State v. Yazzie
State v. Yazzie
Opinion
*185 I. INTRODUCTION
{1} With this opinion we revisit the circumstances under which an officer may make a warrantless entry into a home under the emergency assistance doctrine.
1
Relying on cases interpreting the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, this Court held in
Ryon
that a warrantless entry is reasonable under the emergency assistance doctrine when (1) law enforcement officers "have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an emergency at hand and an immediate need for assistance for the protection of life or property;" (2) the officers' primary motivation for the search is a "strong sense of emergency" and not "to arrest a suspect or to seize evidence[;]" and (3) the officers have some reasonable basis, approximating probable cause, to connect the emergency to the area to be searched.
See
{2} Since
Ryon
was decided, the United States Supreme Court has clarified that the emergency assistance doctrine under the Fourth Amendment focuses on the objective reasonableness of the officer's actions and does not include a subjective component.
See
Brigham City v. Stuart
,
II. BACKGROUND
{3} Defendant Nathaniel Yazzie entered a conditional plea of no contest to the offense of attempt to commit negligent child abuse following the district court's denial of his motion to suppress. Defendant had moved to suppress all of the evidence gathered after Officer William Temples of the Farmington Police Department entered his unlocked apartment without a warrant in response to a welfare check. Defendant argued in his suppression motion that Officer Temples' entry violated his right to privacy in his home under the Fourth Amendment and Article II, Section 10. The State responded that Officer Temples' entry was reasonable to ensure the safety of those inside the apartment, thereby making his actions constitutionally permissible under the emergency assistance doctrine.
{4} The district court held a hearing where it considered the officer's testimony as well as the lapel video from the night of the incident. The video was not played during the hearing, but the district court reviewed it prior to issuing its letter decision denying the motion to suppress. The letter decision did not include formal, enumerated findings of fact. On review, we will "draw from the record to derive findings based on reasonable facts and inferences."
State v. Attaway
,
{5} Officer Temples was dispatched to Defendant's residence to conduct a welfare check at 9:43 p.m. on December 5, 2013 after Defendant's downstairs neighbor had reported a loud "thumping" sound coming from the apartment above. Officer Temples testified that no one answered Defendant's door after he loudly knocked and announced himself as *186 a police officer over the course of eight to ten minutes. He told the district court that during that time, the only response to his knocking was an infant crying continuously and a young child "hollering, 'Mommy! Mommy, wake up!' " Officer Temples described the infant's cry as "a constant cry as if there was nobody caring for the child." He further testified that the doorknob rattled as though someone was trying, but unable, to open the door from the inside.
{6} Officer Temples explained at the hearing that these observations led him to believe that someone in the apartment was hurt or otherwise incapacitated, leaving the children unattended. He said he thought the children's mother may have required aid because "usually when a child ... asks their mommy to wake up several times, usually Mommy wakes up when she's sober or uninjured." Officer Temples testified that he opened the unlocked apartment door to peer inside once he concluded that his assistance was required within. When he did, he observed Defendant and an adult woman lying on the floor of the apartment with two children under six and an infant in the same room.
{7} The lapel video shows Officer Temples knocking six times in the span of roughly six minutes before opening the unlocked apartment door. After his first knock, movement can be heard within, the doorknob rattles, and a child can be heard calling to his or her mother. Moments later, an infant begins to fuss. Officer Temples knocks a second time and someone again rattles the doorknob but gives no additional response. After his fifth unanswered knock, Officer Temples announces that he is an officer of the Farmington Police Department and requests that someone come to the door. The fussing baby is heard again, but no one responds to his request. Officer Temples then says to himself, "Mom and Dad are obviously passed out." At this point in the video, the baby's crying increases in volume and tempo. A minute later Officer Temples knocks a sixth time and announces himself again. When he does not receive a response, Officer Temples opens the unlocked door of the apartment. He knocks a seventh time while standing in the doorway. About one minute later, Officer Temples calls for a backup officer and a portable breath test unit (PBT). He then fully enters the apartment, approximately eight minutes after his first knock.
