State Supreme Court rules against search
JOSHUA WOLFSON Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 12:00 am
A Wyoming Supreme Court ruling that a search of a Casper man's car was unconstitutional will make the job of police more difficult, Natrona County's district attorney said Monday.
"Our officers will have far less ability to pursue criminal endeavors … than the officers in almost every state in the country do," said District Attorney Michael Blonigen.
A prominent Casper defense attorney disagreed, arguing that the decision, based on a 2004 Natrona County case, lets officers know what searches are acceptable.
"There ought not to be any mystery about it," said attorney Michael Krampner.
The court ruled Thursday that a 2004 police search of a station wagon, which turned up evidence of drug use, violated the state constitution.
The 3-2 ruling reversed a lower court's decision that allowed evidence from the search to be used in the case against Roy Dean Pierce, a Casper man who was facing three drug charges at the time. Pierce ultimately entered a conditional guilty plea to drug possession and received a two to three year prison sentence.
A Casper police officer initially arrested Pierce for two traffic violations and found the drug evidence during a subsequent search of the station wagon Pierce had been sitting in, court records show.
In their appeal, Pierce's attorneys argued the officer did not have a reasonable justification for searching the station wagon. They noted there was no evidence Pierce was under the influence of drugs or alcohol and that a search of Pierce found no weapons or evidence of criminal activity.
In his dissent, Justice E. James Burke said the officer acted in accordance with established procedure, with regard for the safety of himself, the community, other officers and Pierce.
A hearing will be scheduled in Natrona County District Court to determine whether the case against Pierce can more forward without the excluded drug evidence.
The Supreme Court's ruling makes the job of police officers more difficult by impacting their ability to collect evidence when they arrest people, Blonigen said.
"That case is more restrictive that any other case in the country," he said.
Krampner saw things differently.
"The law enforcement officials are always whining that some decision that went against them would make their jobs more difficult," he said. "In fact, the opposite is the case."
Clear boundaries drawn by the court, Krampner said, help officers by telling them what they can and cannot do.
Casper police Sgt. Mark Trimble didn't think the court's ruling would have much impact either way. After arresting someone in a car, police are already required to limit their searches to the scope of the arrest, he said.
The ruling stems from Pierce's arrest on Sept. 4, 2004. Casper police officer Wesley Gudahl was patrolling a city park at 5:19 a.m. when he saw Pierce laying back in the driver's seat of a parked station wagon.
Gudahl asked for Pierce's driver's license and proof of car insurance. Pierce told the officer his license was suspended and he didn't have proof of insurance.
The officer arrested Pierce on suspicion of driving under suspension and failing to maintain liability insurance. Pierce was handcuffed and searched - police did not find any weapons - and placed into the back of a patrol car.
Gudahl then searched the area of the Subaru where Pierce had been sitting and noticed an open black bag on the floor behind the driver's seat. Opening the rear driver's side door, the officer saw several syringes in a partially-closed eyeglass case just inside the bag, court documents show.
Searching the bag, Gudahl found plastic bags containing suspected methamphetamine residue, syringes that appeared to contained liquid meth, a spoon and roach clips, according to the court's ruling.
Prosecutors charged Gudahl with three drug-related felonies. His attorneys filed a motion to suppress the evidence Gudahl seized from the Subaru, alleging the officer's warrantless search violated the state and U.S. constitutions. That motion was denied in district court and Pierce entered a conditional guilty plea to one count of meth possession.
He is currently on probation in Wyoming for a Montana case, according to a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman.
Reach Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.