Warrantless search of home upheld
BOISE – A Spirit Lake couple who were the first people sentenced under Idaho’s tough new mandatory minimum sentences for manufacturing methamphetamine have lost an appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court.
Gerald Michael Anderson and Elberteen “Tina” Pearson-Anderson challenged a search of their Spirit Lake mobile home in January 2001 after police responded to complaints from neighbors about meth-lab odors.
At the time, the Andersons were out on bail from a 2000 conviction for manufacturing methamphetamine. They were appealing their convictions, and a judge agreed to allow them out on bail while Pearson-Anderson had surgery on her leg after a car accident.
Their release on bail was subject to a number of conditions, including allowing warrantless searches of their home and personal property.
On Jan. 9, 2001, seven law enforcement officers led by the Idaho State Police arrived at the Anderson home in response to the neighbors’ complaints. They entered the home, spoke with Pearson-Anderson, smelled the odor and saw material they suspected was being used to manufacture meth.
Officers then obtained a search warrant and seized the materials. Both the Andersons entered conditional guilty pleas to again manufacturing meth, with the condition that they be allowed to challenge the warrantless search.
The challenge failed at the 1st District Court, where it was denied by Judge James Judd, the same judge who had allowed the pair out on bail. They appealed to the state Supreme Court.
In a unanimous decision issued Friday, the Supreme Court upheld Judd’s decision.
“In Idaho, a convicted felon admitted to bail pending appeal is subject to conditions ordered by the trial court,” wrote Justice Gerald Schroeder for the court. “Thus, the Andersons had a lesser degree of liberty and a resulting reduced expectation of privacy. … Because of the Andersons’ reduced expectation of privacy, the police needed only a reasonable basis to conduct a warrantless search of their home.”
The Andersons both were sentenced to the new mandatory minimum terms of at least five years in prison.