{8} Officer Temples testified that once inside the apartment he performed a sweep of the adjoining rooms of the apartment to ensure officer safety, as well as to see if any other individuals in the apartment required assistance. During the sweep, Officer Temples observed empty alcohol bottles in the kitchen at the top of an open trash can.
{9} In the lapel video, Officer Temples performs a thirty-second sweep of the apartment, shining his flashlight into each of the rooms, including the kitchen. The lapel video shows that after the requested backup officer arrives, the pair of officers physically rouse the adults, question them, and administer the breath tests. They do not call for a medical response unit. Based on the results of the breath tests, they arrest both adults. This sequence of events is reflected in Officer Temples' arrest report. Defendant was later charged with negligent child abuse contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 30-6-1(D) (2009).
{10} In denying Defendant's motion to suppress, the district court concluded that the entry was justified under either the community caretaking or emergency assistance doctrines, citing Ryon . The district court explained that the entry was permissible because Officer Temples based his decision to enter on "what he was told and what he heard and observed at the apartment," which gave him "a reasonable concern that a medical emergency existed warranting immediate entry." The district court also concluded that the safety sweep was appropriate because "[i]t was a very brief inspection and was supported by what the officer observed upon entering the residence." Finally, the district court found that Officer Temples' "primary motivation was not criminal investigation but to render aid or protection from harm."
{11} Following the denial of his motion to suppress, Defendant pleaded no contest to the lesser offense of attempt to commit negligent child abuse, a fourth-degree felony in violation of Section 30-6-1(D). He entered a conditional plea, reserving his right to appeal the denial of the suppression motion.
*187
{12} The Court of Appeals reversed the district court's denial of the motion to suppress.
State v. Yazzie
, No. 34,537, mem. op. ¶ 2,
III. STANDARD OF REVIEW
{13} "Appellate review of a motion to suppress presents a mixed question of law and fact. First, we look for substantial evidence to support the [district] court's factual finding, with deference to the district court's review of the testimony and other evidence presented."
Martinez
,
{14} After the Court of Appeals decided
Yazzie
, we reaffirmed in
Martinez
that appellate courts must afford a high degree of deference to the district court's factual findings if supported by substantial evidence.
IV. DISCUSSION
{15} This case centers on the reasonableness of Officer Temples' warrantless entry and search of Defendant's apartment under the emergency assistance doctrine. The emergency assistance doctrine is an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment.
See
Brigham City
,
{16} The "ultimate touchstone" of any Fourth Amendment search and seizure analysis is "reasonableness."
Brigham City
,
A. Reasonableness of the Entry and Search Under the Fourth Amendment
{17} The Fourth Amendment guarantees "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures[.]" U.S. Const. amend. IV. This protection is only conferred when individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place to be searched or the thing to be seized.
See
Katz v. United States
,
{18} As an individual's privacy interests are strongest in the home, warrantless searches of a home are "presumptively unreasonable."
See
Brigham City
,
{19} In
Ryon
, this Court adopted a widely-used analysis of the emergency assistance doctrine under the Fourth Amendment.
See
{20} The
Ryon
Court noted that, following
Mincey
, some courts had adopted a "purely objective test" to assess an entry under the emergency assistance doctrine, but the majority of courts had adopted the test first articulated in
People v. Mitchell
,
First, "the police must have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an emergency at hand and an immediate need for their assistance for the protection of life or property." Second, " the search must not be primarily motivated by intent to arrest or seize evidence ." Third, "there must be some reasonable basis, approximating probable cause, to associate the emergency with the area or place to be searched."
*189
Ryon
,
{21} This Court recognized that a subjective inquiry is unusual in the Fourth Amendment context but nonetheless adopted the
Mitchell
test in full.
See
Ryon
,
{22} The year after the
Ryon
decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled in
Brigham City
that an officer's subjective motivation was irrelevant in assessing the reasonableness of an entry under the emergency assistance doctrine.
