Hawai'i declines to follow Harris v. New York under its state constitution. The police unlawfully entered defendant's house after an "'abuse-type' call" where the defendant's wife and daughters were outside. Harris is rejected because, in this court's view, it rewards violations of the law by police. State v. Marino, 114 Haw. 271, 160 P.3d 1258 (2007):

With all due respect, we disagree with the Harris Court. The rule in Payton was designed to protect, not just "the physical integrity of the home[,]" Id. at 17, 110 S. Ct. at 1643, although that is wherein the Fourth Amendment and Article I, section 7 find their highest expression, Id. at 18, 110 S. Ct. at 1643, but ultimately the constitutional right of the people to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures and invasions of privacy. For a house is just a house, and does not become a home in the constitutional sense unless so imbued by the inherent rights of the householder. It is not merely the materially limited and located "persons, houses, papers, and effects" that are constitutionally protected, but more profoundly, the immanent "right of the people to be secure" therein. Fourth Amendment; Article I, section 7. For this reason, the Harris Court's focus on the limits of the physical house to the exclusion of the metaphysical home feels, at first blush, foreboding.

For while there was probable cause to arrest Harris and the police could have done so lawfully on his doorstep or on the street, to say that "the legal issue is the same" once Harris was removed from his home, Id. at 18, 110 S. Ct. at 1643, is to be oblivious to the unlawful arrest which led to his removal and any aftereffect it may have had on his decision to talk:

"The majority's per se rule in this case fails to take account of our repeated holdings that violations of privacy in the home are especially invasive. Rather, its rule is necessarily premised on the proposition that the effect of a Payton violation magically vanishes once the suspect is dragged from his home. But the concerns that make a warrantless home arrest a violation of the Fourth Amendment are nothing so evanescent. A person who is forcibly separated from his family and home in the dark of night after uniformed officers have broken down his door, handcuffed him, and forced him at gunpoint to accompany them to a police station does not suddenly breathe a sigh of relief at the moment he is dragged across his doorstep. Rather, the suspect is likely to be so frightened and rattled that he will say something incriminating. These effects, of course, extend far beyond the moment the physical occupation of the home ends."

Id. at 28, 110 S. Ct. at 1648-49 (Marshall, J., dissenting). And while it may seem conceptually self-evident that suppression in a Harris situation would have minimal "incremental deterrent value" because police with probable cause "need not violate Payton in order to interrogate the suspect[,]" Id. at 20-21, 110 S. Ct. at 1644, the fact remains that the violation happened in Harris, and it happened again here.

When all is said and done, perhaps the most damning indictment of Harris is the powerful but perverse incentive it creates for police misconduct:

"More important, the officer knows that if he breaks into the house without a warrant and drags the suspect outside, the suspect, shaken by the enormous invasion of privacy he has just undergone, may say something incriminating. Before today's decision, the government would only be able to use that evidence if the Court found that the taint of the arrest had been attenuated; after the decision, the evidence will be admissible regardless of whether it was the product of the unconstitutional arrest. Thus, the officer envisions the following best-case scenario if he chooses to violate the Constitution: He avoids a major expenditure of time and effort, ensures that the suspect will not escape, and procures the most damaging evidence of all, a confession. His worst-case scenario is that he will avoid a major expenditure of effort, ensure that the suspect will not escape, and will see evidence in the house (which would have remained unknown absent the constitutional violation) that cannot be used in the prosecution's case in chief. The Court thus creates powerful incentives for police officers to violate the Fourth Amendment. In the context of our constitutional rights and the sanctity of our homes, we cannot afford to presume that officers will be entirely impervious to those incentives."

Id. at 32, 110 S. Ct. at 1650 (Marshall, J., dissenting) (footnote omitted). We must part ways with the Harris Court.

