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State v. Rodrigues

Supreme Court of Hawaii
Jan 3, 1985
67 Haw. 496 (Haw. 1985)

Summary

holding that the State, when seeking reversal of a trial court's grant of a motion to suppress, waived the argument that a good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applied because "the State had never presented the issue ... to the trial court" and observing that "[i]t is a generally accepted rule that issues not raised at the trial level will not be considered on appeal"

Summary of this case from State v. Romano

Opinion

NO. 9245

January 3, 1985

APPEAL FROM THE FIRST CIRCUIT COURT HONORABLE PHILIP T. CHUN, JUDGE.

LUM, C.J., NAKAMURA, PADGETT, HAYASHI AND WAKATSUKI, JJ.

Shirley Smith (Arthur E. Ross, and Steven Hochfelsen on the briefs), Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys for plaintiff-appellant.

Richard Pollack (William H. Jameson, Jr. on the brief), Deputy Public Defender for defendant-appellee.


Plaintiff-Appellant State of Hawaii appeals the suppression of evidence (Defendant-Appellee Michael Rodrigues' mask and blue jogging suit) obtained from a warrantless search and seizure. We affirm.

I.

On April 10, 1981, at about 5:30 p.m., a substitute teacher was attacked with a knife by an individual at Aiea High School. A few minutes later the victim described her assailant as being five feet eight inches tall, about 185 pounds, blond with blue eyes, and wearing a skeleton mask and a blue jogging suit. Aiea High School principal Richard Honda told the police that the description matched Appellee who lived adjacent to the school.

Three police officers proceeded to Appellee's residence and were met at the door by Appellee. After identifying himself to the officers, Appellee was asked to step aside, and a police sergeant proceeded to speak with Mrs. Fye, the babysitter.

At the time of the incident, Appellee's mother and step-father were out of the state. Mrs. Fye was retained to care for Appellee and his younger brothers. The police informed Mrs. Fye that Appellee might have been involved in the incident at the high school. Mrs. Fye was then asked whether Appellee owned a skeleton mask and a blue jogging suit. When she replied that Appellee's step-father had a skeleton mask, the police asked her to look in Appellee's room for the mask and the blue jogging suit. These items were eventually found after a search under Appellee's bed and of his dresser drawers.

Mrs. Fye had a note from Appellee's mother authorizing Mrs. Fye and her husband to "handle all medical care and legal matters" for the children. Appellee's room, however, was never entered by Mrs. Fye, or even by Appellee's family without Appellee's consent. Appellee's mother specifically instructed Mrs. Fye that Appellee's room was to be left alone, that she did not have to clean it, and that laundry was to be left outside the door in the absence of Appellee.

Mrs. Fye was never asked whether she had authority to enter and search, or to consent to a search of Appellee's room. She was also never informed that she could refuse to look for the requested items. Mrs. Fye was visibly upset at the time when she found herself in such a situation with the police for the first time. Appellee, although present throughout the search, was never asked to consent to a search of his room.

After the mask and the jogging suit were produced by Mrs. Fye, Appellee was arrested and later indicted for attempted murder. The trial court held that the search was conducted in violation of Appellee's constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and suppressed the use of the mask and jogging suit as evidence.

II.

It is undisputed that this search was conducted without a warrant. Warrantless searches may nevertheless be sanctioned when there is probable cause to search and exigent circumstances exist which will justify a search and seizure without a warrant. State v. Clark, 65 Haw. 488, 494, 654 P.2d 355, 360 (1982). The question of exigency is addressed to the fact-finding function of the trial court. State v. Lloyd, 61 Haw. 505, 512, 606 P.2d 913, 918 (1980).

The State argues that some evidence was presented which could lead the trial court to conclude that there were exigent circumstances, and therefore, the case should be remanded to the trial court to determine the factual questions on the issue of exigency. In addition, the State argues that the "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule should be applied in this case. The trial court made no findings and conclusions on the issue of exigent circumstances, nor on the issue of the "good faith" exception.

A review of the record reveals that the State had never presented the issue of exigent circumstances, nor the issue of a "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule to the trial court. It is a generally accepted rule that issues not raised at the trial level will not be considered on appeal. State v. DeSilva, 64 Haw. 40, 41, 636 P.2d 728, 729 (1981); State v. Hook, 60 Haw. 197, 204, 587 P.2d 1224, 1229 (1978). At the trial level, the State's Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Suppress and its oral argument propounded only the theory of consent to the search in question. Nothing in the record even hints that the State was also relying on a finding of exigent circumstances to justify the warrantless search and seizure, or on a "good faith" exception theory. In view of the record, we deem the issues of exigency and a "good faith" exception to have been waived. See State v. Miyazaki, 64 Haw. 611, 616, 645 P.2d 1340, 1344 (1982); State v. Hook, supra.

III.