{23} We are constrained by the Supreme Court's precedent in
Brigham City
and therefore eliminate the separate inquiry under
Ryon
into the officer's subjective intent for the entry and search under the Fourth Amendment. Accordingly, a warrantless entry and search of a home is permitted under the emergency assistance doctrine if the state establishes just two elements. First, "[p]olice must have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an emergency at hand and an immediate need for their assistance for the protection of life or property[.]"
Ryon
,
1. Objective reasonableness of the entry
{24} In applying the first step of this analysis, we consider whether the district court's factual findings were supported by substantial evidence and whether those findings support a conclusion that Officer Temples' entry was objectively reasonable. An objective review requires us to assess the totality of the circumstances to determine whether a "prudent and reasonable official [would] see a need to act to protect life or
*190
property[.]"
Wayne v. United States
,
{25} Law enforcement must have "credible and specific information" that a victim is in need of emergency aid before a warrantless entry may be justified under the emergency assistance doctrine.
See
Ryon
,
{26} To aid in its determination of whether the officers' entry was objectively reasonable, this Court weighed "the purpose and nature of the dispatch, the exigency of the situation based on the known facts, and the availability, feasibility and effectiveness of alternatives to the type of intrusion actually accomplished." Id. ¶¶ 32, 43-44 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The Court concluded that the known facts-the knowledge that the suspect may be injured, the state of the house, and the lack of response at the door-did not point to an imminent emergency and that the officers did not do enough to corroborate the information they were given before entering without a warrant. Id. ¶¶ 43-45. The Court noted that the officers did not even know whether the suspect was home, let alone whether he was actually injured. Id. ¶ 43
{27} The State argues that this case is distinguishable from Ryon and that Officer Temples' entry was objectively reasonable as the information available to him caused him to reasonably believe entry was necessary to protect Defendant's children and give aid to their mother. The State notes that Officer Temples' reasonable perception of the emergency came into focus with each new fact he learned while standing outside the apartment. At first, Officer Temples knew he was responding to a welfare check based on the neighbor's report of a loud thumping sound coming from Defendant's apartment. When Officer Temples arrived at the apartment, the thumping sound had been replaced with the sounds of a small child hollering in an attempt to rouse his or her mother and a baby fussing and then crying continuously. In addition, Officer Temples noticed the doorknob rattling several times as though someone were attempting to open the door. Crucially, he did not hear the children's mother-or any adult-moving within the apartment, even though the child was yelling for his or her mother to wake up. The State asserts that each of these observations compounded upon the next to form a sufficient reasonable basis for Officer Temples to conclude that the nonresponsive mother required medical attention and that, due to her condition, the children were left alone in a dangerous situation.
{28} Defendant argues that the facts available to Officer Temples were not enough to support a reasonable belief that a sufficiently compelling emergency existed within the apartment. Defendant focuses primarily on facts that were not present when Officer Temples knocked on the door-facts that would more clearly indicate an emergency. For example, there were no loud noises coming from the apartment when Officer Temples arrived and no sounds to indicate violent behavior inside. Additionally, there were no concerned neighbors gathered outside, no damage to the windows or building to indicate an altercation, and no signs of spilled blood. Furthermore, the children were not
*191
wandering alone outside to suggest that they were left unattended.
Contra
United States v. Taylor
,
{29} We are not convinced by Defendant's argument that Officer Temples lacked key information to conclude that the children and their mother were in need of immediate aid. Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the State and drawing all reasonable inferences in support of the district court's decision, there is substantial evidence to support the district court's factual findings in this case. In particular, Officer Temples' first-hand knowledge about the presence of small children-who apparently were unsupervised and unable to rouse their parents-supports the objective reasonableness of his conclusion that he needed to take action to "[protect] life or property."
See
Ryon
,
{30} In reaching this conclusion, we are persuaded by the reasoning in
Taylor
.
{31} The
Taylor
court held that the discovery of the young girl alone on a crowded street constituted an emergency which reasonably justified the officer's entry into the girl's home.
