J. Goff
Nearly a century ago, this Court adopted and applied the exclusionary rule to Indiana’s jurisprudence. The rule provides: When, in violation of Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution, the State gains evidence by illegal means (i.e., an unreasonable search or seizure), it may not then use that evidence against the defendant. Through the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine, we’ve extended the exclusionary rule to exclude evidence directly or derivatively obtained from the illegal conduct. This present case tests that rule’s limits. Specifically, this case asks, as a matter of Indiana constitutional law, does an illegal seizure and search irreparably stain all derivative evidence the police gain afterwards, making it inadmissible under the exclusionary rule, or can the evidence be sufficiently separated from that primary taint to be admissible? In simpler terms, does the attenuation doctrine apply in Indiana constitutional law?
While the Court of Appeals previously confronted these questions— and split over the answers—they are novel questions for us that we answer today. We hold the attenuation doctrine can apply under the Indiana Constitution. Evidence found after an unreasonable search or seizure can become attenuated from that illegality, meaning the evidence itself or the circumstances in which the evidence was discovered were sufficiently distinguishable or separated from the search or seizure. …
Defendant David Wright lived with his best friend’s young family in an apartment located at 220 East Water Street in Hartford City, Indiana. Wright and the family were home on the afternoon of Friday, January 22, 2016, when the FBI and Indiana State Police SWAT, in the course of a federal child pornography investigation, knocked on the door.
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While searching the upstairs apartment and seizing the computer equipment therein, Agent Robertson learned both apartments shared the same internet connection, all occupants knew the password, and all occupants used the connection. Rather than securing a second search warrant for 220 East Water Street and instead of having 220’s occupants sign written consent forms he kept in his vehicle, Robertson gave 220’s occupants (including Wright) two options: (1) verbally consent to a search of their computer equipment, surrender those devices that day, and receive them back quickly; or (2) leave the residence and stay away until he secured and executed another federal search warrant. 220’s occupants (including Wright) verbally consented to the search, handed over their computers, and provided Agent Robertson with their usernames and passwords.
Agent Robertson seized the equipment and searched them over the weekend. The search—done by running software called OS Triage on the seized devices—revealed Wright’s computer contained hash values matched to known child pornography images. Equipped with this information, Agent Robertson returned to the East Water Street apartments on Monday, January 25th, and released all the seized computer equipment, except Wright’s.
When Wright inquired about his devices, Agent Robertson asked to speak with him privately, giving him the option of talking inside or outside the house. Wright chose to talk outside. Agent Robertson and Wright went to the former’s car parked in front of the house. Agent Robertson sat in the driver’s seat, Wright sat in the front passenger seat, and another officer sat in the backseat. Before beginning a conversation, Robertson told Wright the car was unlocked, and he could leave at any point. Agent Robertson informed Wright he was not under arrest.
After Wright indicated he understood those warnings, Agent Robertson confronted him with the search results. He asked Wright if he used the TOR network to search for child pornography and Wright answered affirmatively. Agent Robertson informed Wright that standard protocol required him to conduct a forensic interview with any children living in the home “just to make sure that no [sexual] contact has occurred.” Wright then admitted having sexual contact with two children living in the home.
With this disclosure, Agent Robertson immediately stopped the interview, exited the vehicle, and phoned Hartford City Police to report what Wright just told him. The police asked Robertson to place Wright under arrest and take him to the station. Robertson returned to the car, informed Wright he was now under arrest, and handcuffed him. After transporting Wright to the Hartford City Police Department, Robertson handed Wright over to Detective Cody Crouse, but he stuck around to sit through the interview. Detective Crouse read Wright the standard Miranda warnings. Wright signed a waiver form and agreed to talk to Crouse. During that interview, Wright admitted to repeatedly molesting two children, W.S. (age 11) and F.S. (age 4) over a year’s span, with the most recent sexual contact occurring within the last two weeks.
The State charged Wright with four counts of Level 1 felony child molesting: two counts for the sexual contact with W.S. and two counts for the sexual contact with F.S.
Wright moved to suppress all evidence obtained from the FBI search and subsequent police interviews. Invoking the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution, Wright alleged he’d been illegally detained and searched. Specifically, he argued he did not give valid consent to search his computers because Agent Robertson failed to inform him that he had the right to refuse consent. Following a hearing on Wright’s motion, the trial court granted in part, and denied in part. Finding that Wright’s consent to the search proved invalid under both the federal and state constitutions, the trial court suppressed evidence obtained from searching Wright’s computer and electronic equipment. But the court denied suppression of Wright’s statements to Agent Robertson and Detective Crouse, concluding they were sufficiently independent and attenuated from the illegal search.
