Court Opinion

ID: 9514888
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:52:20.532884+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:22.363592
License: Public Domain

AMUNDSON, Justice
(dissenting).
[¶ 48.] I dissent on issues 2 and 3 for the forgoing reasons.
Issue 2. Warrantless Entry into Lamont’s Dwelling3
[¶ 49.] A. Search incident to lawful arrest
[¶ 50.] The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article VI, § 11 of the South Dakota Constitution provide that people have the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. It has long been established that the Fourth Amendment prohibits police from entering into a suspect’s home to make a felony arrest. Payton, supra, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). “It is a ‘basic principle of Fourth Amendment law’ that searches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable.” Payton, 445 U.S. at 586, 100 S.Ct. at 1380. Warrantless arrests and searches, therefore, are unconstitutional unless there is a showing by those who seek exemption from the warrant requirement that their actions fall within a narrowly defined exception. Thus, the State has the burden to prove that the specific search falls into a delineated and limited exception. See State v. Heumiller, 317 N.W.2d 126, 128 (S.D.1982); State v. Max, 263 N.W.2d 685, 687 (S.D.1978). Our analysis is also limited to “the facts perceived by the police at the time of the entry, not as subsequently uncovered.” Meyer, 1998 SD 122 at ¶ 23, 587 N.W.2d at 724 (citing Heumiller, 317 N.W.2d at 129).
[¶ 51.] The trial court determined that the second search was permissible in or*618der for police to “effectuate a custodial interrogation.” The trial court found that the police could enter Lamont’s home without a warrant because of the nature of the crime and the potential of Lamont being there.4 There is no case law that establishes this exception. To “effectuate a custodial interrogation” is, in essence, to effectuate an arrest. To allow such an exception would swallow the rule. A warrant must be procured before the police enter the home of a suspect before an arrest can be permissibly made. While there is no such exception as the “effectu-ation of custodial interrogation” exception, we will address the State’s only argued exceptions in this case: search incident to lawful arrest and hot pursuit.
[¶ 52.] The rationales behind the creation of the search incident to lawful arrest exception are to protect the officers’ safety and avoid potential escape by the suspect. Meyer, supra, at ¶ 25. Under this exception to the warrant requirement, an officer can search the immediate vicinity of the suspect because a gun or some other weapon may be within his or her reach. Id. Likewise, the exception is also warranted because the suspect could also grab something that might lead to his or her escape. Id. Therefore, if one of these two reasons is being advanced, the exception applies, and a warrant is not required in making a valid search.
[¶ 53.] The search incident to lawful arrest exception, however, is subject to limitation. It is true that the arrest need not be a condition precedent to the search. State v. Thunder Horse, 85 S.D. 76, 177 N.W.2d 19 (1970). We have stated, however, that the search in relation to the arrest cannot be “remote from it either in time or place.” Thunder Horse, supra, at 82, 177 N.W.2d 19 (citing Sipera v. State, 286 Minn. 536, 175 N.W.2d 510 (Minn 1970)). Thus, before such exception can be implicated, the search must be contemporaneous to, or part of a continual transaction to the arrest.
