People v. Mathews
People v. Mathews
Opinion of the Court
*881*132A jury convicted defendant Damari Mathews of second degree robbery and firearms offenses and found true the allegation that a principal personally used a firearm during the robbery after Mathews robbed the victim and shot himself as he was trying to escape. The trial court sentenced him to 13 years in prison. On appeal, Mathews contends that the court erroneously (1) refused to suppress evidence obtained from the hospital where he was being treated, allegedly in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights; (2) denied his request for personnel information about two police witnesses under Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974)
This court ordered the correction of a clerical error but otherwise affirmed the judgment on October 25, 2017. ( People v. Mathews (2017)
Accordingly, we vacate our decision of October 25, 2017, and remand for the trial court to exercise its discretion under amended Penal Code section 12022.53, subdivision (h).
I.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Shortly before 6:00 p.m. on the evening of September 21, 2013, the victim, a man in *882his early sixties, was walking in San Leandro with his grandson and their family dog. As the victim was throwing away some garbage, he noticed two men standing nearby. One of them, whose face was mostly covered, approached the victim and "tried to grab [the victim's] things." The victim surrendered the contents of his pockets, which included $38, a phone card, and an identification card, and the man then struck the victim on the head with a gun and fled with his companion.
After the two men were out of the victim's line of sight, the victim heard a "boom sound" like a "gunshot." Other witnesses also heard the sound of a gunshot from the direction of the scene of the robbery. Witnesses then saw two men, one of whom appeared to have an injury to his lower body and was holding a gun, running through the neighborhood. Some of the witnesses remembered seeing the same two men get out of a light-colored sedan a few minutes earlier. The same sedan picked the men up and drove off. No witness was ultimately able to identify Mathews as either suspect.
At around 5:50 p.m., a silver sedan was recorded dropping Mathews off at Highland Hospital in Oakland. The timing of some of the subsequent events at the hospital is unclear, and we discuss these timing issues in more detail when addressing Mathews's Fourth Amendment claim. Generally, however, Officer Keith Ballard-Geiger and Officer Pantoja of the San Leandro Police Department arrived at the hospital within minutes and made contact with Mathews in a trauma room. Officer Ballard-Geiger observed a perforation in Mathews's scrotum and a wound to his shin. The officer also searched a bag of Mathews's clothing, which included a pair of jeans with blood in the crotch area and a small, bloodstained hole in the shin area.
*134Officer Ballard-Geiger also seized some possessions of Mathews's, including a cell phone, that hospital staff had stored in a safe. A subsequent forensic examination of the phone demonstrated that it was used in the vicinity of the robbery to make a call at 5:40 p.m. and "traveled east from the location ..., got on the freeway on [Highway] 580, traveled northbound, and terminated somewhere near Highland Hospital."
Mathews was charged with one count of second degree robbery, with an accompanying allegation of a principal's personal use of a firearm, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one count of carrying a loaded firearm on one's person in a city.
The trial court sentenced Mathews to 13 years in prison, comprised of a term of three years for robbery and a consecutive term of ten years for the accompanying enhancement, a concurrent term of eight months for firearm possession by a felon, and a term of eight months, stayed, for *883carrying a loaded firearm on one's person in a city.
II.
DISCUSSION
A. Mathews Is Not Entitled to Relief on His Fourth Amendment Claim.
Mathews claims that the trial court prejudicially erred by denying the motion to suppress. We disagree. The motion was properly denied as to the cell phone and resulting evidence, and any error related to Officer Ballard-Geiger's observations of Mathews's clothes and wounds was harmless.
*1351. Additional facts.
Officer Ballard-Geiger, who was the only witness to testify at the suppression hearing, stated that at 5:44 p.m. on the day in question, he and Officer Pantoja were dispatched to the scene of the robbery after receiving a report of "a possible shooting."
The officers arrived at the hospital at 5:52 p.m. and entered the emergency area, which included "two trauma rooms." They were met by Deputy Bixby of the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, who told them that the patient who "had been dropped off with the gunshot wounds" was in one of the trauma rooms and had identified himself as "Omari Johnson." At around 6:09 p.m., Officer Pantoja radioed for a record check on the name "Omari Johnson."
Meanwhile, Officer Ballard-Geiger called the patrol sergeant, who told him "that it looked like an armed robbery had actually occurred and that one of the suspects had possibly shot himself while fleeing the scene." The officer went into a trauma room, where he was "directed ... to the subject [who] had been brought in with the gunshot wounds," whom he identified in court as Mathews. Mathews told the officer that "he got shot," and he said his name was "Damari Johnson."
