COURT OF APPEALS DECISION DATED AND RELEASED November
2, 1995 |
NOTICE |
A party may file with the Supreme Court a petition to review an
adverse decision by the Court of Appeals.
See § 808.10 and Rule 809.62,
Stats. |
This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound
volume of the Official Reports. |
No. 94-2455-CR
STATE OF WISCONSIN IN
COURT OF APPEALS
DISTRICT IV
STATE
OF WISCONSIN,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
DERRICK
C. EVANS,
Defendant-Appellant.
APPEAL
from a judgment of the circuit court for Dane County: JACK F. AULIK, Judge. Affirmed.
Before
Eich, C.J., Dykman and Sundby, JJ.
EICH,
C.J. Derrick Evans appeals from a judgment convicting him of
possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and from an order denying his
motion for post-conviction relief. The
issues are: (1) whether Evans, as an overnight guest in another's home, is
entitled to challenge a search of a garage belonging to his host; and (2)
whether the trial court erred when it concluded that Evans had not shown a
"new factor" justifying modification of his prison sentence.
On
December 4, 1993, Evans, Kathleen McIntyre and two acquaintances traveled to
Chicago, where they purchased cocaine, and then returned to Madison, where
McIntyre lived. Upon arriving in
Madison, Evans asked McIntyre if he could spend the night at her house, and she
agreed. Evans had an overnight bag,
clothes and some toiletries with him.
Later that evening, when McIntyre saw Evans weighing and cutting the
cocaine in the presence of her teenage son, she told him to "[g]et the
stuff out of the house." The son
took the cocaine to the garage and hid it inside some stereo speakers, but
apparently did not inform Evans where he had taken it. The garage sits approximately 15-20 feet
from McIntyre's residence.
Later
that day, officers of the Dane County Sheriff's Department arrived at
McIntyre's residence with a search warrant for "the premises." During the search the officers found and
seized the cocaine. Evans and McIntyre
were arrested and charged with several offenses relating to possession of the
cocaine.
Before
trial, Evans moved to suppress the evidence taken from the garage on grounds
that it was seized pursuant to an illegal search. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that: (1) Evans did
not have "standing" to challenge a search of the garage;[1]
and (2) even if Evans was entitled to challenge the search, the garage was
properly included in the warrant's authorization to search the
"premises."
Evans
elected to plead to one of the charges.
Just prior to the plea and sentencing hearing, the prosecutor gave
Evans's counsel a memorandum indicating that the State had obtained the
statement of an informant which contradicted the testimony given by McIntyre at
Evans's preliminary hearing. According
to the informant, McIntyre had played a much greater role in the crimes charged
than she had testified. Neither Evans
nor the prosecution informed the trial judge of the memo at the plea/sentencing
hearing. Evans was convicted of
possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and was sentenced to ten years in
prison.
Evans
then moved to modify his sentence, claiming that the potentially
"exculpatory" information in the prosecutor's memorandum constituted
a "new factor" warranting modification. The trial court denied the motion and he appeals the denial, as
well as the denial of his earlier suppression motion.
I. THE SEARCH
Because
a party moving to suppress the fruits of a police search must show that his or
her own Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the challenged search or
seizure, Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 131 n.1 (1978), to
prevail on his motion Evans must establish that he had a subjective expectation
of privacy in the place searched, and that that expectation is
"legitimate." Katz v.
United States, 389 U.S. 347, 361 (1967). A legitimate expectation of privacy is "`one that society is
prepared to recognize as "reasonable".'" Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S.
128, 143-44 n.12 (1978) (quoting Katz, 389 U.S. at 361) (Harlan,
J., concurring). Whether Evans has made
such a showing is a question of law which we review de novo. State v. Jackson, 147 Wis.2d
824, 829, 434 N.W.2d 386, 388 (1989), although we will uphold the trial court's
findings of historical fact unless they are clearly erroneous. State v. Whitrock, 161 Wis.2d
960, 973, 468 N.W.2d 696, 701 (1991).
Evans
argues that his status as an overnight guest at McIntyre's residence is
sufficient to establish a legitimate expectation of privacy in her garage. We disagree.
There
is little doubt that an overnight guest has a legitimate expectation of privacy
in the host's home, Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 98 (1990),[2]
but that expectation "will not always extend to the entire
premises." United States v.
Osorio, 949 F.2d 38, 41 (2d Cir. 1991). The legitimacy, or the reasonableness, of the expectation is
tested by consideration of several factors, including whether the defendant:
(1) had a property interest in the premises; (2) was legitimately on the
premises; (3) had dominion and control and the right to exclude others; (4)
took precautions customarily taken by those seeking privacy; and (5) put the
property to some private use. State
v. Whitrock, 161 Wis.2d 960, 974, 468 N.W.2d 696, 702 (1991); see
also Olson, 495 U.S. at 97. Also to be considered is whether the claim of privacy is
consistent with historical notions of privacy.
Id. The factors
are representative, not exclusive. Id.
Evans
testified that while at McIntyre's residence, he was not restricted to any
particular area of the house or yard, although he did not have a key and was
never alone in the house in McIntyre's absence. He stated that while he was aware there was a garage on the
property, he had never been in it and could not state how it could be entered.[3] Evans took no privacy precautions with
respect to the garage, nor did he put it to any use of his own (or anyone
else's).
The
trial court could find nothing in the record to establish that Evans had a
reasonable expectation of privacy in the garage, nor can we.
