PIERRE - Trash stashed for collection at the curb was open to
a curious cop who was investigating a drug-related disappearance in
Rapid City, says a sharply divided state Supreme Court.
In a 3-2 ruling issued Thursday, the justices say evidence
first gathered in the garbage and later from Wayne R. Stevens' home
may be used against him on drug charges.
After being told that Stevens had argued with Troy Klug
shortly before Klug disappeared three years ago, police questioned
Stevens. Two weeks after Klug went missing, an investigator was
told by Stevens that he'd confronted Klug over a $300 debt. Stevens
has denied any involvement in Klug's disappearance.
Authorities believethat Klug, 26, was kidnapped and killed
because of an unpaid drug debt. Three people have been convicted in
connection with his disappearance.
Tory Teigen of Rapid City was found guilty of kidnapping and
sent to prison for 100 years. Tell Cook of Belle Fourche pleaded
guilty to not reporting a felony and was put on probation for two
years. Cynthia Kindall of Rapid City pleaded guilty but mentally
ill to kidnapping and received a 20-year prison term.
Klug has not been seen since July 12, 2004.
Authorities believe Klug was lured to Kindall's home, where he
was beaten, bound and then taken to Belle Fourche and later to
North Dakota in the trunk of a car. Investigators recovered a
shovel, pick ax and receipts for lime and cleaning supplies from
Kindall's car. A detective said the car had the stench of
decomposition.
Teigen and Kindall were arrested in North Dakota 10 days after
Klug disappeared.
Five months after questioning Stevens, an investigator decided
to search his trash. A garbage collector picked it up at the curb
and delivered it several blocks away to the officer. A ball point
pen cylinder containing a residue of white powder was found in the
trash, and police said they found methamphetamine in a later search
of Stevens' home.
A search warrant was obtained after the pen was found in the
curbside trash.
Stevens was charged with drug possession, but the case has yet
to go to trial because a circuit judge ruled that evidence from the
trash search was illegally obtained and police, consequently, had
no grounds to get a search warrant for his home.
Prosecutors appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
Ruling Thursday that the evidence was properly obtained, the
justices said nothing in the state constitution requires police to
have a reasonable suspicion before searching someone's trash.
Disagreeing with the court majority, Justice Richard W. Sabers
said it's reasonable for people to expect that their garbage is not
open to police inspection. People put all sorts of personal
information in their garbage that they would not want others to
get, he said.
"Many details of our lives can be gleaned from the contents of
our garbage," Sabers said.
There should be some threshold of privacy when it comes to
garbage, he added. At the very least, police should have a
legitimate reason for sifting through trash, he said.
"Under no circumstances should they be allowed to simply
choose a neighborhood during garbage day and wander up and down the
street to see what may or may not be happening," Sabers said.
