Court Opinion

ID: 9553924
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:37:29.121696+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:32:36.301465
License: Public Domain

Pearson, C.J.
(concurring in the result) — I write separately because I believe the majority's analysis of the lawfulness of the search and seizure in this case is seriously flawed. The flaw lies in the majority's misapplication of the Fourth Amendment concept "the reasonable expectation of *203privacy". Although I agree the search and seizure in this case were lawful, I believe the holding must be based on grounds different from the one offered by the court.
No one disputes that the fire fighters were justified in entering and remaining on petitioner's premises in order to extinguish the blaze and ensure its nonrecurrence. Similarly, no one disputes that the fire fighters lawfully observed the marijuana plants in plain view. Petitioner has not argued that the fire fighters lacked statutory authority to make a plain view seizure, although the issue has not been briefed. We may assume, however, that RCW 48.48-.060(2) authorizes such a seizure.8 Thus, had the fire fighters on their own removed the marijuana plants, the seizure clearly would have been lawful.
However, the fire fighters did not remove the contraband; instead, they notified the police of their discovery. The police subsequently entered petitioner's home without a warrant and assisted in the marijuana seizure. In order for the plants to have been admissible into evidence against petitioner, then, the officers' warrantless entry must have been constitutional.
I believe the warrantless entry was constitutional based on what I perceive to be a logical synthesis of the plain view and exigent circumstances doctrines. Before explaining why that theory is the appropriate one for this case, I will discuss why the majority's analysis is unsatisfactory and why the plain view and exigent circumstances doctrines, each by itself, is insufficient to support the search and seizure here.
I
The majority appears to hold that the police officers' warrantless entry into petitioner's home did not violate the Fourth Amendment because petitioner no longer had any reasonable expectation of privacy in his home. Majority *204opinion, at 200-01. Petitioner's reasonable expectation of privacy allegedly was destroyed by the lawful entry and continuing presence of the fire fighters. See majority opinion.9 Unfortunately, this conclusion misconstrues the concept of "reasonable expectation of privacy”.
Whenever an individual raises a Fourth Amendment objection to a police intrusion, the threshold question is whether the individual had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the "persons, houses, papers, [or] effects" that the police intruded upon. See Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 360, 19 L. Ed. 2d 576, 88 S. Ct. 507 (1967) (Harlan, J., concurring); U.S. Const, amend. 4. If the person is held to have had no reasonable expectation of privacy, then the intrusion was not, legally speaking, a search; thus, no Fourth Amendment right could have been violated. See Katz, at 351.
Generally, "[w]hat a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection." Katz, at 351. For example, a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to his facial characteristics. E.g., United States v. Dionisio, 410 U.S. 1, 14, 35 L. Ed. 2d 67, 93 S. Ct. 764 (1973). This is because no one can reasonably believe that his skin, hair, and eye color will remain unobserved. A police officer therefore needs no justification for making a note of these salient characteristics; there is no Fourth Amendment interest to be protected.
When an individual is held to have no reasonable expec*205tation of privacy in an object or location, two conclusions can be drawn. First, because police have intruded upon no protected interest, they need no justification for their conduct. The typical Fourth Amendment justifications for searches are probable cause and either a warrant or a recognized exception to the warrant requirement. But entering the public area of a store — where the owner has no reasonable expectation of privacy — requires no justification; police may enter on a hunch, a fishing expedition for evidence, or for no good reason at all. See Maryland v. Macon, 472 U.S. 463, 469, 86 L. Ed. 2d 370, 105 S. Ct. 2778 (1985). Entering the private areas of a commercial establishment, on the other hand, requires some measure of probable cause and prior judicial approval, for a reasonable expectation of privacy inheres in such areas. See Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc., 436 U.S. 307, 315, 56 L. Ed. 2d 305, 98 S. Ct. 1816 (1978). In other words, when no reasonable expectation of privacy is held to exist in a location, the existence of probable cause or a warrant is immaterial to the lawfulness of the intrusion on that location.
The second conclusion stemming from a determination that no reasonable expectation of privacy exists in a location is that any government agent may intrude, provided he or she has enabling authority to do so. Thus, not only police but also Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) employees, and state social workers may enter the public areas of commercial premises, without probable cause and without a warrant.