Evans
argues, however, that two cases, State v. Curbello-Rodriguez, 119
Wis.2d 414, 351 N.W.2d 758 (Ct. App. 1984), and United States v. Dunn,
480 U.S. 294 (1987), require suppression of the evidence. Again, we disagree.
In
Curbello-Rodriguez, we held that the defendant's status as an
overnight guest entitled him to challenge physical evidence seized in a search
of his host's home. Unlike the
situation here, however--where the evidence was seized from a separate building
which Evans knew little about and had never entered or put to any private
use--the evidence in Curbello-Rodriguez was seized from the same
apartment in which the defendant had been an overnight guest and to which he
had enjoyed full access. Curbello-Rodriguez,
119 Wis.2d at 422, 424-25, 351 N.W.2d at 762.
Dunn is equally inapposite, for the Court was there
considering whether a barn could be considered part of the curtilage; the
decision did not touch upon the issue Evans raised on this appeal--his
"standing" to challenge the search.
Our
conclusion that Evans has not established a constitutionally protected interest
in McIntyre's garage ends our inquiry into Evans's Fourth Amendment claims.[4]
II. NEW FACTOR
Evans
next argues that the trial court erred in ruling that the informant's
memorandum suggesting that McIntyre had played a more significant role in the
drug transaction(s) than her earlier testimony indicated[5]
did not constitute a new factor warranting modification of his sentence.[6]
A
new factor is information that is "highly relevant to the imposition of
sentence, but not known to the trial judge at the time of original sentencing,
either because it was not then in existence or because ... it was unknowingly
overlooked by all of the parties."
Rosado v. State, 70 Wis.2d 280, 288, 234 N.W.2d 69, 73
(1975). Whether a new factor exists
presents a question of law which we review de novo. State v. Franklin, 148 Wis.2d 1, 8, 434 N.W.2d 609,
611 (1989).
The
memorandum does not constitute a new factor.
Evans's counsel was informed of the potentially exculpatory evidence in
the document prior to the sentencing hearing.
Referring to the memorandum, Evans's counsel stated that "it was
revealed the day before the plea and sentencing that the [State's]
informant witness did have evidence which could have been exculpatory."[7] (Emphasis added.)
The
memorandum was not "unknowingly overlooked" by the parties. See State v. Toliver, 187
Wis.2d 346, 362, 523 N.W.2d 113, 119 (Ct. App. 1994). It was known to counsel in advance of the sentencing hearing, and
it is counsel's obligation to present "all information relevant to
sentencing" to the trial judge. Rosado,
70 Wis.2d at 288, 234 N.W.2d at 73. We
see no error in the denial of Evans's motion to modify his sentence on the
basis of a new factor.[8]
By the Court.—Judgment
affirmed.
Not
recommended for publication in the official reports.
[1] We agree with the state that, while the word
"standing" is often employed to describe whether someone has a right
to object to a search, the real issue in this and similar cases is really not
one of "standing" but of "substantive Fourth Amendment
doctrine," e.g., "whether the disputed search and seizure has
infringed an interest of the defendant which the Fourth Amendment was designed
to protect." Rakas v.
Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 140 (1978).
See also State v. Fillyaw, 104 Wis.2d 700,
710, 312 N.W.2d 795, 800 (1981).
[2] In Olson, the Court held that
the defendant could challenge the seizure of physical evidence found in an
apartment in which he was spending the night despite the fact that he did not
have a key to the apartment and had occupied it only when his host was
present. The Court reasoned that an
overnight guest "seeks shelter in another's home precisely because it
provides him with privacy," and to acknowledge this expectation as
legitimate "merely recognizes the everyday expectations of privacy that we
all share." Minnesota v.
Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 98, 99 (1990).
[3] When asked how
the garage was entered, Evans replied "I never went into the garage. I mean, if there's a door, if there's a
garage door that comes up, you know."
[4] Even if Evans could properly challenge the
search, his claim that the warrant was unconstitutionally overbroad would fail
for he has not included the warrant in the record on appeal. Our review is, obviously, limited to those
portions of the record the parties have brought before us. In re Ryde, 76 Wis.2d 558,
563, 251 N.W.2d 791, 793 (1977). The defendant appealing a criminal conviction
carries the duty to incorporate material evidence into the appellate record,
and failure to do so is grounds for rejection of his or her claims. State v. Smith, 55 Wis.2d 451,
459, 198 N.W.2d 588, 593 (1972).
[5] According to the memo summarizing the
statement of an informant who claimed to have been present at the Chicago drug
purchase and the events surrounding the arrest in Madison: (1) McIntyre
contributed approximately $20,000 to the drug transaction in Chicago, not
$2,800 as she had previously testified; (2) McIntyre was involved in weighing
and cutting the cocaine at her residence; and (3) also present for these
activities was another individual who had stored cocaine at her own home for
McIntyre in the past.
[6] The state argues that Evans has waived the
issue by not raising it in the trial court.
The record indicates, however, that counsel and the court discussed the
contents of the memorandum at some length at the post-conviction hearing, and
we think that is sufficient.
[7] The memorandum itself was dated March 3,
1993, the same date as the plea and sentencing hearing. Counsel for Evans stated, however, that the
State had obtained the evidence and revealed its contents to defense counsel on
the previous day.
[8] In order to warrant modification of a
sentence, "the new factor must operate to frustrate the sentencing court's
original intent when imposing sentence."
State v. Toliver, 187 Wis.2d 346, 362, 523 N.W.2d 113, 119
(Ct. App. 1994). In State v.
Toliver, we held that where the trial court expressed no desire for
parity between the sentences of co-defendants, ordering sentences of disparate
lengths "did not frustrate the sentencing court's original intent when it
imposed [appellant's] sentence" and did not constitute a new factor. Id. Because the trial court in this case did not rely on the relative
culpability of Evans and the other participants in determining his sentence,
even if the informant's memorandum had not been available to him prior to
sentencing, his "new-factor" argument would fail.