He's in prison 40 years for murder. Here's why an appeals court says he gets a new chance

Lake County sheriff’s deputies violated a killer’s constitutional rights when they aimed a flashlight onto the man’s porch, saw a rifle, then went inside and arrested him without first getting a search warrant, an appeals court has ruled.

Deputies were called to the Holiday RV Park on Oct. 23, 2020, at 8:50 p.m. by Alice Stewart. She said she heard someone knock on the door then a shot. She found her husband, Jerry, with a gunshot wound to the face lying in shattered glass near the front door. There was a .380-caliber shell casing on the ground.

Deputies fanned out, knocking on neighbor’s doors “in the attempt to locate any evidence, witnesses, or suspects,” according to the probable cause affidavit.

She suggested they check next door at the home of Scott Rudolph because they had “disputes” with him before.

The home was dark. The porch had an “opaque black vinyl wrapping that encased and made private the enclosed front porch of his home,” according to the 5th District Court of Appeal opinion, released April 12.

They said they knocked several times but got no answer. One of the deputies shined a flashlight and saw an AR-15 type rifle leaning up against the wall. They entered the home and found Rudolph sitting in a chair, a .380 handgun and broken glass at his feet. They arrested him and put him in the back of a patrol car.

“He made several statements and admissions to law enforcement. He also made statements and admissions while alone in the back of a patrol car that was captured by in-car surveillance,” according to his lawyer’s motion to suppress the search.

Circuit Judge Heidi Davis erred when she did not grant the motion to suppress, the appeals court ruled.

One of the statements Rudolph made to deputies without even being questioned was: “I don’t have a vendetta with you, only the person I shot,” according to the probable cause affidavit.

He said Stewart had threatened him. He was charged with first-degree murder but pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder. He remains in prison.

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides ‘the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,” J. Mark Jackson wrote in his motion to suppress.

The “very core” of the amendment is “the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.”

The justices said in their opinion that “neither officer knew who resided at the home, nor did they have reason to believe that its owner was a suspect or that probable cause existed to conduct a warrantless search; instead, it was simply another attempt to see if a neighbor had seen or heard anything.”

The front door had a welcome mat and a doorbell, “which the officers did not attempt to ring, testifying that they did not see it. The front door had a visible external lock but was unlocked at the time of the incident.”

It was at that point the officer used the flashlight and saw the rifle.

They then entered the porch and entered a sliding glass door where they saw Rudolph.

The flashlight itself was an intrusion, the justices said.

One of the officers later said it was common practice to enter private spaces, like enclosed porches when no one answers the door. “This practice is impermissible,” the justices wrote.

Assistant State Attorney Nick Camuccio, in his plea for the court to deny the motion, said law enforcement officers are allowed to do what is referred to as “knock and talk” while seeking information.

Jackson acknowledged that there are cases where a property owner has no expectation of privacy if the contents of the porch “are in plain view from the street.”

This was not the case, he said.

The appellate court ordered the case back to Judge Davis, where everyone will “start from scratch” on the motion, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Walter Forgie.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Court says search of murder defendant's home was unconstitutional