Court Opinion

ID: 9515077
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:53:34.098725+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:24.687758
License: Public Domain

MEIERHENRY, Justice
(concurring in result).
[¶ 36.] I write specially on Issue I.
[¶37.] I agree with the majority that the initial seizure of Cordell’s clothing when the officers took him into protective custody on a mental hold is not in violation of his constitutional rights. However, the subsequent chemical analysis at the State Crime Laboratory was a search without a warrant and does not fall -within a recognized exception to the warrant requirements. The majority opinion cites State v. Joyce, 229 Conn. 10, 639 A.2d 1007 (1994) in which the issue was whether the police who were lawfully in custodial possession of a suspect’s clothing were required under the constitution to get a search warrant before having the clothing tested for chemicals. The Joyce court analyzed the constitutionality of the search as follows:
We must determine (1) whether there was a reasonable expectation of privacy in the clothing; (2) whether the testing of the clothing at the state laboratory constituted a search; and (3) if so, whether the circumstances of this case fall within a recognized exception to the warrant requirement. For purposes of our analysis, we assume that the police had probable cause at the time of the chemical test to believe that the defendant started the fire.
Id. at 1012-1013.
[¶ 38.] The Joyce court found the suspect had an expectation ■ of privacy and concluded that submitting his clothes to chemical analysis was a search. The court further determined the circumstances did not fall within any of the exceptions allowing a warrantless search. The Joyce court recognized that the officers may have had probable cause to suspect Joyce but held that the officers needed a search warrant to test the clothing. The court held “that the chemical analysis of [Joyce’s]'-clothing should have been suppressed” because it was “the result of a warrantless search unsupported by exigent circumstances or any other recognized exception to the warrant requirement.” Id. at 1016-1017.
[¶ 39.] The facts in Joyce are similar to the facts we have before us in this case. In Joyce, the officers were holding burned clothing removed from the defendant when he was transported to the hospital. Here the officers held Cordell’s clothes when he was transported to a mental hospital. In both cases, the officers had probable cause to suspect the defendant of committing arson before submitting the clothing to chemical testing.
[¶ 40.] I would adopt the reasoning of the Joyce court. It is important to note that Cordell was not under arrest nor had he been charged with a crime. The officers who questioned him were concerned that he was suicidal and decided to hold him for his own protection. A citizen placed on a mental hold certainly has an expectation of privacy in his own clothing. Here, the officers took his clothing before he was transported to the Human Services Center. They placed the clothes in a locker. There the clothes remained until they were sent to the Lab sometime later. The officers had ample time to get a warrant to test the clothing. The search does not fall within any of the exceptions to the constitutional requirement of obtaining a warrant.
*60[¶ 41.] I would find that Cordell’s counsel was ineffective for failing to seek suppression of the clothing. However, I cannot conclude based upon the record that Cordell was prejudiced. The trial court concluded that the state had “presented overwhelming evidence other than the clothing” showing Cordell’s guilt. I agree with the trial court that there was overwhelming evidence supporting Cordell’s conviction without the chemical test of the clothing. I agree with the majority in result and would deny Cordell’s petition.