Officer Ballard-Geiger observed Mathews's injuries, which included "a perforation to the right side of his scrotum" and what appeared to be "a graze wound to his lower right leg, his shin area." The officer was able to see the injuries because either Mathews or a nurse moved a sheet that covered them. Hospital staff directed Officer Ballard-Geiger to a bag of clothing that Mathews was wearing when he arrived at the hospital. Officer Ballard-Geiger inspected the bag's contents, including a pair of jeans with blood on the crotch area and lower right pant leg, which also had a small hole in it. Officer Ballard-Geiger believed that Mathews "was possibly the person involved in the robbery, [and] that he might have shot himself."
Officer Ballard-Geiger ran a record check on "Damari Johnson" at 6:33 p.m. The officer could not recall whether this occurred immediately after he got the name from Mathews, and he acknowledged that it could have been as *136long as 20 *884minutes later. At 6:36 p.m., Officer Ballard-Geiger was notified of a possible match, but he determined that the person was not Mathews based on the accompanying photograph.
At some point, Mathews was moved from the trauma room to a hospital hallway. There, Officer Ballard-Geiger questioned him further, and Mathews "told [the officer] his true name and date of birth." Officer Ballard-Geiger ran a check on the name and learned around 6:41 p.m. that Mathews was on probation and subject to a search condition.
While Officer Ballard-Geiger was at the hospital, he recovered "a watch, some cash[,] and a cell phone" belonging to Mathews that hospital staff had placed in a safe. A hospital employee unlocked the safe and "gave [him] the items" after the officer did some paperwork. The officer was unable to recall, however, exactly when he seized this evidence. He testified that he retrieved these items sometime after Mathews was moved from the trauma room to the hallway. He also testified that he obtained the evidence after Mathews had told him that his name was "Damari Johnson." But the officer's testimony was inconsistent as to whether he seized the items before or after he knew about Mathews's search condition, and he did not know whether the seizure was before or after he arrested Mathews.
Although Officer Ballard-Geiger recovered the cell phone at the hospital, he did not search the phone's contents at that time. Rather, during the ensuing investigation, Detective Brum turned on the phone, which revealed an image of Mathews on the screen saver and that the phone was serviced by Metro PCS. Detective Brum obtained search warrants for information about the phone, and Metro PCS provided information upon which a prosecution expert witness eventually relied in testifying that around the time of the robbery the phone traveled from the victim's neighborhood to the vicinity of Highland Hospital.
Mathews moved to suppress evidence obtained at the hospital and evidence that was attainable later only as a result of the seizure of the cell phone. The evidence obtained at the hospital was Officer Ballard-Geiger's observations of Mathews's injuries and clothes and the phone. The evidence attainable as a result of the phone were screen shots taken from it, its identification number, *137and its contents. Mathews also sought to suppress "[a]ll fruit from the seizure of" the clothing and phone.
At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Mathews argued that all of this evidence was obtained in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights because, among other reasons, Officer Ballard-Geiger was not aware of the search condition at the time he observed the clothing or wounds or seized the cell phone. The trial court found no such violation and denied the motion. Relying on Watkins , the court ruled that Mathews was estopped from seeking to suppress the evidence because "by giving a false name, ... [Mathews] then precluded the officer, regardless of when the officer ran the check," from discovering that Mathews was subject to a search condition. In addition, the court accepted Officer Ballard-Geiger's testimony *885that the officer "got the name Damari Johnson early on in his contact ... and that he ran that [name]." The court observed that, had Mathews given Officer Ballard-Geiger his correct name in the first instance, "information would have come to light that would have changed everything in terms of how this thing unfolded."
2. General legal standards.
We begin by discussing general Fourth Amendment principles. The Fourth Amendment protects the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." ( U.S. Const., 4th Amend.) " 'A warrantless search is presumed to be unreasonable, and the prosecution bears the burden of demonstrating a legal justification for the search [or seizure].' " ( People v. Suff (2014)
The applicable standards under which we review a trial court's order refusing to suppress evidence are well established. In reviewing the denial of a suppression motion, we consider the record in the light most favorable to the disposition and defer to the court's factual findings if supported by substantial evidence. ( People v. Tully (2012)
*1383. Mathews is estopped from challenging the admission of evidence derived from the cell phone's seizure.
In arguing that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated, Mathews does not clearly distinguish among the various evidence he contends should have been suppressed: the cell phone and evidence derived from it, the clothing, and Officer Ballard-Geiger's observations of his wounds. We first address his claim as it applies to the phone.
