Court Opinion

ID: 9612154
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:05:41.995992+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:19.912174
License: Public Domain

Barnes, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur in the judgment reached by the majority in this case. I write separately, however, because Division 1 of the majority opinion does not address the reason why Guild claims the trial court should have granted his motion to suppress. Guild argues the officer violated the Fourth Amendment when he prevented Jones from closing the motel room door. Thus, according to Guild, the officer’s ability to see the crack cocaine on the dresser was based upon a Fourth Amendment violation. As a result, the plain view doctrine should not have been applied because there was no prior valid intrusion before the evidence was observed and seized.
This argument is without merit. The trial court was authorized to infer from the evidence presented during the motion to suppress hearing that the officer saw the crack cocaine on the dresser before he prevented Jones from closing the motel room door. None of the evidence showed the officer could see crack cocaine lying in plain view only because he prevented Jones from closing the door. Since we are required to construe the evidence most favorably to upholding the trial court’s order on a motion to suppress, the majority opinion reaches the correct result when it affirms the trial court’s denial of Guild’s motion to suppress.