TN: Warrantless arrest in doorway didn’t violate Payton; citizen-informant with a prior was still creditable

Just because the citizen-informant had a prior conviction did not make him part of the “criminal milieu” subject to a higher standard of evaluation. He could still be a citizen informant. Defendant’s arrest without a warrant in his doorway was not a violation of Payton. He resisted and turned back after realizing he was being arrested, but that did not make the arrest violate Payton. Stout v. State, 2012 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 657 (August 23, 2012):

We note that, although no evidence was presented about the Petitioner’s exact location in relation to the doorway, the Petitioner has the burden to present facts establishing a violation of Payton. See Keven Scott v. State of Tennessee, No. W2010-02515-CCA-R3-PC, at *10 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, Nov. 22, 2011), Tenn. R. App. P. 11 application denied (Tenn. Apr. 12, 2012) (holding that the petitioner bears the burden of proving the alleged prejudice, so it is incumbent on the petitioner to establish an adequate record at his post-conviction hearing upon which this Court could determine the likelihood of success of a motion to suppress). We believe “it unwise to become preoccupied with the exact location of the individual in relation to the doorway. … [T]he crucial issues involve the individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy and whether the individual came to the doorway voluntarily.” Ducan v. Storie, 869 F.2d 110, 1102 (8th Cir. 1989) (citations omitted). The Petitioner has failed to present facts establishing that he did not come to the door voluntarily and that he had an expectation of privacy where he was arrested. Rather, the police officers arrested the Petitioner in a public place, and no warrant was required. See e.g., McKinnon v. Carr, 103 F.3d 934 (10th Cir. 1996) (concluding a warrantless arrest was valid when officers knocked on the door and identified themselves; the defendant opened the door; and the officers told him that he was under arrest).

The police officers in this case did not enter the residence until after the Petitioner was seized. The Petitioner slightly resisted the arrest, and the police officers entered the residence to apprehend him. However, “a suspect may not defeat an arrest which has been set in motion in a public place, and is therefore proper under Watson, by the expedient of escaping to a private place.” Santana, 427 U.S. at 43. Therefore, the police officers’ actions in entering the residence to apprehend the Petitioner after he resisted an arrest in a public place did not violate Payton.

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