2007-M-037
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Wintersun Lemieux, Appellant.
DESCRIPTION OF CRIME: On July 9, 2003, Lemieux stripped and beat to death
68-year-old Irwin Teitelbaum while Teitelbaum was making his pre-dawn newspaper
deliveries.
Before trial, Lemieux moved to suppress the evidence discovered
during the warrantless sweep-search of 15 East 13th Street, and all evidence
derived from that search. Following a three-day omnibus hearing, the
district court denied the motion, concluding that the warrantless entry was
justified under the emergency-aid exception to the warrant requirement.
At trial, in addition to evidence from the search, the state
presented the physical evidence and forensic analysis of the evidence collected
from 729 West 4th Street; and also, evidence from the crime scene, including
Lemieux’s bloody thumbprint on top of the bundle of newspapers, a water bottle
with Lemieux’s fingerprints and DNA, and miscellaneous papers with bloody shoe
prints similar to the treads on Lemieux’s shoes.
There were also Lemieux’s police statements. The resident
from 729 West 4th Street testified about Lemieux’s confession made in the
early morning hours of July 9, 2003, and the taxi driver testified about
picking up Lemieux from that residence and driving him by the crime scene.
The medical examiner testified that Teitelbaum’s death was caused
by blunt-force trauma to the head and neck region, and that he died relatively
quickly after the attack started.
The jury found Lemieux guilty as charged, and he was committed to
the custody of the Commissioner of Corrections for the mandatory life
term.
THE HOLDING: Justice Gildea joined the 5-2 majority opinion by Chief
Justice Russell Anderson which upheld Lemieux’ conviction and life sentence.
MAJORITY: Appellant Wintersun Lemieux was convicted and sentenced in
St. Louis County District Court for the crime of first-degree murder in
connection with the death of 68-year-old Irwin Teitelbaum. The Court held
that police entry of a residence in close proximity to a brutal and seemingly
random homicide was justified under the emergency-aid exception to the warrant
requirement because the officers had reasonable grounds to believe that a
burglary was in progress or had recently occurred, the entry was motivated
primarily to look for possible victims, and the scope of the search was limited
to the emergency.
DISSENT: Justice Meyer opined: I would not require that an
emergency-aid search be supported by evidence establishing probable cause to
believe an emergency exists at a particular location, and instead I would
inquire whether the emergency-aid search was based on a reasonable belief
supported by specific and articulable facts. I disagree with the majority’s
conclusion that the facts of this case give rise to an objectively reasonable
belief that an emergency-aid search was justified. Finally,
I would conclude that the evidence obtained as a result of that search was
improperly admitted, prejudicing defendant Wintersun Lemieux as to two of the
three counts against him.
CONCUR & DISSENT: Justice Page opined: I join Justice Meyer’s
dissenting opinion except as to her conclusion that an emergency-aid search may
be justified by mere reasonable suspicion. While I agree with the court
that the higher probable cause standard applies to emergency-aid searches, for
the reasons stated in Justice Meyers dissent, the facts of this case fail to
establish reasonable suspicion, much less probable cause.
Russell Anderson (Paul Anderson,
Hanson, Barry Anderson, and Gildea)
Dissent: Meyer
Concur & Dissent: Page
DATE OF DECISION: January 18, 2007
RECORD NUMBER: 2007-016
DESCRIPTION: [MURDER] [ROBBERY]
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