A person is said to have no reasonable expectation of privacy in objects and places when the objects or places can readily be observed by the public at large. See Katz v. United States, supra at 351. Thus, as noted above, a store owner has no reasonable expectation of privacy in the public areas of his store. Maryland v. Macon, 472 U.S. at 469. A homeowner has no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the aerial observation of objects in his backyard when the objects can be seen by anyone flying in the legally *206navigable airspace above the yard. California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207, 90 L. Ed. 2d 210, 106 S. Ct. 1809 (1986). Cf. State v. Myrick, 102 Wn.2d 506, 510, 688 P.2d 151 (1984) (article 1, section 7 of Washington State Constitution may offer privacy protection to places not protected by federal constitution). And an individual has no reasonable expectation of privacy protecting against the observation of objects in his house that are visible from normal access routes to the house. See State v. Seagull, 95 Wn.2d 898, 902, 632 P.2d 44 (1981).
It is important to recognize, however, that this doctrine— the "open view" doctrine — applies to visual intrusions only, not to physical intrusions such as entries onto premises. Although a person may have no reasonable expectation of privacy protecting against police observation of objects in a window of his home, he does have a reasonable expectation of privacy protecting against police entry into his home.10 See 1 W. LaFave Search and Seizure § 2.2(a), at 322-24 (2d ed. 1987). Cf. Washington v. Chrisman, 455 U.S. 1, 6-7, 70 L. Ed. 2d 778, 102 S. Ct. 812 (1982) (although officer lawfully stood in open doorway to suspect's room and looked into room, officer could not enter room without justification; however, officer's "right to remain literally at [an arrestee's] elbow at all times" furnished justification).
When an individual does have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a location, this" of course does not mean that police may never enter; it means only that police must have some justification for entering, and the justification must *207satisfy the Fourth Amendment. Justification may be in the form of probable cause and exigent circumstances, see, e.g., State v. Counts, 99 Wn.2d 54, 659 P.2d 1087 (1983), or the right of an officer to follow an arrestee, see, e.g., Washington v. Chrisman, 455 U.S. at 6.
That a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy protecting against entry into his home is beyond dispute. " [P]hysical entry of the home is the chief evil against which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is directed." (Citation omitted.) Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 585, 63 L. Ed. 2d 639, 100 S. Ct. 1371 (1980). This privacy interest persists even when the resident opens the door in response to a police officer's knock. See State v. Holeman, 103 Wn.2d 426, 429, 693 P.2d 89 (1985). The privacy interest continues even in homes slightly damaged by fire, as in the instant case. See Michigan v. Clifford, 464 U.S. 287, 292, 78 L. Ed. 2d 477, 104 S. Ct. 641 (1984) (plurality opinion); Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 505-06, 56 L. Ed. 2d 486, 98 S. Ct. 1942 (1978). Moreover, a lawful entry into one portion of a house will not necessarily justify entry into other portions. See Clifford, at 297.
The majority holds that once one government agent lawfully enters and remains in an individual's home, the reasonable expectation of privacy in the home is destroyed, and other government agents may follow in the first agent's footsteps. Majority opinion, at 200-01; see also majority opinion, at 201-02 (under article 1, section 7 of the Washington Constitution, entry of police while fire fighters already lawfully on premises "did not constitute a second invasion"). The implications of such a conclusion are troublesome. First, as discussed above, if no reasonable expectation of privacy remains in the home, then police officers may enter without justification — that is: without probable cause, without a warrant, and without any of the circumstances that typically justify a warrantless entry. Suppose that the fire fighters had not discovered contraband in petitioner's home but the police had just wandered by and decided to enter in hopes that something unlawful might *208turn up. Under the majority's analysis, a dozen officers could crowd into the home for no purpose whatsoever: petitioner would have no Fourth Amendment claim to raise, for he would have no reasonable expectation of privacy.
Secondly, under the majority's analysis, once the fire fighters entered the home, the IRS agent, the INS agent, and the state social worker would be free to enter. As I indicated above, when no reasonable expectation of privacy exists in a location, any government agent may enter. A call to the city ambulance for a medical emergency suddenly opens one's home to the tax assessor and the marines. How can petitioner raise a Fourth Amendment objection when he has no reasonable expectation of privacy left in the home?
