Opinion ID: 358848
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: refusal of admission

Text: 30 Because there may be a new trial, and in the interests of judicial economy, we consider Prescott's claim that her refusal to let the police enter her apartment without a warrant was constitutionally protected conduct which should not have been considered as evidence of the offense charged, i. e., of harboring or concealing Duvernay. 31 Defense counsel sought repeatedly to argue to the jury that Prescott was not obliged to consent to the search of her apartment and that her refusal to do so should not be considered as evidence against her. The court refused to permit this line of argument and refused to give a proposed jury instruction which stated, in part, (i)t cannot be a crime, nor can it be evidence of a crime, for a citizen to refuse entry to his or her home to a law enforcement officer who does not have an appropriate warrant. The proposed instruction stated the law correctly, at least in this case, where there was no forcible resistance. It was prejudicial error to permit the government to prove, as evidence of the offense charged, that Prescott declined to unlock her door when the officers did not have a warrant. 32  When a law enforcement officer claims authority to search a home under a warrant, he announces in effect that the occupant has no right to resist the search. Bumper v. North Carolina, 1968, 391 U.S. 543, 550, 88 S.Ct. 1788, 1792, 20 L.Ed.2d 797. When, on the other hand, the officer demands entry but presents no warrant, there is a presumption that the officer has no right to enter, because it is only in certain carefully defined circumstances that lack of a warrant is excused. Camara v. Municipal Court, 1967, 387 U.S. 523, 528-29, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 18 L.Ed.2d 930. An occupant can act on that presumption and refuse admission. He need not try to ascertain whether, in a particular case, the absence of a warrant is excused. He is not required to surrender his Fourth Amendment protection on the say so of the officer. The Amendment gives him a constitutional right to refuse to consent to entry and search. His asserting it cannot be a crime, Camara, supra, 387 U.S. at 532-33, 87 S.Ct. 1727. Nor can it be evidence of a crime. District of Columbia v. Little, 1950, 339 U.S. 1, 7, 70 S.Ct. 468, 471, 94 L.Ed. 599: 33 Had the respondent not objected to the officer's entry of her house without a search warrant, she might thereby have waived her constitutional objections. The right to privacy in the home holds too high a place in our system of laws to justify a statutory interpretation that would impose a criminal punishment on one who does nothing more than respondent did here. 34 (footnote omitted) 35 See also, Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 1973, 412 U.S. 218, 233-34, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854; Miller v. United States, 5 Cir., 1956, 230 F.2d 486, 489-90. 36 One cannot be penalized for passively asserting this right, regardless of one's motivation. Just as a criminal suspect may validly invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege in an effort to shield himself from criminal liability, Cole v. United States, 9 Cir., 1964, 329 F.2d 437, 442; United States v. Courtney, 2 Cir., 1956, 236 F.2d 921, 923, so one may withhold consent to a warrantless search, even though one's purpose be to conceal evidence of wrongdoing. 2 37 Had Prescott forcibly resisted the entry into her apartment, we might have a different case. We express no opinion on that question. We only hold that her passive refusal to consent to a warrantless search is privileged conduct which cannot be considered as evidence of criminal wrongdoing. If the government could use such a refusal against the citizen, an unfair and impermissible burden would be placed upon the assertion of a constitutional right and future consents would not be freely and voluntarily given. Bumper v. North Carolina, supra, 391 U.S. at 548, 88 S.Ct. 1788. And See Simmons v. United States, 1968, 390 U.S. 377, 389-94, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247. 38 The rule that we announce does not have as its raison d'etre the deterrence of unlawful conduct by law enforcement officers, as does the rule excluding evidence discovered and seized in the course of an unlawful search. Rather, it seeks to protect the exercise of a constitutional right, here the right not to consent to a warrantless entry. 39 The Supreme Court has held that the assertion by a defendant of his constitutional privilege against self incrimination under the Fifth Amendment cannot be used against him. In holding unconstitutional a provision of California's constitution permitting a prosecutor to comment on a defendant's failure to testify, Griffin v. California, 1965, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106, the Court quoted from Wilson v. United States, 1893, 149 U.S. 60, at 66, 13 S.Ct. 765, at 766, 37 L.Ed. 650: 40 . . . the act was framed with a due regard also to those who might prefer to rely upon the presumption of innocence which the law gives to every one, and not wish to be witnesses. It is not every one who can safely venture on the witness stand, though entirely innocent of the charge against him. Excessive timidity, nervousness when facing others and attempting to explain transactions of a suspicious character, and offences charged against him, will often confuse and embarrass him to such a degree as to increase rather than remove prejudices against him. It is not every one, however honest, who would therefore, willingly be placed on the witness stand. The statute, in tenderness to the weakness of those who from the causes mentioned might refuse to ask to be a witness, particularly when they may have been in some degree compromised by their association with others, declares that failure of the defendant in a criminal action to request to be a witness shall not create any presumption against him. 41 149 U.S., p. 66, 13 S.Ct., p. 766. 