Court Opinion

ID: 9658056
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 20:45:34.444269+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:51.005038
License: Public Domain

ERICKSTAD, Chief Justice.
I respectfully dissent.
The State of North Dakota appeals from the order of the District Court of Cass County suppressing evidence seized during the search of the defendants’ residence. I would reverse and remand for trial.
Because much of the case law relied upon in the majority opinion authored by Justice Levine is based upon much more aggravated facts of intrusion and invasion of privacy than that involved in this case and often involves entry without a search warrant, which is also not the situation in this case, I think it important to describe in detail the facts of this case.
On June 15, 1984, at approximately 11:40 a.m., Special Agent David Caulfield of the North Dakota State Drug Enforcement Unit and Deputy Krogh of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the residence of Gordon Richardson and Jack Lind. The result of the search was the recovery of approximately a pound and a half of marijuana. At this time Richardson agreed to cooperate with the officers and indicated that he had received the marijuana from Jeff Sakellson who lived at 880 11th Avenue North in Fargo. Richardson stated that in the past five months he had purchased marijuana, in one and a half pound quantities, from Jeff Sakellson approximately twenty times. Usually Richardson would pick up the marijuana at the Sakellson residence, but sometimes it was delivered to the Richardson residence by either Jeff Sakellson or his wife Ann Sa-kellson.
Richardson also indicated that Jeff Sa-kellson had a mean dog which might attack *786and a number of weapons which he would not hesitate to use.
Richardson was next escorted to the Cass County Sheriffs Office. Through a series of recorded phone calls made by Richardson to the Sakellson residence, both Ann and Jeff Sakellson indicated that they had more marijuana for sale but that Jeff would not be able to drop it off at Richardson’s residence until approximately 8:00 p.m. that evening.
Agent Caulfield then prepared an affidavit for a search warrant and was granted a “knock-and-announce” search warrant for the Sakellson residence at 5:13 p.m. No attempt was made by Agent Caulfield to obtain a “no-knock” search warrant provided for in Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C.1 Agent Caulfield proceeded to the Sakellson residence where he, along with agents Roy and Smith of the North Dakota Drug Enforcement Unit and Officer Krogh, set up surveillance. Officer Mueller of the Cass County Sheriff's Office arrived a few minutes later in uniform. While the officers watched the Sakellson residence, Ann Sa-kellson was observed sweeping the outer upstairs porch. They also noticed that the vehicle belonging to Jeff Sakellson was not present. This lead them to believe that he might not be at the residence. At approximately 6:10 p.m., after waiting twenty or thirty minutes, the officers entered the residence to execute the search warrant.
The Sakellson residence is part of a two-family duplex with one family unit on the ground floor and the Sakellson residence on the upper floor. On the front side of the duplex, facing the street, are two separate porch doors, side by side, with the street numbers to the respective residences above each door. Above the door on the left is the number 830, the street address of the Sakellson residence and the address indicated in the search warrant. The number 832 is above the porch door on the right.
Agent Roy, who was in possession of the search warrant, lead the way up a short set of stairs on the outside of the porch to the duplex. Without knocking or announcing their presence, they entered through the partially opened porch door into the porch of the Sakellson residence at number 830. Once inside the porch, the officers noticed that the “main door” of the residence was open. The officers testified that they did not notice the doorbell to the left of the main door. Five or six feet directly beyond the main door was another door which was closed. To the left of this door was a carpeted stairway leading upstairs. The officers, without knocking or in any way announcing their presence, proceeded through the main doorway and up the stairs.2 At the top of the stairs, Agent Roy turned to the right and into a short hallway. After turning into the hallway, there was a door to the left which led to the kitchen area and a door to the right which led to the living room. Both doors were open.
At this point, there is some conflicting testimony. Agent Roy testified that he stopped and made a series of knocks on the left side of the framing of the living room door; that he then saw Ann Sakellson sitting on the couch on the far side of the room talking on the phone and that he called out, “Mrs. Sakellson.” After getting no response, Agent Roy made another series of knocks which he testified did get the attention of Ann Sakellson. As Ann Sa-kellson hung up the phone, Agent Roy, *787followed by the other officers, entered the room holding up his badge, announced that they were police officers with a search warrant, and handed Ann Sakellson a copy of the warrant.
Ann Sakellson testified that she was talking on the phone to a friend when she looked up and saw the officers entering her living room, that the officers then identified themselves and handed her a copy of the search warrant. She stated that she heard no doorbell ring, no knock on the downstairs main door, and no knock on the living room door.
The officers then proceeded to search the apartment. A total of 43 items were seized, including several bags of marijuana, amounting to more than ten pounds, several handguns, shotguns and rifles (some of which were loaded and ready to fire), a UZI semi-automatic machine gun, a TNT detonator box, a list of “pot” fields within North Dakota, a five pound scale and 200 gram weight, a certain amount of cash, and a number of receipts. During the search Jeff Sakellson arrived at the residence and was stopped by one of the officers before entering the apartment.
Jeff and Ann Sakellson were arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver in violation of Section 19-03.1-23 and Section 19-03.1-05, N.D.C.C.
The defendants moved to suppress all evidence seized during the execution of the search warrant arguing the officers (1) violated Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C., by not knocking and announcing their presence before entering through the “main door,” and (2) violated a part of Article I, Section 8 of the North Dakota Constitution.
