State v. Danielson

Implied consent does not apply to officers opening an almost completely closed bedroom door; therefore, police officers' observations made after doing so are considered an unlawful search.

Defendant appealed a judgment of conviction for unlawfully possessing methamphetamine in which the trial court denied her motion to suppress evidence. Officers arrived at a trailer where a man was reported to be laying next to drug paraphernalia at an estate sale. Once the officers arrested the initial suspect, they moved throughout the trailer looking for the owner, at which time they pushed open a door to a back room cracked roughly one-half inch. They found Defendant sleeping next to drug paraphernalia and arrested her. The trial court held that it was reasonable for the officers to enter the bedroom in efforts to contact the homeowner. The Court held that implied consent would not apply to opening a mostly closed private bedroom door and the “intrusion into a closed bedroom without invitation” would not be considered in keeping with “social or legal norms or behavior.” Reversed and remanded.