42 If the words Fifth Amendment are substituted for act and for statute, the spirit of the Self-Incrimination Clause is reflected. For comment on the refusal to testify is a remnant of the inquisitorial system of criminal justice, Murphy v. Waterfront Comm'n, 378 U.S. 52, 55, 84 S.Ct. 1594, 1596, 12 L.Ed.2d 678, which the Fifth Amendment outlaws. It is a penalty imposed by courts for exercising a constitutional privilege. It cuts down on the privilege by making its assertion costly. 380 U.S. at 613-14, 85 S.Ct. at 1232 (footnote omitted) 43 This reasoning is equally applicable to using against the defendant her refusal to consent to entry into her home without a warrant. The right to refuse protects both the innocent and the guilty, and to use its exercise against the defendant would be, as the Court said in Griffin, a penalty imposed by courts for exercising a constitutional right. 44 Because the right to refuse entry when the officer does not have a warrant is equally available to the innocent and the guilty, just as is the right to remain silent, the refusal is as ambiguous as the silence was held to be in United States v. Hale, 1975, 422 U.S. 171, 176-77, 95 S.Ct. 2133, 45 L.Ed.2d 99. Yet use by the prosecutor of the refusal of entry, like use of the silence by the prosecutor, can have but one objective to induce the jury to infer guilt. In the case of the silence, the prosecutor can argue that if the defendant had nothing to hide, he would not keep silent. In the case of the refusal of entry, the prosecutor can argue that, if the defendant were not trying to hide something or someone (in this case Duvernay), she would have let the officer in. In either case, whether the argument is made or not, the desired inference may be well drawn by the jury. This is why the evidence is inadmissible in the case of silence. United States v. Hale, supra, 422 U.S. at 180, 95 S.Ct. 2133; Doyle v. Ohio, 1976, 426 U.S. 610, 617 fn.8, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91; Grunewald v. United States, 1957, 353 U.S. 391, 421-24, 77 S.Ct. 963, 1 L.Ed.2d 931. It is also why the evidence is inadmissible in the case of refusal to let the officer search. 45 Inadmissible evidence, which can readily be misinterpreted by the jury, should not be admitted just to put the relevant facts in their true setting. For the reasons stated in Hale, Doyle, and Grunewald, supra, the facts in issue are so ambiguous as to be irrelevant. Moreover, they are so readily subject to misinterpretation by a jury as to render a curative or protective instruction of dubious value. See Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 129-31, 132 n.8, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476; Lakeside v. Oregon, 1978, 435 U.S. 333, 98 S.Ct. 1091, 55 L.Ed.2d 319, dissenting opinion of Stevens, J., at 342, 98 S.Ct. 1091. 46 A suggestion that the defendant may wish to have her refusal to admit the officers brought before the jury is beside the point. She can waive her right to refuse entry by a voluntary consent (Schneckloth v. Bustamonte,supra ) just as a suspect can voluntarily waive his right to silence (Miranda v. Arizona, 1966, 384 U.S. 436, 475, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694). She can also waive by not objecting to evidence of her refusal, or by testifying to it herself, just as a defendant can waive his Fifth Amendment privilege by not objecting to testimony as to his refusal to answer questions, or by taking the stand at his trial. 3 But so long as there is no waiver on her part, her refusal cannot be used against her. 47 Preventing the jury from hearing about the refusal at all is a commonly used device to avoid error. See Rule 103(c), F.R.Evid.: 48 (c) Hearing of jury. In jury cases, proceedings shall be conducted, to the extent practicable, so as to prevent inadmissible evidence from being suggested to the jury by any means, such as making statements or offers of proof or asking questions in the hearing of the jury. 49 Its use here is just as appropriate as in cases involving the Fifth Amendment privilege. 50 It is true, as the dissent demonstrates at elaborate length, that some costs do attach to the exercise of constitutional rights, including the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and the Fourth Amendment right not to be subjected to unreasonable searches and seizures. It does not follow that such a cost should be imposed in a case in which it can be so readily avoided as in this one. The dissent asserts that a rule excluding evidence of refusal to admit the officers in a case like this one is mischievous. Yet, it does not tell us how or why. The dissent does not deny that the refusal is ambiguous. It merely asserts that the evidence should be admitted so that the jury can, despite the ambiguity, draw an inference from it unfavorable to the defendant. This is exactly why the admission of this ambiguous evidence, rather than its exclusion, is mischievous. 51 Should the case proceed to retrial, the district court should take care to exclude all evidence that Prescott refused to consent to the search and, if the evidence comes in inadvertently, should instruct the jury that Prescott's refusal was privileged conduct which cannot be considered as evidence of the crime charged. The government should be restricted to proving that the officers came to Prescott's apartment in search of Duvernay; that Prescott denied that he was there; and that they entered the apartment and found him there, thus showing her denials to be false. They should not be permitted to show that they broke down the door, as this would lead to the conclusion that Prescott had refused permission to enter.