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State v. Thang3/7/2002
Oral Argument Date: 09/20/2001
EN BANC
We are asked to review (1) the scope of privacy rights of a guest whose host consents to a search of the premises and (2) the admissibility of prior bad acts under the identity prong of ER 404(b).
Petitioner Vy Thang claims that evidence obtained during the search of an apartment where he was residing as a guest should have been suppressed, and that testimony concerning prior bad acts should not have been admitted. We hold that the search was constitutional, but that the admission of the prior bad act was error, and we reverse.
In August 1997, Thang and Simeon Terry, residents of the Maple Lane juvenile facility, escaped while on a field trip to a Seattle Seahawks game. They traveled to Spokane, where they stayed with various friends of Terry, eventually spending a few days with Jess Dietzen and Sean Lambert. Arrest warrants for the escape naming Thang and Terry were outstanding.
On September 2, 1997, John Klaus found his 85-year-old mother, Mildred, in Spokane lying dead on the floor of her home in a pool of blood. She had died from blunt impact injuries. The house was in disarray and it appeared that some of her personal possessions were missing. Her purse was later found on the roof of a neighboring building. Shortly afterwards, the police learned that possible escapees were residing at the Dietzen apartment. Warrants for the arrest of Thang and Terry were outstanding.
The police went to the Dietzen apartment, without warrants in hand, and arrested Terry and Thang. Thang was subsequently found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On appeal Thang claimed, among other things, that the trial court erred in failing to suppress evidence obtained during the search of an apartment where he was staying and in admitting evidence of other bad acts.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court. We will examine these two contentions in order.
VALIDITY OF THE SEARCH
The police knew that arrest warrants for escape were outstanding for Terry and Thang, but did not have the warrants in their possession when they went to the Dietzen apartment. They suspected Terry and Thang may have been involved in the Klaus murder, but did not have sufficient probable cause for a warrant. Terry and Thang had been guests in Dietzen's apartment for several days. Upon arrival, the officers asked Dietzen for permission to enter the apartment to arrest Terry and Thang.
Dietzen consented, and Thang and Terry were arrested in the living room. After the arrest, the police secured written permission from both tenants of the apartment for a search of the common areas. The police found women's jewelry in the bathroom garbage can and various items of women's clothing in a rollerblade bag in the hallway. The garbage can also contained a bloodied pair of socks. In preparation for transport, Thang identified his shoes, and later the police took possession of them. The DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) from a blood spot on one of the tennis shoes and the bloodstains on a sock matched that of Mildred Klaus. Over Thang's objection, evidence obtained from the search was admitted at his trial.
The Fourth Amendment provides: 'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause{.}' Article 1, section 7 of the Washington Constitution provides: 'No person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law.' Together, these provisions p
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