{32} In this case, the district court found that Officer Temples knew the children were left unattended because their mother was unresponsive for several minutes after a neighbor reported hearing a loud thumping coming from the apartment. Indeed, Officer Temples had several pieces of specific and credible information that, when coupled with reasonable inferences based on his observations, warranted his entry to provide emergency assistance.
{33} Officer Temples' compounding observations formed a reasonable basis for him to conclude that his emergency assistance was required within the apartment. The purpose of the dispatch was to check on the welfare of those within Defendant's apartment. Based on the information from the dispatcher, Officer Temples knew that a neighbor had heard a loud thumping sound minutes before his arrival, but the apartment was silent when he got to the door. The only response he received to his repeated knocking was an infant's
*192
cries and a young child's plea to his or her mother to wake up. Unlike the officers in
Ryon
, Officer Temples knew the children were located inside the apartment.
Contra
{34} Knowing that the very young children were unattended, Officer Temples had few reasonable alternatives but to open the door and check on the occupants. Entering the apartment was the only feasible way for Officer Temples to corroborate his suspicion that the mother was unconscious.
Cf.
{35} We are persuaded by the reasoning in
Taylor
that children deserve society's utmost protection. The very young children apparently left to care for themselves in this case also raised reasonable concerns about the welfare of their guardians.
See
Taylor
,
{36} Before we turn to the second prong of the modified
Ryon
test, we pause to correct the Court of Appeals about the standard of review that must be applied when assessing whether the district court's findings of fact are supported by sufficient evidence. The Court of Appeals improperly rested its decision on an independent review of the lapel video and did not credit Officer Temples' testimony regarding the circumstances that led to his entry.
See
Yazzie
, No. 34,537, mem. op. ¶¶ 11-12. For example, the Court of Appeals stated that the sounds of the baby and the child were "intermittent and briefly heard,"
id.
¶ 12, while Officer Temples testified that the child inside was "hollering" for the mother to wake up and that the baby was crying constantly as though left unattended. This discrepancy in the description of the volume and frequency of the children's noises demonstrates that the Court of Appeals substituted its own view of the evidence and failed to view these facts in the light most favorable to the State as the prevailing party.
Martinez
,
{37} Additionally, the Court of Appeals did not appropriately defer to the district court's factual findings. The Court of Appeals' impressions regarding the sounds of the children on the video conflicted with Officer
*193
Temples' testimony at the hearing. When faced with conflicting evidence, the Court of Appeals should have deferred to the district court's finding that Officer Temples' entry was justified based on "what he heard ... at the apartment."
See
Martinez
,
2. Reasonableness of the safety sweep
{38} The second step of the emergency assistance analysis under the Fourth Amendment requires inquiry into whether Officer Temples had "some reasonable basis, approximating probable cause, to associate the emergency with the area or place to be searched."
See
Ryon
,
{39} In this case, the district court concluded that Officer Temples' safety sweep was appropriate as it was a "brief inspection" supported by Officer Temples' observations upon entering the apartment. There is substantial evidence to support these findings of the district court. First, the record shows that Officer Temples directly connected Defendant's apartment with the emergency at hand. He testified that he entered the apartment to which he was dispatched-the same apartment from which he heard a baby crying and a child attempting to awaken his or her mother.
{40} Next, the evidence shows that the manner and scope of the search were reasonable. The lapel video shows that Officer Temples spent approximately thirty seconds peering into the rooms adjoining the main room. He shined his flashlight into each room, but he did not appear to fully enter the other rooms or disturb any objects within. According to Officer Temples' testimony, the empty alcohol bottles he observed were in plain view in the kitchen.
{41} Finally, the record supports the conclusion that the sweep was limited to the exigencies that justified the initial entry. Officer Temples testified that he performed the brief safety sweep to ensure officer safety and to ascertain whether any other individuals required assistance. Finding no one in the apartment but the three children and their parents, the lapel video shows that Officer Temples returned to the main room where he remained with the children as he attempted to rouse their parents.
{42} We defer to the district court's findings which we determine to be supported by substantial evidence. Based on those findings, we conclude that Officer Temples' safety sweep was reasonable and limited in scope to the emergency at hand.
Cf.