Wright’s incriminating statements were admitted during the subsequent bench trial. The court found Wright guilty as charged, and, after identifying aggravators and mitigators, imposed an aggregate sixty-year sentence. …
Wright appealed, arguing the trial court erred by only partially granting his suppression motion and by admitting his statements to law enforcement. …
The Court of Appeals reversed Wright’s convictions, holding the trial court improperly admitted Wright’s confessions to Agent Robertson and Detective Crouse. Wright v. State, 92 N.E.3d 1127 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018). The court focused its analysis on Article 1, Section 11, particularly whether Indiana’s jurisprudence recognized the attenuation doctrine as an exception to the exclusionary rule. Id. at 1131–33. It ultimately rejected the attenuation doctrine for Indiana. Id. at 1132–33.
Upon removing attenuation from its legal calculus, the court concluded: “[T]here is no dispute that Wright’s incriminating statements to the officers on January 25, 2016, about touching the children directly resulted from or derived from the unconstitutional search and seizure of Wright’s computers.” Id. at 1133. The court deemed Wright’s statements fruit of the poisonous tree and, therefore, inadmissible evidence. Id. …
The State sought transfer, arguing the Court of Appeals had divided over this issue. In order to resolve the split in authority, we granted transfer, thereby vacating this Court of Appeals opinion. Ind. Appellate Rule 58(A).
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One branch of Indiana’s exclusionary rule—universally known as the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine—operates to omit from trial evidence directly or derivatively obtained from an illegal search or seizure. Gyamfi v. State, 15 N.E.3d 1131, 1136 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014). Once a defendant establishes that a search or seizure was unreasonable, he can invoke the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine by moving to suppress direct and derivative evidence. Id.
Over the years, Indiana courts have occasionally cultivated the rule to achieve the purpose of deterring police misconduct. For example, Indiana law recognizes two exceptions to the exclusionary rule and fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. One being the good-faith exception, where illegally obtained evidence is not excluded if law enforcement acted in “objectively reasonable reliance” on what they thought was a valid warrant. Mers v. State, 482 N.E.2d 778, 782–83 (Ind. Ct. App. 1985) … The other being the new-crime exception, which allows for the admission of “evidence that defendants committed new and distinct crimes in response to illegal searches or seizures by law enforcement.” C.P. v. State, 39 N.E.3d 1174, 1183 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015). …
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Considering Indiana’s unique constitution and our emphasis on reasonableness in the totality of the circumstances, we think the attenuation concept fits nicely within our jurisprudence. … And the attenuation doctrine sets the outer limits for exclusion by tailoring the rule to its purpose—deterring police misconduct and defending Hoosiers’ privacy rights. Today we hold the attenuation doctrine applies to claims challenging the reasonableness of a search or seizure under Article 1, Section 11.
Having decided the attenuation doctrine applies to claims brought under Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution, we must determine how to evaluate if evidence is sufficiently distinguishable or attenuated from the illegal search or seizure to become admissible at trial. …
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… An attenuation inquiry under Article 1, Section 11 will begin by considering three elements: (1) the timeline—particularly, the time elapsed between the illegality and the acquisition of the evidence; (2) the intervening circumstances—what, if any, intervening circumstances occurred in that time; and (3) the police misconduct. …
… But even so, we will not rigidly limit ourselves to only these three factors. Every case must be considered on the totality of the circumstances. If other factors present themselves, they will be considered.
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Considering the totality of the circumstances—the timeline, the intervening circumstances, and the police misconduct—we conclude that Wright’s confessions were sufficiently attenuated from the unreasonable search so as to be purged of the primary taint. There was a meaningful time gap between the search and Wright’s confessions during which he had no further contact with law enforcement. Once he did encounter law enforcement again, Wright voluntarily spoke with Agent Robertson and Detective Crouse and disclosed he molested two children. And scrutinizing the police conduct here shows that law enforcement did not flagrantly flout Wright’s constitutional right against unreasonable searches and the police did not exploit that illegal search to secure his confessions. Accordingly, Wright’s statements amounted to admissible evidence, and the trial court rightly admitted them.
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Conclusion
Today we hold that the Indiana Constitution embraces the attenuation doctrine. In our view, the attenuation concept settles well into Indiana’s distinctive constitutional landscape since it essentially considers what is reasonable given the totality of the circumstances. By grafting the attenuation doctrine onto our Article 1, Section 11 jurisprudence we fix it as the reasonable, natural limit to the exclusionary rule. In application, our attenuation test will begin by examining the timeline between the illegality and finding the derivative evidence, the intervening circumstances occurring over that timeline, and the initial police misconduct. But if other circumstances arise strengthening or weakening attenuation, then they must also be considered. Applying this test here, we conclude Wright’s statements to law enforcement were sufficiently attenuated from the illegal search so as to be purged of the original taint and these were admissible at trial. We, therefore, affirm Wright’s convictions.
Chief Justice Rush and Justices David, Massa, and Slaughter concur.