" '[O]ne of the specifically established exceptions to the requirements of both a warrant and probable cause is a search [or seizure] conducted pursuant to consent.' " ( People v. Woods (1999)
In Watkins , the decision the trial court relied on to deny the motion to suppress, a police officer stopped the defendant's vehicle, and the defendant stated that he was on probation but falsely identified himself as his brother. ( Watkins, supra, 170 Cal.App.4th at p. 1406,
Mathews relies on Myers v. Superior Court (2004)
Contrary to Mathews's position otherwise, Myers does not conflict with Watkins . As Watkins itself observed in distinguishing Myers , although Myers concluded that the evidence should have been suppressed despite the defendant's misrepresentation about his parole status, the conclusion was reached because it was the officer's failure to perform a record check, not the misrepresentation, that prevented the officer from learning about the search condition. ( Watkins, supra , 170 Cal.App.4th at p. 1410,
We also reject Mathews's implication that Watkins is inconsistent with the exclusionary rule's goal of deterring police misconduct. It is true, as Mathews points out, that "the primary purpose of the exclusionary rule [is] to deter police misconduct," and it is the rationale underlying the general principle that an unlawful search is not "justified by the circumstance that the suspect was subject to a search condition of which ... law enforcement officers were unaware when the search was conducted." ( People v. Sanders (2003)
Having concluded that it is appropriate to follow Watkins , we turn to address its application in this case. Mathews argues that "[e]ven under *140Watkins , [Officer Ballard-Geiger's] actions violated" the Fourth Amendment. He claims that the evidence shows that Officer Ballard-Geiger did not run a record check on "Damari Johnson" until after seizing the cell phone, so it was the officer's failure to do a record check, not the provision of a false name, that prevented the officer from learning of the search condition.
We do not agree with either the trial court or Mathews about the relevant point in time after which a defendant who provides a false name to a police officer is estopped under Watkins from challenging the validity of a search or seizure. The court ruled that estoppel was triggered when Mathews gave a false name , and Mathews argues that it was triggered when Officer Ballard-Geiger ran the record check on "Damari Johnson." We conclude, however, that estoppel is triggered when an officer receives the results from a record check based on a false name.
In many cases, all three events will happen nearly simultaneously, as they did in Watkins . (See Watkins, supra , 170 Cal.App.4th at p. 1406,
Contrary to Mathews's position otherwise, substantial evidence in the record shows that the seizure occurred after 6:36 p.m. In arguing that Officer Ballard-Geiger seized the cell phone before running a check on "Damari Johnson," Mathews fails to recognize that we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court's ruling and resolve any conflicts in favor of that ruling. ( Tully, supra , 54 Cal.4th at p. 979,
4. Any error in the failure to suppress Officer Ballard-Geiger's observations of Mathews's clothes and wounds was harmless.
Initially, we note that Mathews does not argue that Officer Ballard-Geiger's observations of Mathews's clothing and wounds led to the discovery of any other evidence that should have been excluded as fruit of the poisonous tree. (See People v. Brendlin (2008)
The admission of evidence in violation of the Fourth Amendment is not reversible per se. Instead, if such error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt under Chapman v. California (1967)
*142B.-D.
III.
DISPOSITION
Mathews's convictions are affirmed, but the case is remanded for the trial court to consider whether to strike or dismiss the firearm enhancement imposed under Penal Code section 12022.53, subdivision (b). The new abstract of judgment should reflect Mathews's conviction of count three, carrying a loaded firearm on one's person in a *889city under Penal Code section 25850, subdivision (a), which the trial court stayed pursuant to Penal Code section 654.
We concur:
Margulies, J.
Banke, J.
All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise noted.
The charges were brought under sections 211 (robbery), 29800, subdivision (a)(1) (firearm possession), and 25850, subdivision (a) (carrying a firearm), and the personal-use allegation was made under section 12022.53, subdivision (b).
The conviction for carrying a loaded firearm on one's person in a city is not listed on the abstract of judgment, and the new abstract must fix this clerical error. (People v. Mitchell (2001)
A CAD log introduced into evidence was used to establish the precise time of certain events to which Officer Ballard-Geiger testified.
The trial court took judicial notice of the fact that Mathews was on felony probation with "a four-way search clause." The court later read Mathews's search condition into the record: "Submit to search and seizure by any probation officer or any other law enforcement officer at any time of the day, with or without a search warrant, including: [v]ehicle, residence, person or any property under your control."
Because we conclude that there is substantial evidence that Officer Ballard-Geiger ran and received the results of a record check on "Damari Johnson" before seizing the cell phone, we need not address the Attorney General's argument that Mathews is estopped from challenging any evidence obtained after 6:09 p.m., when Officer Pantoja ran a record check on "Omari Johnson."
Because Mathews has failed to demonstrate prejudice, we need not decide whether Officer Ballard-Geiger's observations of Mathews's clothing and wounds were constitutional. Substantial authority, however, suggests that they were. (See, e.g., U.S. v. Davis (4th Cir. 2012)
See footnote *, ante .
Reference
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