The Virgin Islands court encounters a Garrison-type situation: They investigated and determined that there was one dwelling at the address to be searched, but, on arrival at the property, they discovered that there were two and entered anyway. This violated the Fourth Amendment. People v. Kevin, 2006 V.I. LEXIS 32 (December 14, 2006):

C. Execution of Warrant

If the officers' execution of the warrant exceeded the scope of the warrant, the evidence recovered from the illegal search will be suppressed, even though the search warrant was validly issued. See, e.g., King, 227 F.3d at 751 ("a valid search warrant can turn into an invalid general search if officers flagrantly disregard the limitations of the warrant"). In Garrison, officers executed a search of the third floor of an apartment building pursuant to a warrant. 480 U.S. at 80. When they realized that the third floor consisted of two, not one, apartments, they immediately discontinued their search. The Court held that the officers acted properly. "[T]hey were required to discontinue the search of respondent's apartment as soon as they discovered that there were two separate units on the third floor and therefore were put on notice of the risk that they might be in a unit erroneously included within the terms of the warrant." Id. at 87.

In Ritter, a search warrant was issued for a house, but when the officers arrived to conduct their search, they realized that the property's main structure was not a single dwelling, but rather consisted of at least four separate apartments. 416 F.3d at 260. The officers searched all of the apartments and seized contraband. The Third Circuit held that the search warrant was valid, but the officers' execution of the warrant required that the evidence be suppressed. "[O]nce the officers discovered that the house had multiple dwelling units, they could no longer rely on the warrant to justify their search of the building." Id. at 267.

The facts in Ritter are similar to the facts in this case. The officers arrived on the premises armed with a search warrant, and only upon arrival did they realize that there was more than one dwelling on the property. Just as the Court held in Ritter, the officers were required to discontinue their search once they realized that there was more than one dwelling unit involved. "It is settled that where ... a structure is divided into more than one unit, probable cause must exist for each unit." United States v. Gonzalez, 697 F.2d 155, 156 (6th Cir. 1983).

D. Good Faith Exception

. . .

Even if it was not immediately apparent to the agents that there were three unattached structures on the property, agents Charleswell and Freeman admitted that they had to walk out of Ms. Trotman's house and around it to get to Keith's house, and the same for Kevin's house. Agent Freeman admitted that he had to walk through a small gate to get to Keith's residence.

In King, the officer had a warrant to search the first floor of a two-unit house; he came upon a hallway where he found stairs that led to the basement. Relying on the warrant, the officer proceeded down the stairs and searched the basement. 227 F.3d at 737. The court found that the officer's decision to proceed without a warrant for the basement was flagrant and unreasonable, and the evidence seized from the basement was suppressed. Id. at 752.

Here, the officers had to walk outside of each dwelling to reach the next. There were no inner doors or stairways that provided access to the adjoining dwellings. Once the officers were forced to go outside and through a separate door, they were on notice that other dwelling units were involved, and they should have known that other warrants were needed.

Consent to search defendant's bicycle basket was by consent, and the trial court did not err by so concluding. State v. Texter, 923 A.2d 568 (R.I. 2007) [Caution: Lexis only has a summary online at this citation, so the official link to the opinion is provided.] Comment: This opinion almost implies that the defendant carried some burden of proof on the question of consent:

At the conclusion of the hearing on the defendant’s motion to suppress the tangible evidence seized by the police, the hearing justice addressed the defendant’s contention that he had given the police consent to search his bicycle baskets involuntarily, as a result of coercion. The hearing justice noted that the defendant had admitted that no one threatened him or “applied any form of physical stress upon him.” The hearing justice also noted that the defendant did not provide the court with any articulable basis in support of his contention that he could not have refused consent. He further noted that the defendant first gave oral consent and then later “followed up by giving written consent.” Consequently, the hearing justice rejected the defendant’s contention that he had been coerced, and he denied the defendant’s motion to suppress the tangible evidence. After independently reviewing the record, we agree with the hearing justice’s ruling in this regard. (emphasis added)