Najar
,
B. Interstitial Analysis
{43} Because we conclude in this case that Defendant's right to be free from warrantless police intrusion into his home is not protected by the Fourth Amendment, we proceed to examine his claim under Article II, Section 10.
See
Gomez
,
*194
{44} Defendant asks this Court to depart from federal analysis of the emergency assistance doctrine to find a violation of his right to be free from unreasonable search under Article II, Section 10. We have not adopted a test for the emergency assistance doctrine under our state constitution.
See
Ryon
,
{45} Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution guarantees that "[t]he people shall be secure in their persons, papers, homes and effects, from unreasonable searches and seizures[.]" In several instances, New Mexico courts have recognized that this provision provides broader protection of individual privacy rights than the Fourth Amendment.
See
State v. Leyva
,
{46} The regulatory role of Article II, Section 10 supports New Mexico's preference for warrants.
See
Crane
,
{47} Inquiry into an officer's primary motivation for entry affords individuals broader protection against baseless, warrantless intrusions into their homes. The subjective element of the
Ryon
test provides a judicial sieve through which courts may scrutinize warrantless police action and properly exclude evidence obtained under the guise of emergency response.
See
Ryon
,
{48} Accordingly, we adopt the complete
Ryon
test to determine under Article II, Section 10 when the emergency assistance doctrine may apply to a warrantless entry and search of a home. For the doctrine to apply: (1) "[p]olice must have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an emergency at hand and an immediate need for their assistance for the protection of life or property;" (2) "the search must not be primarily motivated by an intent to arrest a suspect or to seize evidence[, and] ... the motivation for the intrusion must be a strong sense of an emergency;" and (3) "there must be some reasonable basis, approximating probable cause, to associate the emergency with the area or place to be searched."
Ryon
,
{49} The first and third prongs of the Ryon test contemplate the same analysis conducted under the Fourth Amendment; we therefore come to the same conclusions reached above. Under Article II, Section 10, Officer Temples had objectively reasonable grounds to believe there was an emergency that required his immediate assistance to protect Defendant's children and their mother. Additionally, there was a reasonable basis for Officer Temples to associate the emergency with the apartment he ultimately entered and searched.
{50} Under the second prong, there is substantial evidence to support the district court's conclusion that Officer Temples' primary motivation for entry was to render aid and protection from harm. Indeed, Officer Temples testified that he was worried about the mother's medical condition when she failed to respond to her child's plea to wake up. He further testified that her lack of response led him to believe that the children had been left unattended. The Court of Appeals did not analyze Officer Temples' primary motivation for entry, but it agreed with the district court that he appeared "genuinely concerned about the welfare of the children." Yazzie , No. 34,537, mem. op. ¶ 13.
{51} Defendant asks us to infer that Officer Temples' primary motive was not to render aid and protection but rather to investigate a suspected crime within the apartment. To support this inference, Defendant points to the facts that Officer Temples requested a unit with a PBT and did not call medical responders after entering the residence. The district court concluded that Officer Temples' "primary motivation was not criminal investigation." We will defer to the district court's decision as it is supported by substantial evidence. The facts relied upon by Defendant urging a contrary conclusion are not sufficient to overcome the standard of review in this case.
See
Martinez
,
V. CONCLUSION
{52} For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals. The district court properly denied Defendant's motion to suppress. Because it reversed the district court's denial of the motion to suppress, the Court of Appeals did not reach Defendant's remaining arguments. We remand this case for a determination of any issues remaining on appeal.
{53} IT IS SO ORDERED.
WE CONCUR:
JUDITH K. NAKAMURA, Chief Justice
PETRA JIMENEZ MAES, Justice, Retired Sitting by designation
CHARLES W. DANIELS, Justice, Retired Sitting by designation
GARY L. CLINGMAN, Justice, Retired Sitting by designation
The United States Supreme Court has referred to this doctrine as the "emergency aid exception."
Michigan v. Fisher
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Petitioner, v. Nathaniel YAZZIE, Defendant-Respondent.
- Cited By
- 22 cases
- Status
- Published