Summary
The Wyoming Supreme Court reviewed a suppression order involving a search warrant served at approximately 10:18 p.m., in violation of W.R.Cr.P. 41(c)'s 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. execution period. Applying the prejudice and intentional-disregard test from Murray v. State, the Court held that the violation did not warrant exclusion because the occupants were awake, the search would have occurred shortly thereafter, and the violation was inadvertent. The Court reversed the suppression order and remanded for further proceedings.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether execution of a search warrant after 10 p.m. in violation of Wyoming Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(c) required suppression of the seized evidence.
- Whether the procedural violation rendered the search unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.
- Whether the violation caused prejudice or resulted from intentional and deliberate disregard sufficient to invoke the exclusionary rule.
Holdings
- A violation of Rule 41(c) does not by itself require exclusion of evidence. Suppression is warranted only when the violation caused prejudice, meaning the search might not have occurred or would not have been as abrasive if the rule had been followed, or when there was intentional and deliberate disregard of the rule.
- Although nighttime searches of private dwellings implicate significant privacy interests and the execution violated Rule 41(c), the circumstances presented did not make suppression appropriate under the Fourth Amendment exclusionary-rule analysis.
- Suppression was not warranted because Deen was not prejudiced by the 18-minute nighttime delay and there was no intentional and deliberate disregard of Rule 41(c).
Key quotations
“Violations of Rule 41 alone should not lead to exclusion unless (1) there was 'prejudice' in the sense that the search might not have occurred or would not have been so abrasive if the Rule had been followed, or (2) there is evidence of intentional and deliberate disregard of a provision in the Rule.” (¶ 112)
“Because Mr. Deen was not prejudiced, exclusion of the evidence seized in the search was not warranted.” (¶ 118)
“We reverse the order suppressing the evidence seized in the search and remand for further proceedings.” (¶ 123)
Factual background
After a traffic stop, the driver told investigators that he had repeatedly purchased marijuana from Dustin at a house on Peaceful Valley Drive. Investigators obtained a warrant authorizing service between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., but officers arrived and executed it at approximately 10:18 p.m. because of delays, including a passing train. The occupants were awake, and the search found marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and cash in small bills in Deen's bedroom. The investigator testified that the late execution was an oversight, not an intentional violation, and that the search would have occurred either with a nighttime endorsement or at 6 a.m.
Procedural history
Deen was charged with delivery of and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. Before trial, he moved to suppress evidence seized from his home because the warrant was served after the 10 p.m. limit in Wyoming Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(c). The district court granted suppression, and the State petitioned the Wyoming Supreme Court for review. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded.
Remand instructions
The order suppressing the evidence was reversed, and the case was remanded for further proceedings.