NAJAM, Judge.
Kimberly D. Blankenship appeals her convictions for unlawful possession of a syringe, as a Class D felony, and maintaining a common nuisance, a Class D felony. Blankenship raises a single issue for our review, which we restate as whether the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted into evidence contraband found in Blankenship's hotel room that the police seized pursuant to a search warrant. We hold that the officers' reliance on the search warrant was objectively reasonable under Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution and, as such, any defect in probable cause underlying the warrant does not render the evidence inadmissible under the exclusionary rule. Thus, we affirm the trial court's admission of the evidence.
In 2011, employees of the Holiday Inn Express in Martinsville began finding drug paraphernalia in the hotel's rooms. Concerned that the hotel was "having a lot of problems with drug use," Donna Johns, a front desk manager at the hotel, requested the Martinsville Police Department to bring canine units to the hotel to conduct "free air sniffs in the common areas and hallways." Transcript at 56.
On December 1, 2011, at Johns' request Martinsville Police Department Officer Blake Long went to the hotel with his canine, Dasko. Dasko is trained to detect narcotics and to alert his handler when he has detected narcotics by sitting down.
From a mirror, Officer Long and Officer Lachelle Waskom also observed another woman, Courtney Malone, asleep on a bed inside the room. Officer Long instructed Blankenship to wake Malone. Blankenship went over to Malone and attempted to wake her by speaking to her, but that was unsuccessful. Blankenship then started to shake Malone, but that too was unsuccessful. Blankenship then yelled at Malone, but, again, Malone did not stir. The officers "were afraid that there may be some type of medical problem." Id. at 62. Officer Waskom entered the room and approached Malone while Officer Long stayed in the hallway with Blankenship. Officer Waskom "shook [Malone] until she woke up" and then brought Malone out to the hallway. Id. The officers patted Malone down for their safety and did not find anything of note. Malone declined medical treatment.
The officers applied for a search warrant.
Appellant's App. at 16. Upon executing the search warrant, the officers seized methamphetamine, marijuana, a digital scale, "[f]ive multi-colored plastic cups containing different colored residue," two hypodermic needles, and "a clear glass smoking device." Id.
On December 2, the State charged Blankenship with possession of methamphetamine, as a Class D felony; unlawful possession of a syringe, as a Class D felony; maintaining a common nuisance, a Class D felony; possession of marijuana, as a Class A misdemeanor; and possession of paraphernalia, as a Class A misdemeanor.
On appeal, Blankenship argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted into evidence the items seized from her hotel room. Our standard of review of a trial court's admission or exclusion of evidence is an abuse of discretion. Speybroeck v. State, 875 N.E.2d 813, 818 (Ind.Ct.App.2007). A trial court abuses its discretion only if its decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before the court. Id.
In particular, Blankenship asserts that Dasko's sniff-search of the hotel's hallways violated Blankenship's rights under Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution.
We review the determination of reasonable suspicion and probable cause de novo. Myers v. State, 839 N.E.2d 1146, 1150 (Ind.2005). Moreover, under the exclusionary rule, evidence obtained pursuant to an illegal search is inadmissible at trial. Newby v. State, 701 N.E.2d 593, 602 (Ind.Ct.App.1998). "[T]he exclusionary rule is designed to deter police misconduct," State v. Spillers, 847 N.E.2d 949, 957 (Ind.2006) (quotations omitted), and "[t]o encourage compliance" with constitutional standards for searches and seizures, Shotts v. State, 925 N.E.2d 719, 723 (Ind. 2010).
However, the police in the instant case did not engage in a warrantless search of Blankenship's hotel room but, rather, acted pursuant to a search warrant. Thus, even if Blankenship were correct in her theory that Dasko's sniff-search of the hotel hallway violated her rights under Article 1, Section 11, we will affirm the trial court's admission of the evidence if the officers acted in good faith when they executed the search warrant for her hotel room. As our Supreme Court has explained:
Id. at 724 (citations, quotations, and internal alterations omitted). Our Supreme Court has recognized that "the federal good-faith exception ... has been held applicable to the prohibition of unreasonable search and seizure found in art. 1, § 11 of the Indiana Constitution." Hopkins v. State, 582 N.E.2d 345, 351 (Ind.1991).
The good faith exception is also codified
Ind.Code § 35-37-4-5. Thus:
Caudle v. State, 749 N.E.2d 616, 621-22 (Ind.Ct.App.2001) (footnotes and citation omitted), aff'd on reh'g, 754 N.E.2d 33, trans. denied.