[¶ 54.] Because of the limited scope and application of the exception, I reject the State’s argument that the second search was constitutionally permissible under the guise of search incident to lawful arrest. The facts of this case fail to satisfy both the temporal and spatial aspects of the exception. See New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 2860, 69 L.Ed.2d 768 (1981); Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 23 L.Ed.2d 685 (1969). As directed by his commanding officer, Officer Rud was to secure the area until a warrant was issued. Officer Rud chose not to wait. Rather, he again entered this room without a warrant and subsequently found Lamont. It is important to note that Lamont was not arrested at that time.5 Lamont was not arrested until he *619was brought to the police station over an hour after the search. How could this exception apply when the arrest occurred over an hour after the search and at a wholly different location? Again, the answer is clear. The rationales behind the search incident to lawful arrest exception would eviscerate if we were to allow the search to come before the arrest in this case. Because the search incident to lawful arrest exception does not apply, the search violates the Fourth Amendment.
[¶ 55.] B. Hot Pursuit
[¶ 56.] The other ground that the trial court relied on in upholding the second search is hot pursuit. According to the trial court, Lamont was a flight risk and attempting to conceal himself. The court also determined that the officers were in hot pursuit.
[¶ 57.] The officers’ initial appearance at the Horseshoe Motel was to investigate an unrelated matter. It was pure happenstance that led to their investigation of Lamont.6 The United States Supreme Court, in reviewing the “hot pursuit” exigency justifying a warrantless entry, has defined the circumstance as one where there is an “immediate or continuous pursuit of [a suspect] from the scene of a crime”. Welsh, 466 U.S. at 753, 104 S.Ct. at 2099. In Commonwealth v. Talbert, 23 Va.App. 552, 478 S.E.2d 331, 334 (1996), the court explained that “[a] pursuit is ‘hot’ if the circumstances are such that breaking off or delaying the chase for the time required to obtain a warrant is likely to involve significant danger to any person, loss of evidence or opportunity for the suspect to escape.” Such circumstances encompassed within the meaning of “hot pursuit” do not exist in the case before us. To conclude that the officers were,in hot pursuit even though they never saw him, did not know for sure he was the driver of the vehicle, and did not know he was in the room at the time of entry is clearly erroneous.
[¶ 58.] These findings, under either the clearly erroneous or de novo standard, cannot be upheld.7 At the time of entry, *620the officers did not know that Lamont was the driver of the vehicle that was involved in the accident. It was only after their entry did they find out Lamont was involved in the accident. As we have previously stated, we must review the fact known to the officers “at the time of the entry, not as subsequently discovered.” Meyer, supra, at ¶23. Since the two searches were constitutionally impermissible, all evidence seized and statements made that were not freely given should also be suppressed. The statements made by Lamont and the testimony by the officers of what they observed inside Lamont’s home should be inadmissible as “fruit of the poisonous tree.” Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 484, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). In order to avoid such a result, it is incumbent upon the State to show that the evidence was not the product of the illegal search. Wong Sun, supra at 483, 83 S.Ct. 407. Thus, the State must prove that the statements made by Lamont or the testimony of the officers describing Lamont’s motel room did not come “by exploitation of [the initial] illegality or instead by means sufficiently distinguishable to be purged of the primary taint.” Id.
