State v. Hall ( 2017 )


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  • IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
    STATE OF DELAWARE,
    Case No. 1608011703
    v. : Kent County
    DARREN Z. HALL,
    Defendant.
    Submitted: April 13, 2017
    Decided: April 21 , 2017
    ORDER
    Upon Defendant’s Motion to Suppress.
    Granted in Part,‘ Denied in Part.
    Gregory R. Babowal, Esquire, Department of Justice, Dover, Delaware; attorney for
    the State.
    J ’Aime L. Walker, Esquire, Offlce of the Public Defender, Dover, DelaWare; attorney
    for the Defendant.
    WITHAM, R.J.
    State v. Darren Z. Hall
    I.D. No. 1608011703
    April 21, 2017
    Before the Court is a Motion to Suppress filed by Defendant Darren Z. Ha11 and
    the State’s Response in opposition. In his motion, Mr. Ha11 seeks to suppress
    evidence obtained from a search of his person after a traffic stop. Police stopped the
    vehicle in Which Mr. Hall Was a passenger because the driver, J ames White, was the
    subject of a search Warrant. Officers found seventeen packages of suspected PCP in
    Mr. Hall’s Wallet, Which Was on his person. After Mr. Hall Was searched, he Was
    taken into custody and later strip-searched at the police station.
    Mr. Hall argues that the traffic stop of the car in Which he Was a passenger Was
    pretextual and that the police lacked a reasonable and articulable suspicion to pull the
    car over, and that there Were no grounds for the subsequent search of his person, his
    arrest, or the strip search. The motion is granted as to the PCP only.
    When a search or seizure is conducted in the absence of a search Warrant, the
    State has the burden of proving that the search or seizure complied With DelaWare
    statute and the federal and State constitutionsl
    As a passenger in the vehicle, Mr. Ha11 has no standing to challenge the stop
    of the vehicle itself, only the seizure of his person.2 Even if he had standing to
    challenge the stop, and even if the stop Was pretextual, as Mr. Hall argues, the stop
    Was supported by the officers’ observation of the driver and a valid search Warrant for
    the driver’s person. To the extent State v. Heath3 Would appear to mandate a
    1 State v. Kang, 
    2001 WL 1729126
    , at *3 (Del. Super. Nov. 30, 2001).
    2 State v. Howard, No. 1503012316, 
    2015 WL 7259584
    , at *2 (Del. Super. Nov. 16, 2015)
    (citing Jarvis v. State, 
    600 A.2d 38
    , n.l (Del. 1991)).
    3 
    929 A.2d 390
     (Del. super. Ct. 2006).
    State v. Darren Z. Ha11
    I.D. No. 1608011703
    April 21, 2017
    subjective inquiry into the officers’ intent when pretext is alleged, the Court declines
    to follow it.4
    As to the search of his person, the parties’ submissions and the hearing
    testimony do not explain why Mr. Hall was searched and his wallet opened. The
    State has argued, without presenting any evidence on the topic, that the search of Mr.
    Hall’s person was a protective search. The detective testified that police were
    searching for contraband or a weapon, but he offered no basis for their belief that Mr.
    Hall had either. And even if there were grounds to conduct a protective search, the
    detective’s testimony failed to explain how a wallet’s “plain feel” would indicate to
    an officer that it contained contraband or a weapon.5 Indeed, the detective that
    testified was not even present for the search.
    The Court has been unable to discover another ground for the search of Mr.
    Hall’s person. The State has not argued that the search was incident to arrest, likely
    because the detective did not testify to any probable cause for arrest before the
    challenged search revealed PCP. lt is the State’s burden to show that the search was
    proper, and it has not met its burden. The evidence obtained from the search of Mr.
    Hall’s person during the traffic stop is suppressed
    Mr. Hall argued at the hearing, apparently for the first time, that the search of
    4 The DelaWare Supreme Court also questioned the viability of Heath in Turner v. State, 
    25 A.3d 774
    , 777 (Del. 2011), and noted at the time that Heath had not been followed in any later
    decisions, 
    id.
     lt appears to have been followed subsequently by the Superior Court only once, and
    that was by its author. See State v. McNeil, No. 1202010211, 
    2012 WL 3834902
     (Del. Super. Ct.
    Aug. 21, 2012).
    5 Minnesota v. Dickerson, 
    508 U.S. 366
    , 375-76 (1993).
    3
    State v. Darren Z. Ha11
    I.D. No. 1608011703
    April 21, 2017
    Mr. White’s residence was improper. lt is unclear on what ground he bases that
    assertion. Regardless of the basis, the evidence adduced at the hearing did not
    demonstrate that Mr. Hall had a reasonable expectation of privacy in Mr. White’s
    residence.6 The Court thus holds that he has no standing to challenge its search or the
    validity of the warrant that supported it.
    Because Mr. Hall has not identified any evidence collected as part of the strip
    search, the Court will not consider its legality.
    Mr. Hall’s Motion to Suppress is GRANTED IN PART as to the PCP and
    DENIED IN PART as to the strip search and as to the evidence obtained at Mr.
    White’s residence pursuant the search warrant.
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    Hon. illiam L. Witham, Jr.
    Resident Judge
    WLW/dmh
    oc: Prothonotary
    xc: Gregory R. Babowal, Esquire
    J’Aime L. Walker, Esquire
    6 See, e.g., Nave v. State, 
    623 A.2d 1142
    , 
    1993 WL 65099
    , at *l (Del. Mar. 8, 1993).
    Although a defendant may have standing to challenge the search of an apartment where he is not a
    resident, there must be some sort of “expectation of privacy that society recognizes as reasonable,”
    such as having a key and permission to stay overnight. See 
    id.
     (quoting Hanna v. State, 
    591 A.2d 158
    , 163 (Del. 1991)).
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 1607011703

Judges: Witham R.J.

Filed Date: 4/21/2017

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 4/21/2017