Court Opinion

ID: 9565107
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:15:01.534973+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:24.262904
License: Public Domain

ZIMMERMAN, Justice:
(dissenting).
I dissent from the result reached by the majority. At most, the evidence shows that for some undetermined period of time both the defendant, Allen Watts, and his wife, Debbie Watts, enjoyed possession of rented property, which included the house in which they dwelled and a shed in which marijuana plants were found. Although marijuana was being cultivated in the shed, there was no evidence, direct or indirect, that Allen or Debbie had ever even entered the shed during the time they rented the house, much less that they were cultivating the marijuana. Under these circumstances, the most that Allen could be convicted of is possession of marijuana. See State v. Fox, 709 P.2d 316, 318-20 (Utah 1985). However, the trial court convicted Allen of unlawful production of marijuana. Although the majority opinion contains a lengthy discussion of the prior cases and paeans to the discretion of the fact finder, it is impossible to tell on what factual grounds Allen’s conviction is being sustained. There is absolutely no evidence as to who cultivated and maintained the marijuana plants. I submit that the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom can sustain only a finding that Allen knew of the marijuana growing in the shed and acquiesced in its cultivation. As I read State v. Fox, mere acquiescence in the cultivation of marijuana plants cannot sustain a conviction on a production charge.
Another point in the majority opinion deserves comment. The defendant’s counsel has commendably briefed the search and seizure question under both the state and federal constitutions, something we see far too seldom. I agree with the majority that on the facts of this case, the private search that occurred does not come within the protections of article I, section 14 of the Utah Constitution. However, I certainly do not agree with the categorical assertions in the majority opinion that this Court has “never drawn any distinctions” between article I, section 14 and the federal fourth amendment and has “always considered the protections afforded to be one and the *1226same” or with the majority opinion’s intimation that there is no substantive distinction between the state and federal provisions. Several of our older cases may have language that supports this view, although none have pondered the question deeply, and some members of this Court may still agree with it, but I do not think this dictum expresses the views of all those joining in the Chief Justice’s opinion, much less a majority of the Court. My view on this point finds support in footnote 8 of the majority opinion, which differs dramatically in tone from the text referred to above.
For the reasons stated, I would reverse the conviction.
DURHAM, J., concurs in the dissenting opinion of ZIMMERMAN, J.