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Defense attorneys in Liberty murder case say officer should not have entered breezeway
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
An attorney for Sean Clemens of Liberty, who is charged in the aggravated murder and aggravated robbery of his neighbor, says evidence should be suppressed because an officer failed to adhere to what every Girl Scout knows.
Clemens, 34, was not a suspect in the newly discovered death of Jane Larue Brown, 84, of Church Hill-Hubbard Road in Liberty on April 24, 2017, when township officer Pete DeAngelo approached Clemens’ nearby home to ask if anyone saw anything.
Two pit bull dogs came to the front picture window when DeAngelo knocked and rang the bell at the front door, but no humans responded.
A new filing in the Clemens case says DeAngelo did not act in the way Girl Scouts or trick-or-treaters would because they understand the limits of their privilege is to “approach the home by the front path, knock promptly, wait briefly to be received, and then [absent invitation to linger longer] leave.”
The filing cites a Florida court ruling for that example.
“The dogs’ behavior would have caught the attention of anyone in the house,” so it was safe to assume no one was home. But DeAngelo then entered the fully enclosed breezeway, which connected the house to the garage, the filing says.
There he spotted two small red marks on the back door of the breezeway, which led officers to obtain a search warrant for Clemens’ house.
The filing by the Ohio Public Defender’s Office asks Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to suppress the evidence police gathered in their search of Clemens’ house, including items police say were stolen from Brown’s house.
“After the officer’s knock on the front door was fruitless, the decision to again try inside the breezeway was unreasonable,” the filing says.
Prosecutors filed their brief on the issue in August, saying there is no case law “directly on point dealing with a breezeway,” but they cited several cases in which courts have found it OK for officers to enter an enclosed or screened porch without a warrant because no reasonable expectation of privacy would be expected there.
DeAngelo also testified at a suppression hearing that on previous trips to the Clemens home, the occupants had waved at him through the picture window indicating for him to enter the house through the breezeway.
The filing also reiterates the belief that Clemens’ statements to police about what he did that night should be suppressed from evidence because he would not have made them without police conducting an improper, warrantless search on his home.
Other charges Clemens faces are aggravated burglary, arson and tampering with evidence.
If convicted of certain charges, Clemens could be sentenced to the death penalty. His trial is scheduled for Feb. 7.