Although no one expects such outrageous scenarios to actually arise, they do illustrate the problem with the majority's reasoning. A home is not like navigable airspace, a store, or a public pathway, where any federal or state officer may wander freely. We cannot dispense with the requirement that government officers entering a person's home have some justification for their entry. What that justification may be will depend on the circumstances, but it certainly must be more than the observation that some other government officer "is already there". It would be a grave disfigurement of the constitution to hold otherwise.
Finally, the majority's reasoning would permit a different but perhaps more likely scenario — and one that is equally impermissible: circumvention of probable cause and warrant requirements. It is well established that the "probable cause" required for an administrative search is not as stringent as the "probable cause" required for a criminal investigation, and the warrant required for the administrative search may encompass a broader geographical area than a criminal warrant. See Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523, 534-39, 18 L. Ed. 2d 930, 87 S. Ct. 1727 (1967). In the administrative context, officers seeking to enter private premises must show a magistrate only that
*209reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting an area inspection are satisfied with respect to a particular dwelling. Such standards . . . will not necessarily depend upon specific knowledge of the condition of the particular dwelling.
Camara, at 538. In the criminal context, in contrast, suspicion must be focused on the particular dwelling to be searched. Camara, at 535.
This distinction between the administrative and the criminal probable cause and warrant requirements carries over into fire investigations. Fire inspectors entering fire-damaged premises to determine the cause or origin of a blaze need not meet the same stringent warrant requirements as inspectors who have already determined the fire's cause and enter the premises solely to collect evidence for use in a criminal prosecution. Michigan v. Clifford, 464 U.S. at 294; Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. at 508.
Under the majority's analysis, however, once a fire inspector lawfully enters a building to determine the cause or origin of a fire, police officers pursuing a criminal investigation may follow on the inspector's heels without bothering to obtain the traditional "criminal" warrant. Whether such circumvention of the probable cause and warrant requirements for criminal investigations is ever likely to be a prevalent practice is beside the point; the critical question is whether the constitution would prevent the practice. I believe it would, although the majority opinion would suggest otherwise.
Because I believe petitioner continued to have a reasonable expectation of privacy in his home after the fire fighters had lawfully entered, the lawfulness of the police officers' entry will depend on the sufficiency of their justification. The appropriate inquiry at this point, then, is whether the officers' warrantless entry fits into any of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement.
II
One of the common justifications for a warrantless entry into a home is exigent circumstances. See Ker v. California, *210374 U.S. 23, 39-41, 10 L. Ed. 2d 726, 83 S. Ct. 1623 (1963). Typical examples of exigent circumstances include the imminent destruction of evidence, the danger of harm to officers or the community, or the likelihood the suspect will escape. Ker, at 40; Warden, Md. Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 297-99, 18 L. Ed. 2d 782, 87 S. Ct. 1642 (1967). None of these exigencies apply here. The exigent circumstance created by a fire, see Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 509, 56 L. Ed. 2d 486, 98 S. Ct. 1942 (1978), also does not apply, for the State concedes that the police officers entered with the single purpose of seizing the contraband, and not of assisting in extinguishing the blaze.
Other exceptions to the warrant requirement, such as medical emergency, see State v. Loewen, 97 Wn.2d 562, 568, 647 P.2d 489 (1982), and accompanying an arrestee, see Washington v. Chrisman, 455 U.S. 1, 70 L. Ed. 2d 778, 102 S. Ct. 812 (1982), similarly are inapplicable. The right to make a warrantless entry to determine the cause of a fire, see Tyler, at 510, is of no avail to the State; as indicated above, the police did not enter for any fire-related purpose.
The plain view doctrine as currently espoused also provides no justification for the officers' warrantless entry. That doctrine only justifies the warrantless seizure of personal property when the police already have lawfully entered the home. See Washington v. Chrisman, at 5-6; see also Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 29 L. Ed. 2d 564, 91 S. Ct. 2022 (1971); State v. Johnson, 17 Wn. App. 153, 154-55, 561 P.2d 701, review denied, 89 Wn.2d 1001 (1977). The officers' lawful presence on the premises, in fact, is the first prerequisite to a plain view seizure. See Coolidge, at 466.
It appears, then, that the traditional exceptions to the warrant requirement cannot serve to justify the police officers' entry into petitioner's home. The absence of any previously recognized exception, however, need not deter us from extending existing doctrine when an extension would appear reasonable.