The trial court granted Sakellson’s motion to suppress, concluding that the officers violated Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C., by not knocking and announcing their authority before walking through the “main door” of the Sakellson residence and entering an “integral” part of the home, and that such a violation required the suppression of all evidence seized during the search. In reaching this conclusion the trial court noted that it was not issuance of the search warrant that was at issue, but rather the behavior of the officers in executing the search warrant. The trial court also concluded that the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule adopted in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. -, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984), did not apply because Leon dealt with probable cause and probable cause is admitted in this case.
The first question that must be addressed on appeal is whether or not the behavior of the officers in not knocking and announcing their presence and authority before entering into the residence through an open door violated Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C.
While this is a question of first impression in North Dakota, several other courts, when interpreting like statutes, have addressed this issue. United States v. Valenzuela, 596 F.2d 1361 (9th Cir.1979), cert. den. 444 U.S. 865, 100 S.Ct. 136, 62 L.Ed.2d 88 (1979) (unannounced entry through open garage door where officer observed occupants was proper because entry through an open door is not a “breaking”); United States v. Morell, 524 F.2d 550 (2nd Cir.1975) (remanded to the district court to determine if the door was open, thus making announcements of purpose and authority unnecessary under 18 U.S.C. § 3109); United States v. Williams, 351 F.2d 475 (6th Cir.1965), cert. den. 383 U.S. 917, 88 S.Ct. 910, 15 L.Ed.2d 671 (1966) (unannounced entry through open apartment door where agent saw defendant sitting on a couch talking on the telephone and where defendant did not see agents was not unreasonable); State v. Steingraber, 296 N.W.2d 543 (S.D.1980) (officer’s announcement, made simultaneously with his entry into the living room, constituted substantial compliance with the statute); State v. Rudisill, 20 N.C.App. 313, 201 S.E.2d 368 (1973) (officer’s unannounced entry through open door, made as an occupant was about to come out of the door, was not a violation of the statute; requiring officers to knock would be to require a vain act).
The federal statute which corresponds to Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C., is 18 U.S.C. *788§ 3109.3 The Supreme Court in Sabbath v. United States, 391 U.S. 585, 590, 88 S.Ct. 1755, 1758, 20 L.Ed.2d 828, 854 (1968), reh. den. 393 U.S. 901, 89 S.Ct. 63, 21 L.Ed.2d 188 (1968), stated:
“An unannounced intrusion into a dwelling — what § 3109 basically proscribes— is no less an unannounced intrusion whether officers break down a door, force open a chain lock on a partially open door, open a locked door by use of a passkey, or, as here, open a closed but unlocked door.” [Footnote omitted.]
Conspicuous by its absence is an unannounced entry by an officer through an open door. Federal courts, when interpreting Section 3109, have repeatedly held that an officer’s act of walking through an open door in order to execute a search warrant is not a “breaking” and, as such, not a violation of the statute. Valenzuela, 596 F.2d at 1365; Morell, 524 F.2d at 556; Williams, 351 F.2d at 477. Consistent with these decisions, I believe that an officer’s unannounced entry through an open door in order to execute a valid search warrant is not a “breaking” under Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C.
I realize that the Supreme Court of California has held that officers’ entry through an open door violated a similar California statute. People v. Bradley, 1 Cal.3d 80, 81 Cal.Rptr. 457, 460 P.2d 129 (1969). Bradley, however, is clearly distinguishable from the instant case in that the officers’ entry occurred at 3:15 a.m., and it was without a search warrant. See footnote 1, 81 Cal.Rptr. at page 461, 460 P.2d at page 133 of Bradley for the Court’s limitation of its holding to the specific facts of that case. I also acknowledge, but reject, the holdings of the intermediate appellate courts of California, People v. Davis, 105 Cal.App.3d 356, 164 Cal.Rptr. 384 (1980); People v. Baldwin, 62 Cal.App.3d 727, 133 Cal.Rptr. 427 (1976); People v. Beamon, 268 Cal.App.2d 61, 73 Cal.Rptr. 604 (1968), which hold that an officer’s entry through an open door is a “breaking.” My contrary view is supported by the language of our statute, which reads: “An officer directed to serve a search warrant may break open an outer or inner door or window of a house, or any part of the house, or anything therein, to execute the warrant, (a) if, after notice of his authority and purpose, he be refused admittance_” The statute does not speak of notice of authority and purpose before entry, rather it speaks of notice of authority and purpose before breaking.... See United States v. Conti, 361 F.2d 153, 157 (2d Cir.1966) (“ ‘breaking’ in the statute means forcible entry”). I believe that my view of our statute which is similar in language to the California statute better balances the public and private interests.
Accordingly, I believe the officers did not violate Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C., while executing the search warrant.
The second issue we must consider, however, is, in my view, a more difficult one. That is whether or not, under the circumstances described herein, the officers violated Article I, Section 8 of the North Dakota Constitution.
Although at the trial court level it was not contended that the officers violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, I believe that it is pertinent to consider that amendment in the light of its similarity in language to Article I, Section 8 of the North Dakota Constitution.4
*789In light of the similarity in language, I think it appropriate to examine decisions of the federal courts to determine the construction that those courts have placed upon the Fourth Amendment.
I agree with the Levine opinion that the method of entry of a police officer executing a search warrant is subject to Fourth Amendment standards of reasonableness. However, I do not agree that an officer’s unannounced entry through an open door when executing a search warrant is necessarily unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Williams, 351 F.2d at 477. See also, People v. Wolgemuth, 69 Ill.2d 154, 13 Ill.Dec. 40, 370 N.E.2d 1067 (1977) (a careful reading of Ker v. California, 374 U.S. 23, 83 S.Ct. 1623, 10 L.Ed.2d 726 (1963) reveals that the knock and announce rule is not, in the view of the Supreme Court of Illinois, constitutionally mandated); and People v. Boykin, 65 Ill.App.3d 738, 22 Ill.Dec. 614, 382 N.E.2d 1369 (Ill.App.1978).
