Anderson v. State
Anderson v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Cameron Anderson was found guilty after a jury trial in Desha County Circuit Court for the crimes of aggravated robbery, theft of property, and attempted capital murder. Anderson appeals the denial of his pretrial motion to suppress evidence gained in a search of an apartment in Monticello, Arkansas. The search was initiated after one of the apartment residents had given his consent to search. We hold that the trial court's denial of the motion to suppress was not clearly erroneous. We therefore affirm.
Our standard of review for a trial court's action granting or denying motions to suppress evidence obtained by a warrantless search requires that we make an independent determination based on the totality of the circumstances, giving respectful consideration to the findings of the trial court. Love v. State ,
Because Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures are personal in nature, a defendant must have standing before he or she can challenge a search on Fourth Amendment grounds. Ramsey v. State ,
The facts presented at the suppression hearing were as follows. Anderson was a person of interest in the investigation of an August 21, 2015 armed robbery of a Sonic in Dumas, Arkansas. The Monticello police had received a tip that Anderson might be at a particular apartment in Monticello on Gabbert Street. At that time, Tyrequs Davis and his brother, Jarius McCraney, were living at that apartment, located at 517 South Gabbert, Apartment B. McCraney's mother had paid the bills on the apartment for the month of August. Davis and McCraney each had his own bedroom; McCraney occupied the master bedroom, which had a closet. No one else lived in that apartment during August 2015.
The police chief of Monticello, Eddie Deaton, testified that he and other officers went to the apartment and made contact with Davis at the door. Deaton told Davis that they had received information that Anderson might be at this apartment and that they would like to come in to look if Davis would consent. According to Deaton, he obtained Davis's consent without using any coercion, threats, or harassment. Deaton asked Davis to sign a written consent if he agreed to it. Davis signed. Upon entry into the living room where two other men were playing video games, Deaton and Captain Carlos Garcia smelled the odor of marijuana, which odor Deaton mentioned to Davis. Garcia testified that Deaton was the one who spoke with Davis, and Garcia confirmed that consent was obtained before they entered the apartment and smelled marijuana. The officers went through the living room and kitchen, searched Davis's bedroom, and then went into the other bedroom, where they found Anderson hiding in a closet under some clothing. Anderson was taken into custody.
Deaton testified that they were also looking for weapons related to the armed robbery, although Deaton did not specifically ask for consent to search for weapons in the apartment. A backpack was at the foot of the bed about ten feet from the closet where Anderson had been hiding. Officers unzipped the backpack, and inside they found papers with the name "Lamark Patton" handwritten on them along with a handgun.
Davis also testified at the hearing. Davis characterized Anderson as "an acquaintance," and as far as he knew, Anderson had never stayed the night at the apartment. Davis stated, "I just know him when I see him." Anderson was his brother's friend, but Davis did not remember Anderson ever visiting the apartment when he (Davis) was there. He recalled that at around 1:45 a.m. on August 23, 2015, the Monticello police came to the apartment, and he answered the door. He testified that he did not know Anderson *283was inside his apartment when the police came to the door. Davis agreed that he gave his written consent to search the apartment but said that he gave consent only after the police had told him that they smelled weed and that he had to sign it. Neither Anderson nor McCraney testified at the suppression hearing.
Anderson filed a motion to suppress the evidence arguing that (1) valid consent was not acquired, and alternatively (2) the police exceeded the scope of any consent by searching the backpack. The trial court found that both Davis and McCraney had the right to consent to the search of the apartment; that Chief Deaton was more credible about whether the consent to search was freely and voluntarily acquired from Davis, especially since his testimony was corroborated by Captain Garcia; and that Anderson failed to establish "some privacy interest or property interest or expectation of privacy in this location." The motion to suppress was denied. Following the jury trial, Anderson filed this appeal.
Anderson contends on appeal that the trial court clearly erred in the following ways: (1) by finding that the State established that Davis's consent was freely and voluntarily given; (2) by not finding that the search of the backpack exceeded the scope of Davis's consent to search for Anderson; and (3) by finding that Anderson lacked standing to assert an expectation of privacy in the backpack. We hold that the trial court did not clearly err in finding that Anderson lacked standing to challenge the search of the apartment or the backpack, rendering any discussion about the validity and scope of Davis's consent moot. Even so, Davis clearly had the authority to consent to the search, the trial court was convinced that Davis had freely and voluntarily given consent to search, and Davis never limited or restricted the scope of that consent while officers were present.
To explain, a defendant's rights are violated only if the challenged conduct invaded his legitimate expectation of privacy, rather than that of a third party, and the proponent of a motion to suppress bears the burden of establishing that his or her Fourth Amendment rights have been violated. Gaylord v. State ,
Affirmed.
Virden and Murphy, JJ., agree.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.