*211III
As previously noted, the fire fighters were entitled to make a plain view seizure of petitioner's marijuana plants. The majority justifies the police officers' entry by observing that "[office the privacy of the residence has been lawfully invaded, it is senseless to require a warrant for others to enter and complete what those already on the scene would be justified in doing." Majority opinion, at 201. The point here, however, is not that petitioner loses his reasonable expectation of privacy in his home but rather that a warrant is unnecessary when the police enter with the purpose of completing "what those already on the scene would be justified in doing." In other words, the purpose of the entry is critical to its lawfulness. Police would not have been justified in entering to conduct a general exploratory search or to look around for other evidence, nor would they have been justified in entering if the fire fighters had not first discovered the contraband. But when their sole purpose was to assist the fire fighters in the seizure of the contraband, the need for a warrant was dispelled. Cf. Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523, 534-39, 18 L. Ed. 2d 930, 87 S. Ct. 1727 (1967) (purpose behind an officer's entry determines nature of probable cause and warrant required for entry); cf. also Michigan v. Tyler, at 510-12 (entry of fire-damaged premises with purpose of determining origin of fire and preventing its recurrence may not require warrant, whereas entry with purpose of collecting evidence of crime would require warrant).
I believe police may make a warrantless entry into a home when:
1. Other government agents are already lawfully present in the home;
2. The agents already present have discovered contraband or evidence in plain view;
3. The agents already present have lawful authority to perform a plain view seizure;
4. The police reasonably are called to assist in the seizure;
*2125. The police enter with the sole purpose of assisting in the seizure;
6. The police do not exceed the scope of the entry by the other government agents; and
7. The seizure is performed reasonably expeditiously.
I believe the facts in this case support a warrantless entry under this theory. The fire fighters lawfully entered petitioner's home to put out a fire and lawfully remained in the home to be certain the fire was permanently extinguished. The fire fighters lawfully came across the contraband, and petitioner makes no argument they lacked the statutory authority to perform a plain view seizure of contraband. The marijuana operation was extensive, requiring the assistance of a number of persons to effect the plants' removal in a reasonable time. The police entered petitioner's home with the sole purpose of assisting in the seizure of the marijuana; they confined their presence to the area the fire fighters continued to monitor for fire recurrence, and the seizure was performed without undue delay.
Based on these facts, I would hold the search and seizure in this case to be lawful.
Utter, J., and Schumacher, J. Pro Tern., concur with Pearson, C.J.

RCW 48.48.060(2) provides that fire marshals "are vested with police powers to enforce the laws of this state." Petitioner has not argued that the particular fire fighters, fire marshal, or fire inspector observing the marijuana plants lacked the training and other statutory prerequisites to the exercise of police powers.

The majority cites four circuit Court of Appeals cases supporting the view that a person's reasonable expectation of privacy in his home evaporates once a government agent lawfully enters the home. Majority opinion, at 200. Two of the cases cited are from the same (5th) circuit. A third case, United States v. Gargotto, 476 F.2d 1009 (6th Cir. 1973), is inapposite. The police in Gargotto entered the building in question to investigate the cause of a fire, a recognized exception to the warrant requirement. See Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 510, 56 L. Ed. 2d 486, 98 S. Ct. 1942 (1978). No other entry onto premises was at issue in Gargotto, and consequently the case lends little support for the majority's position. The circuits, then, are split 2 to 1 on this issue. See United States v. Hoffman, 607 F.2d 280 (9th Cir. 1979).

This is not to say that an individual always has a reasonable expectation of privacy protecting against physical entry onto premises. Police may enter "open fields" without infringing on any Fourth Amendment interest. United States v. Dunn,_U.S__, 94 L. Ed. 2d 326, 107 S. Ct. 1134, 1141 (1987). Police also may enter into areas that are impliedly open to the public, such as the usual access routes to a house, see State v. Seagull, 95 Wn.2d 898, 902, 632 P.2d 44 (1981), and customer areas of commercial premises, see Maryland v. Macon, 472 U.S. 463, 469, 86 L. Ed. 2d 370, 105 S. Ct. 2778 (1985). But in determining whether a reasonable expectation of privacy applies to physical entry onto premises, it is not enough to examine whether the premises are readily visible to the public; one must also examine whether the public has implied permission to enter.