The primary purposes of the knock and announce rule are to protect the privacy of persons in their homes and to prevent potentially violent confrontations. Sabbath v. United States, 391 U.S. at 589, 88 S.Ct. at 1758, 20 L.Ed.2d at 833 (1968). See also, State v. Steingraber, 296 N.W.2d at 545. Under the circumstances of this case, where all doors were open and thus expectation of privacy was reduced, Commonwealth v. Perry, 254 Pa.Super. 549, 386 A.2d 86, 88 (1978), and the officers had reason to believe those being searched had a number of weapons which could be used in violence, the avoidance of violence and the maintenance of privacy were not thwarted by the unannounced entry at the lower entrance level to the upper living quarters. In fact, it would appear that the failure to knock and announce at the lower level of the home perhaps prevented the use of a veritable arsenal of weapons, including a semi-automatic machine gun.
Keeping in mind all the circumstances of this ease, I believe the officers’ method of entry was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment and I perceive no reason for not finding it so under Article I, Section 8 of our State Constitution. This is consistent with our reasoning in State v. Iverson, 187 N.W.2d 1 (N.D.1971).5
Justice Levine relies on Ker v. California, 374 U.S. 23, 83 S.Ct. 1623, 10 L.Ed.2d 726, to support the view that an announcement by police officers before entering through an open door to execute a search warrant is a “constitutional imperative implicit in the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Ker, however, is clearly distinguishable in that it involved officers, without a search warrant, entering an apartment by use of a passkey. Here, the officers had a search warrant and entered through open doors.
The facts in Miller v. United States, 357 U.S. 301, 78 S.Ct. 1190, 2 L.Ed.2d 1332 (1958) also make it easily distinguishable. In Miller, officers, without a search warrant, broke a chain lock on the defendant’s door and forced the door open at 3:45 a.m. In addition to the breaking, it is especially offensive to enter a person’s home in the middle of the night without announcing and securing a special warrant.
Sabbath v. United States, id. (officers opened an unlocked door without announcing their purpose); People v. Rosales, 68 Cal.2d 299, 66 Cal.Rptr. 1, 437 P.2d 489 (1968) (unannounced entry by officer without a warrant); State v. Cleveland, 118 Wis.2d 615, 348 N.W.2d 512 (1984) (officers opened an unlocked door without announcing their presence); State v. Valentine, 264 Or. 54, 504 P.2d 84 (1972) (officers *790pushed open a closed but unlatched door without announcing their presence or purpose); State v. Carufel, 112 R.I. 664, 314 A.2d 144 (1974) (officers announced their presence and purpose while pushing open the main door of an apartment that was two inches ajar); and Reining ham v. United States, 287 F.2d 126 (D.C.Cir.1960) (officers opened a closed door without knocking or announcing their presence), relied upon by Justice Levine, are obviously distinguishable.
As I believe that an officer’s unannounced entry through an open door is not a violation of Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C., and under the circumstances of this case is not a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution or of Article I, Section 8 of our State Constitution, I would reverse the order of the trial court and remand this ease for trial.
Please forgive this final appendage. I should have included this subject matter earlier in this opinion, but it may be more meaningful here. Justice Levine asserts for the majority of our Court that “[wjhether a door is open through simple inadvertence or design, it should not ... subject an occupant to the unannounced entry of the uninvited.” I have great empathy for that philosophy and were this a utopian society where all people respected that philosophy we would likely have no need for police officers and search warrants, but until we have reached that state of enlightenment, I think we may have to afford our law enforcement officers more leeway in acting to protect us from those who have no respect for our laws and may feel no apprehension about entering our homes unannounced for any purpose at any time.
Finally, even if the conduct here condemned by the Levine opinion were viola-tive of either the United States Constitution or the State Constitution, which I contend it was not, it should not justify the application of the exclusionary rule, so as to result in suppression of the evidence found through the use of a valid search warrant by officers acting in good faith.
In United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. -, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984), the United States Supreme Court adopted the “good-faith exception” to the exclusionary rule. The Supreme Court in Leon concluded that the exclusionary rule should not apply when officers conduct a search in good faith even though a subsequent finding shows there was not probable cause to support the issuance of the search warrant. Leon, 104 S.Ct. at 3421. See also State v. Thompson, 369 N.W.2d 363 (N.D.1985). While the case now before our Court involves the issue of. the propriety of the service and execution of a search warrant, as opposed to the issue of the existence of probable cause for issuing a search warrant, I believe the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule should be equally applicable. When determining whether or not the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule should apply to a particular case, the appropriate test is whether or not the activity of the police officers was “objectively reasonable.” Leon, 104 S.Ct. at 3421; Thompson, 369 N.W.2d at 372. Considering all the circumstances of this case (the main door to the apartment was wide open, the officers stopped at the top of the stairs and knocked before entering the main living area of the apartment, and the potentially violent nature of the defendants), I believe the officers’ execution of the search warrant was objectively reasonable. In my view the time has come to apply the Leon reasoning in North Dakota. Accordingly, the evidence obtained through the search should not be suppressed.

. Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C., provides as follows:
"Execution of warrant — Use of force. — An officer directed to serve a search warrant may break open an outer or inner door or window of a house, or any part of the house, or anything therein, to execute the warrant, (a) if, after notice of his authority and purpose, he be refused admittance, or (b) without notice of his authority and purpose if a district judge issuing the warrant has inserted a direction therein that the officer executing it shall not be required to give such notice. The district judge may so direct only upon written petition and proof under oath, to his satisfaction, that the property sought may be easily and quickly destroyed or disposed of, or that danger to the life or limb of the officer or another may result, if such notice were to be given.”

. The trial court concluded that the stairway was an "integral" part of the home.

. 18 U.S.C. Section 3109 is identical in its relevant terms to Section 29-29-08, N.D.C.C. (see footnote 1 infra), and provides as follows:

"§ 3109. Breaking doors or windows for entry or exit

"The officer may break open any outer or inner door or window of a house, or any part of a house, or anything therein, to execute a search warrant, if, after notice of his authority and purpose, he is refused admittance or when necessary to liberate himself or a person aiding him in the execution of the warrant."

. "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 warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons and things to be seized.” N.D. Const, art. I, § 8.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against *789unreasonable 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.” U.S. Const, amend. IV.

. " '[RJeasonable ground to believe’ the person arrested has committed a felony satisfies the ‘probable cause' requirement of Section 18 of the North Dakota Constitution [Art. I, § 8, renumbered Constitution], as its language is virtually identical to that of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” State v. Iverson, 187 N.W.2d at 21.