Here, again, Blankenship argues that Dasko's sniff-search of the hotel hallway violated her rights under Article 1, Section 11 because (1) the search was done randomly and without particularized suspicion; (2) the degree of intrusion at the threshold of her hotel room, while "slight,... is outweighed by the arbitrariness of the search," Appellant's Br. at 9; and (3) "there was no articulation at the trial court level for why police need to conduct random free-air sniffs of hotel rooms any more than they would need to do so for homes," id. at 10. As support for her argument that Dasko's search violated her rights under the Indiana Constitution, Blankenship substantially relies on this court's opinion in Hoop v. State, 909 N.E.2d 463 (Ind.Ct.App.2009), trans. denied. In Hoop, we stated that, under Article
But we then held that, on the facts of that case, the officers had acted in good faith reliance on a search warrant and, as such, application of the exclusionary rule was not appropriate. Id. at 471. Specifically, we stated as follows:
Id. (emphasis added; footnote and some citations omitted).
In light of our holding in Hoop that the officers acted in good faith, Blankenship argues as follows:
Appellant's Br. at 10-11 (citations omitted). We cannot agree with Blankenship.
Assuming only for the sake of argument that the officers needed reasonable suspicion to walk Dasko down a common hallway in a hotel, the officers here acted in good faith when they relied on the search warrant to search Blankenship's hotel room. As we stated in Hoop, the officers reasonably believed that Dasko's signal would provide probable cause for a warrant. See 909 N.E.2d at 471. The warrant here was issued by a neutral and detached magistrate. See Caudle, 749 N.E.2d at 622. And there is no argument or suggestion that the warrant contained obvious defects or deliberate errors or that the warrant was no longer valid when it was executed. See id. Further, Hoop did not "directly foreshadow" the facts of this case, as Blankenship contends. See Appellant's Br. at 11. Hoop involved a sniff-search of the front door of a private residence, not the sniff-search of a common
In sum, we need not reach Blankenship's argument that Article 1, Section 11 prohibited the officers from walking canine units in the common area of the hotel, at the hotel management's request, absent reasonable suspicion. The officers searched Blankenship's hotel room while objectively and reasonably relying on a search warrant. There is no evidence that the officers had knowledge, or should be charged with knowledge, that the sniff-search in the hallway may have been unconstitutional. Accordingly, there is no "wrongful police conduct" to deter, and suppression of the evidence under the exclusionary rule would not be appropriate in light of the facts and circumstances of this case. See Shotts, 925 N.E.2d at 724. As such, we affirm the trial court's admission of the evidence.
Affirmed.
CRONE, J., concurs.
BAKER, J., concurs in result with separate opinion.
BAKER, Judge, concurring in result.
I agree that the trial court properly admitted the contraband seized from Blankenship's hotel room into evidence. However, I part ways with the majority's need to discuss the notion that the officers' search was justified because they "acted in good faith"
As the majority points out, Dasko sniff-searched a common area hallway at a hotel where the police officers had been explicitly invited to search by the hotel's manager. Id. at 784. In other words there was no arbitrary or random canine sniff at the hotel absent the business' consent. Indeed, the circumstances here differ markedly from those in Hoop v. State, 909 N.E.2d 463 (Ind.Ct.App.2009), where there a canine sniff-search was conducted at the front door of a private residence. There was no direct observation by the police in Hoop of a woman in Malone's condition, and there was no sighting of a gun holster. That said, I believe that the evidence in this case establishes that Dasko's sniff-sweep of the common areas at the hotel, at the hotel manager's request, was reasonable, and the good faith reliance discussion set forth in Hoop does not control the outcome here.
I would also note that this court has previously approved dog sniffs of vehicles lawfully stopped for traffic violations without reasonable suspicion. State v. Gibson, 886 N.E.2d 639, 643 (Ind.Ct.App.2008). Dog sniffs have also been approved for packages in the mail when the delivery of the item was not substantially delayed. Rios v. State, 762 N.E.2d 153, 160-61 (Ind. Ct.App.2002).
In my view, when applying the provisions of Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution, there was a strong suspicion in this case of criminal activity occurring in the hotel when the manager reported to the police that she found evidence that the patrons were using drugs in the rooms. The degree of intrusion, if any, was low, inasmuch as the dog sniff was conducted late in the evening when it was presumed that the patrons were sleeping. In fact, it was noted at the suppression hearing that
Additionally, the extent of the police officers' need to function as community caretakers at the behest of concerned property owners was high. Preventing law enforcement personnel from coming to the aid of a property owner who fears that his or her property is being unwillingly turned into a drug haven would result in the type of unreasonableness that the Fourth Amendment attempts to avoid.
For these reasons, I do not believe that the canine "free air sniff" from the hotel's hallway violated Blankenship's rights under Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution. Thus, the search warrant was validly issued, the police officers conducted a proper search of the hotel room, and the evidence was properly admitted at trial. As a result, I would affirm Blankenship's convictions.
