People v. Thorpe CA2/1

INTRODUCTION

On July 30, 2019, police went to defendant Charles Edward Thorpe’s apartment after receiving information that a dead body was hidden in his bedroom closet. Before entering the residence, police telephoned Thorpe, who said he was not home but would return there to meet the officers. When Thorpe failed to show up, officers entered the apartment without a warrant. Inside the apartment they found Thorpe; inside Thorpe’s bedroom closet they found the body of Tracey Castle secreted inside a barrel. Police then obtained a search warrant, which led to the seizure of evidence including blood stains from the victim elsewhere in the apartment and that Thorpe made numerous Internet searches relating to committing murder and how to dispose of a body. The People charged Thorpe with the first degree murder of Castle. (Pen. Code,1 § 187, subd. (a).) A jury found Thorpe guilty as charged and the court sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison. Thorpe’s appeal focuses solely on whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained through the search warrant. The trial court found the initial warrantless search improper but concluded that after excising…