[¶ 59.] Here, the statements made by Lamont and the officers’ observations of Lamont’s motel room are a direct and natural consequence of the illegal search. It does not matter that Lamont received Miranda warnings as the warnings can only cure a Fifth Amendment defect. Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590, 95 S.Ct. 2254, 45 L.Ed.2d 416 (1975); Cf. State v. Habbena, 372 N.W.2d 450 (S.D.1985) *621(holding that a subsequently issued search warrant was an independent source thus, the exclusionary rule did not apply). Because the State has failed to prove that Lamont’s statements or the officers’ observations were procured from an independent source or some other non-illegal causal connection, all statements made by Lamont and the officers’ observations of Lamont’s home are to be suppressed. See Murray v. United States, 487 U.S. 533, 108 S.Ct. 2529, 101 L.Ed.2d 472 (1987). Since the evidence used against Lamont was not obtained through an “independent source,” the exclusionary rules applies as the State failed to prove that its investigation to be “sufficiently [ ] purged of the primary taint.” Wong Sun, supra.
Issue 3. Second Blood Draw
[¶ 60.] The trial court held that the two separate blood samples taken from Lamont were permissible under the search incident to lawful arrest exception to the warrant requirement.
[¶ 61.] Both parties agree that Lamont did not consent to the blood tests. Thus our review of a non-consensual search is subject to traditional Fourth Amendment analysis. Meyer, 1998 SD 122 at ¶ 24, 587 N.W.2d at 724; State v. Benallie, 1997 SD 118, ¶ 11, 570 N.W.2d 236, 238. Meaning, we review the propriety of the search of Lamont’s blood as a question of law, subject to de novo review. Himing, supra at ¶ 9.
[¶ 62.] We have long held that a blood test may be required as a search incident to lawful arrest following certain types of felony arrests. Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966); see also South Dakota v. Neville, 459 U.S. 553, 103 S.Ct. 916, 74 L.Ed.2d 748 (1983). Where a showing had been made that the substance searched for is of the character that may quickly dissipate a warrant is not required. See State v. Buchholz, 1999 SD 110, 598 N.W.2d 899; State v. Hanson, 1999 SD 9, 588 N.W.2d 885. The detection of incriminating evidence, for Fourth Amendment purposes, permits such intrusion.
[¶ 63.] Our cases have not allowed continued permission for police to conduct multiple blood tests for the purposes of extrapolation only. Allowing one test is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment if it can be shown necessary for the gathering evidence which may quickly dissipate. Any more than the initial intrusion, however, must be justified on independent grounds. Almond, 511 N.W.2d at 575 (holding that while there was probable cause to detain defendant, there was no further independent justification to search defendant). Because an independent ground has not been identified by the State, there is no authority for a second, third or fourth, etc. blood sample. Id.
[¶ 64.] This Court has always allowed the extrapolation to be introduced to opine as to the blood alcohol level at the time of the stop or whenever. State v. McDonald, 421 N.W.2d 492 (S.D.1988); State v. Fode, 452 N.W.2d 779 (S.D.1990). Here, the police wanted a second sample of Lamont’s blood for no other reason than to strengthen its case.8 While the temporal aspect of *622this case only involves an hour’s time, it is important to remember that it is the justification and underlying rationale for allowing blood tests that governs Fourth Amendment analysis. The “reasonableness” of the intrusion is examined only after the requisite legal justification for the initial intrusion itself is satisfied. United States v. United States Dist. Court for Eastern Dist. of Mich., 407 U.S. 297, 315-18, 92 S.Ct. 2125, 2136-37, 32 L.Ed.2d 752 (1972) (“Though the Fourth Amendment speaks broadly of ‘unreasonable searches and seizures,’ the definition of ‘reasonableness’ turns, at least in part, on the more specific commands of the warrant clause”). The prosecution through-one blood test could prove the element of “legal drunkenness.” A second test is not necessary.
[¶ 65.] Therefore, I respectfully dissent.

