State v. Powley

Summary

The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed Richard Powley’s criminal judgments for three counts of gross sexual imposition. The court held that his parole conditions remained effective while he was incarcerated and that detectives had reasonable suspicion to conduct a warrantless search of his cell phone under those conditions. The court declined to consider Powley’s argument that the search was unauthorized because it was conducted by detectives rather than a parole officer, as that argument was raised for the first time on appeal.

Holdings

1. The court declined to consider Powley's argument that the parole search condition did not authorize law-enforcement detectives to conduct the search because he had not raised that argument in the district court.
2. A parolee's conditions of parole continue to apply while the parolee is incarcerated, until parole is revoked.
3. The warrantless search of Powley's cell phone was constitutionally reasonable because detectives had reasonable suspicion that the phone contained evidence of the aggravated assault and Powley was subject to a parole search condition.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Powley could argue for the first time on appeal that the search condition authorized only a search by a parole or probation officer and not by law-enforcement detectives.
2. Whether Powley's parole conditions ceased to apply or were suspended when he was incarcerated.
3. Whether the warrantless search of Powley's cell phone violated the Fourth Amendment because it was conducted without a warrant or suspicion while he was incarcerated.

Disposition

affirmed