d 547, 552, we stated that a valid plain view seizure requires 1) that the officer have a prior justification for the intrusion; 2) that the officer inadvertently discover a piece of evidence; and 3) that the incriminating character of the item seized must be apparent. Given the development of plain view in the federal courts and our own somewhat inconsistent articulation of the elements of the doctrine, we conclude that it is appropriate that we adopt, for this and future cases, the Supreme Court's enunciation of the doctrine as set forth in Horton. We believe this to be the better approach to plain view inasmuch as the Court's analysis in Horton follows the underlying theory of the plain view doctrine that a seizure does not infringe on the defendant's privacy when the officer is already lawfully on the premises and observes evidence in plain view. Moreover, once the Fourth Amendment has been satisfied as regards the officer's initial entry and right of access (because the search is either based upon a warrant or because a warrantless search is circumscribed by the exigencies which justify its initiation), no additional interest is served by further requiring that the discovery of evidence be inadvertent. Horton 496 U.S. at 139-40, 110 S.Ct. at 2309-10. Furthermore, while exigent circumstances might justify the initial entry, once the officer is lawfully on the premises, there is no additional requirement that exigent circumstances exist before the property of an incriminating character in plain view may be seized. G & G Jewelry, 989 F.2d at 1100-01. Accordingly, to the extent that our prior case law holds that the doctrine of plain view includes a requirement that evidence be inadvertently discovered and/or that the immediate seizure of evidence in plain view requires exigent circumstances, such cases are overruled. The essential predicate to any valid warrantless seizure of incriminating evidence is that the officer must be lawfully at the place from which he could plainly view the evidence. In other words, his initial entry onto or intrusion into the place where he views the evidence must not have been in violation of the Fourth Amendment or in violation of Article II, section 11 of Montana's Constitution. In addition, there are two conditions that must be satisfied to justify the warrantless seizure under the plain view doctrine. First, the item must be in plain view and its incriminating character be immediately apparent. Second, not only must the officer be lawfully located in a place from which the object can be plainly seen but he or she must also have a lawful right of access to the object itself. See Horton, 496 U.S. at 136-37, 110 S.Ct. at 2307-08. Applying this articulation of the plain view doctrine to the case before us, we first inquire whether the officers were lawfully in Loh's home when they seized the incriminating evidence which was ultimately entered against her at trial. Under similar facts, the Washington Supreme Court has held that fire fighters lawfully in a defendant's home when they observed incriminating evidence, properly seized that evidence. State v. Bell (1987), 108 Wash.2d 193, 737 P.2d 254. In Bell, fire fighters checked the attic directly over the burned area in a house to make sure there were no smoldering embers. Bell, 737 P.2d at 256. While in the attic, the fire fighters noticed what they thought were marijuana plants. One of the fire fighters then summoned the fire marshall. The fire marshall left the house to attend to other duties but returned after 15 to 20 minutes and seized the plants. The Washington Supreme Court noted that a burning building creates an exigency that justifies a warrantless entry by fire officials. Bell, 737 P.2d at 257 (citing Michigan v. Clifford (1984), 464 U.S. 287, 293, 104 S.Ct. 641, 646-47, 78 L.Ed.2d 477, 483-84). A burning building clearly presents an exigency of sufficient proportions to render a warrantless entry reasonable. Indeed, it would defy reason to suppose that firemen must secure a warrant or consent before entering a burning structure to put out the blaze. And once in a building for this purpose, firefighters may seize evidence of arson that is in plain view. Michigan v. Tyler (1978), 436 U.S. 499, 509, 98 S.Ct. 1942, 1950, 56 L.Ed.2d 486, 498. Moreover, officials do not need a warrant to remain in a building for a reasonable time to investigate the cause of the blaze after it has been extinguished. Clifford, 464 U.S. at 293, 104 S.Ct. at 646-47. We conclude that here, the officers were lawfully in Loh's home when they seized the incriminating evidence. In this case, the exigent circumstances of an apparent fire and the possibility that individuals were still in the house justified the officers' entry into Loh's home without a warrant. Accordingly, the essential predicate that the officers' intrusion into the place where they viewed the evidence not violate the Fourth Amendment or Article II, section 11 of Montana's Constitution was fulfilled. Next, the record reflects that the jars of marijuana and the open boxes of marijuana were in Officer Denham's plain view as he searched the bedroom for the occupants of the house. Moreover, the incriminating character of green leafy substance was immediately apparent as Officer Denham testified that he recognized the leaves as marijuana leaves. Finally, not only were the officers lawfully located in the bedroom of Loh's home where they observed the marijuana in plain view, but they also had a lawful right of access to what was obviously contraband, the possession of which was prohibited under Montana law. Under our application of the Horton test as adopted in this case, we conclude that the seizure of the jars and boxes of marijuana met the initial predicate for the plain view doctrine as well as the two conditions for application of the doctrine. Accordingly, on the basis of the factual record established at the suppression hearing, we affirm the District Court's denial of Loh's motion to suppress.