. I need not address the other State’s proffered exception to the warrantless requirement as the trial court expressly rejected the emergency circumstances exception and the State did not file a Notice of Review.

. It is important to note that the nature or the severity of the crime is irrelevant to our inquiry. The State argues that because a death is involved, we should disregard Fourth Amendment protections. It is instructive that in Payton, the defendants were charged with serious crimes-murder and armed robbery. In Payton, the United States Supreme Court denounced the import of the nature of the offense and declined to engage in such a fanciful analysis. In the case at hand, the death was an unintentional homicide at best.

. There appears to be some discrepancy whether probable cause existed to arrest Lamont prior to their entering his home. Probable cause, however, is not dispositive or probative of whether an exception to the warrant requirement existed. "To be arrested in the home involves not only the invasion of the sanctity of the home. This is simply too substantial an invasion to allow without a warrant [ ] even [ ] when probable cause is clearly established.” Payton, 445 U.S. at 588-89, 100 S.Ct. 1371. I fail to see how probable cause cures the warrant requirement. Under the majority’s holding on this issue, it is obvi*619ous that a South Dakota resident cannot retreat into his or her home without being subjected to arbitrary governmental intrusion, even though the officers were directed to only secure the area.

. Black’s Law Dictionary defines pursuit: the act of chasing to overtake or apprehend. Black's Law Dictionary 1250 (7th ed. 1999). As mentioned before, the officers were called to the Horseshoe Motel on an unrelated matter; the driver of the vehicle in question was unknown at the time; and Lamont’s room was found unoccupied after the first illegal search. To say that these officers were in hot pursuit would all but eviscerate the general rule prohibiting searches in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

. The majority relies on Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740, 104 S.Ct. 2091, 80 L.Ed.2d 732 (1984) and State v. Storvick, 428 N.W.2d 55 (Minn.1988) for upholding a search on an exception the State never presented evidence on or argued to the trial court. The majority now creates after-the-fact "exigent circumstances” the police officers never thought existed. Moreover, the cases relied upon by the majority are factually dissimilar to the case at hand. Welsh dealt with a misdemeanor traffic offense where the United States Supreme Court held that a warrantless intrusion into defendant’s dwelling was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Here, we have what the majority considers a "more serious crime.” It is important to note that Payton, which was not overruled by Welsh, involved murder and armed robbery. Despite the "serious” nature of those crimes, the Payton court held that a warrantless search of defendant's home violated the Fourth Amendment. While the majority relies on certain excerpts of dicta in Welsh, Fourth Amendment protection should not depend on the gravity of the offense, as illustrated in Payton. As the Welsh court stated, "no exigency is created simply because there is probable cause to believe that a serious crime has been committed.” *620466 U.S. at 753, 104 S.Ct. 2091, 2099, 80 L.Ed.2d 732.
Moreover, the factual scenario surrounding the second search of Lamont’s home is distinguishable from Storvick. In this case, police had specific directions from their commanding officer to secure the area and wait for a search warrant. The majority claims that lights being turned off and the door being locked so changed the circumstances that the police had to act quickly. The majority, however, fails to mention that Lamont's vehicle had already been towed, therefore, giving Lamont little access for escape. It should also be pointed out that this was Lamont’s permanent home. With no means to flee and no place to find refuge only support the position that the police should have waited for a warrant. Another distinction from Storvick is that in this case no testimony was presented to the trial court that police were concerned about dissipation of Lamont’s blood alcohol level. At the suppression hearing both responding officers testified that their sole reason for entering Lamont’s home without a warrant is to see if anyone was in need of medical attention. For reasons discussed earlier, the trial court rejected this ground. The majority’s dismissal of these facts defeat any analogous comparison to Storvick. The Stor-vick court stated that the officers "needed to act as quickly as possible to precisely ascertain defendant’s blood alcohol level before the evidence dissipated ... and that our decision is a limited one based on the facts of this case.” 428 N.W.2d at 61. This is not a case of "limited” circumstances where this Court should follow Stoivick, as the initial blood lest in this case is not in dispute, as no evidence was presented as to the dissipation of blood alcohol levels, and as the trial court never ruled in such a manner. We do, however, agree with the majority’s citation to Storvick to the extent that "the expectation of privacy that one has in one’s residence is the core expectation or interest protected by the Fourth Amendment and we are and will be hesitant in finding exigent circumstances for warrantless entries of dwellings.” 428 N.W.2d at 61. As recently as last term, the United States Supreme Court, per Justice Scalia, wrote in invalidating a search as unconstitutional: "At the very core of the Fourth Amendment stands the right of man to retreat into his own home and be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.” Kyllo v. United States, - U.S. -, -, 121 S.Ct. 2038, 2041, 150 L.Ed.2d 94, -, Lamont’s core expectation of privacy is worthy of Fourth Amendment protection no matter what we might think of him personally.

. It is important to note that the police did not rely on the search incident to lawful arrest exception. Simply put, there is no authority allowing a second test. Our review of the South Dakota Codified Laws allows "the” "withdrawal” or “chemical analysis” of blood for determining a DUI offense. See SDCL §§ 32-23-1 et seq. The statutes that implicate blood draws are written in the singular as evidenced by the use of the article "the” coupled with the singular use of the noun. The State, nor can the majority, point to any statute, which allows for the taking of multiple tests or samples. As such, we will not *622condone such a practice not authorized by statute.