The trial court found that Mrs. Fye had no authority to consent to a search, and even if she had consented, the court found that such consent was given involuntarily. We do not find the trial court's findings to be clearly erroneous in view of the evidence in the record.

Affirmed.


Summaries of

State v. Rodrigues

Supreme Court of Hawaii
Jan 3, 1985
67 Haw. 496 (Haw. 1985)

holding that the State, when seeking reversal of a trial court's grant of a motion to suppress, waived the argument that a good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applied because "the State had never presented the issue ... to the trial court" and observing that "[i]t is a generally accepted rule that issues not raised at the trial level will not be considered on appeal"

Summary of this case from State v. Romano

holding that the State, “propound[ing] only the theory of consent to the search” at the trial level, had waived the theories “of exigency and a ‘good faith’ exception” because “[i]t is a generally accepted rule that issues not raised at the trial level will not be considered on appeal”

Summary of this case from State ‘i v. Kikuta

holding that the State, "propounding] only the theory of consent to the search" at the trial level, had waived the theories "of exigency and a `good faith' exception" because "[i]t is a generally accepted rule that issues not raised at the trial level will not be considered on appeal"

Summary of this case from State v. Kikuta

holding that the State, "propounding] only the theory of consent to the search" at the trial level, had waived the theories "of exigency and a `good faith' exception" because "[i]t is a generally accepted rule that issues not raised at the trial level will not be considered on appeal"

Summary of this case from COX v. COX

holding that, on appeal, when seeking a reversal on a motion to suppress, the State was precluded from raising the issue of a "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule because "[i]t is a generally accepted rule that issues not raised at the trial level will not be considered on appeal"

Summary of this case from State v. Kalaola

holding that the State, "propound[ing] only the theory of consent to the search" at the trial level, had waived the theories "of exigency and a 'good faith' exception" because "[i]t is a generally accepted rule that issues not raised at the trial level will not be considered on appeal"

Summary of this case from State v. Rapozo

holding that claim of exigent circumstances not raised below by the prosecution in a suppression hearing is waived because "[n]othing in the record even hints that the State was also relying on a finding of exigent circumstances to justify the warrantless search and seizure"

Summary of this case from State v. Cuntapay

holding that, on appeal, when seeking reversal of a court's granting of a motion to suppress, the State waived the argument that the exigent circumstances and good faith exceptions to the warrant requirement applied because "the State had never presented the issue . . . to the trial court" and that "[i]t is a generally accepted rule that issues not raised at the trial level will not be considered on appeal"

Summary of this case from State v. Kaleohano

holding that the prosecution waived the issues of "good faith" and "exigent circumstances" exceptions to the exclusionary rule because it failed to raise the issue at trial

Summary of this case from State v. Harada

noting that "[n]othing in the record even hints that the State was also relying on a finding of exigent circumstances to justify the warrantless search and seizure, or on a "good faith" exception theory" and having "propounded only the theory of consent to the search in question" "the issues of exigency and a ‘good faith’ exception to have been waived"

Summary of this case from State v. Pacquing

precluding the State from raising arguments regarding exigent circumstances and the good faith exception on appeal when they were not raised in the trial court, even though the State prevailed on other grounds at trial

Summary of this case from State v. Gonzalez

noting that, because the prosecution offered only one theory, this court would not review new, alternative theories on appeal

Summary of this case from State v. Taylor

noting that, because the prosecution offered only one theory, this court would not review new, alternative theories on appeal

Summary of this case from State v. Tominiko

stating that, “[a]t the trial level, the State ... propounded only the theory of consent to the search in question” and therefore, “issues of exigency and a ‘good faith’ exception have been waived”

Summary of this case from State ‘i v. Kikuta

stating that, "[a]t the trial level, the State[] — . . . propounded only the theory of consent to the search in question" and therefore, "issues of exigency and a `good faith' exception [] have been waived"

Summary of this case from State v. Kikuta

stating that " review of the record reveals that the [prosecution] had never presented the issue of exigent circumstances, nor the issue of a `good faith' exception to the exclusionary rule to the trial court" and these issues were deemed waived

Summary of this case from State v. Reis

In Rodrigues, a review of the record revealed that at the trial level the prosecution had not presented the issue of exigent circumstances, nor the issue of a "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule.

Summary of this case from State v. Harada
Case details for

State v. Rodrigues

Case Details

Full title:STATE OF HAWAII, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MICHAEL FRANCIS RODRIGUES…

Court:Supreme Court of Hawaii

Date published: Jan 3, 1985

Citations

67 Haw. 496 (Haw. 1985)
692 P.2d 1156

Citing Cases

State v. Rapozo

(Citing State v. Cummings, 49 Haw. 522, 423 P.2d 438 (1967).)); State v. Rodrigues, 67 Haw. 496, 498, 692…

State v. Romano

The State had the opportunity at the suppression hearing to argue that the good faith exception to the…