Opinion ID: 1938040
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: severance doctrine

Text: Finally, defendant maintained that in regard to the tangible evidence, the trial justice should have declared the entire search warrant unlawful and should have suppressed all items seized thereunder. Because the invalid portions of the warrant were redacted and the seizure of the remaining evidence was upheld, defendant submitted that the trial justice relied erroneously on State v. Tucker, 133 N.H. 204, 575 A.2d 810 (1990). Although never expressly adopted by this court, at least nine federal circuit courts and several state courts have adopted the severance doctrine. [3] The severance doctrine permits a court to redact invalid portions from a warrant and to uphold the seizures made pursuant to the valid portions. United States v. Morris, 977 F.2d 677, 682 (1st Cir.1992), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S.Ct. 1588, 123 L.Ed.2d 155 (1993). With this opinion we expressly adopt the severance doctrine. The rationale behind the doctrine is that rigid adherence to the exclusionary rule would not always serve a valid purpose. Rather, the social gains of deterring unconstitutional police conduct by suppressing all evidence seized pursuant to a partially invalid warrant often are outweighed by the social costs occasioned by such an across the board ruling. United States v. George, 975 F.2d 72, 79 (2d Cir.1992). Nonetheless, in order to apply the severance doctrine, the valid unredacted portions of the warrant must be sufficiently specific and particular to survive Fourth Amendment scrutiny. United States v. Spilotro, 800 F.2d 959, 967 (9th Cir.1986). Moreover, the valid portions may not comprise `a relatively insignificant part' of an otherwise invalid search. In re Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated December 10, 1987, 926 F.2d 847, 858 (9th Cir.1991). Thus, specific guidelines ensure that the Fourth Amendment guarantees are adequately protected. See George, 975 F.2d at 79. In the instant case, we conclude that the trial justice correctly applied the doctrine by carving out the invalid portions of the search warrant and suppressing the items seized pursuant to those constitutionally infirm portions of the warrant. We find no merit to defendant's contention that the constitutionally valid portions of the search warrant amounted to an insignificant part of an otherwise invalid warrant. To the contrary, the invalid portions  that is, the authority to search for cocaine and to seize all business and personal records  were the insignificant portions of an otherwise valid warrant. The lawful portions of the warrant authorized a search for marijuana, drug paraphernalia, an automatic weapon, and electronic surveillance/monitoring equipment, all of which were supported by probable cause sufficient to believe that they would aid in a conviction. See Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 307, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 1650, 18 L.Ed.2d 782, 792 (1967). We also reject defendant's contention that the doctrine of severability does not apply to evidence seized that was not specifically described in the warrant. The defendant's misplaced reliance on United States v. Apker, 705 F.2d 293 (8th Cir.), rev'd in part on reh'g, 724 F.2d 633 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1005, 104 S.Ct. 996, 79 L.Ed.2d 229, and cert. denied, 466 U.S. 950, 104 S.Ct. 2151, 80 L.Ed.2d 538 (1984), and Spilotro, 800 F.2d at 968, does not support his assertion that items seized in plain view during a search pursuant to a partially defective warrant must be suppressed. Although Apker, as originally decided by a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit, did reject the adoption of a plain view-severance approach, 705 F.2d at 307, the Eighth Circuit subsequently granted a rehearing en banc to reconsider the issue. United States v. Fitzgerald, 724 F.2d 633, 635 (8th Cir.), rev'g in part on reh'g 705 F.2d 293 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 950, 104 S.Ct. 2151, 80 L.Ed.2d 538 (1984). In Fitzgerald, the full court reversed the Apker three-judge panel and found that [b]ecause the warrants as redacted were valid, the police possessed authority under the `plain view' doctrine    to seize any apparent contraband or evidence of a crime they might inadvertently find while executing the valid portions of the warrant. 724 F.2d at 636. Neither does the Ninth Circuit's opinion in Spilotro lend support to defendant's position. In that case the court never reached the issue of whether the plain-view doctrine could justify seizure under a redacted warrant because the court found no basis to sever the warrant. 800 F.2d at 967. Thus, because the officers were executing a wholly invalid warrant, they were not lawfully in a place to justify seizure of items in plain view. Id. at 968. Furthermore, subsequent to their opinion in Spilotro, the Ninth Circuit applied the plain-view-severance approach and found that, despite a partially defective warrant, the officers were justified in seizing items under the plain-view doctrine. United States v. Holzman, 871 F.2d 1496, 1512-13 (9th Cir.1989). In fact, our research has revealed that in addition to the Ninth Circuit, various other circuit and state courts have found sufficient bases for allowing the admission of evidence seized from plain view during the execution of a partially defective warrant. See, e.g., United States v. Brown, 984 F.2d 1074, 1078 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 204, 126 L.Ed.2d 161 (1993); George, 975 F.2d at 79-80; Holzman, 871 F.2d at 1512-13; Commonwealth v. Lett, 393 Mass. 141, 146-48, 470 N.E.2d 110, 114-15 (1984). Such courts have reasoned that if officers were legally upon the premises in any set of circumstances, including by virtue of a partially invalid warrant, the seizure of articles found in plain view can be upheld. We concur with this reasoning. The proper inquiry in such situations thus becomes whether the officers came upon the item while they were in a place where the redacted warrant    authorized them to be    [and whether] the item seized [was] discovered before the authority of the officers[] to be on the premises has expired. George, 975 F.2d at 80. In the instant case, the officers had authorization, inter alia, to search for marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The items seized in plain view  including the Fortune magazine, programmable scanner, and radio call guide  were discovered in and around the bedroom, in places where marijuana and/or drug paraphernalia justifiably could be found. At the time these items were seized, the authority of the police to be on the premises had not expired. See id. Accordingly, seizure of these items was proper under the plain-view doctrine during execution of the redacted warrant.