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REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND

No. 2733 September Term, 2010

KARL MARSHALL WALKER, JR. v. STATE OF MARYLAND

Matricciani, Graeff, Hotten, JJ.

Opinion by Hotten, J.

Filed: June 28, 2012

Appellant, Karl Marshall Walker, Jr., was indicted in the Circuit Court for Howard County for sexual abuse of a minor and attempted sexual abuse of a minor. On September 10, 2010, the circuit court denied appellant's motion to suppress evidence seized from the desk he used while employed as an assistant to the special education teachers at an elementary school. Following a two day bench trial on September 21 and 22, 2010, the circuit court convicted appellant of both charges and imposed a sentence of thirteen years, with all but seven years suspended and five years of supervised probation. Appellant timely appealed, presenting the following questions: 1. Was the evidence sufficient to convict Appellant of sexual abuse of a minor where the State showed only that he exchanged inappropriate letters of a non-sexual nature with the alleged victim? 2. Did the court err in denying Appellant's motion to suppress evidence seized during a warrantless search of his desk at his place of employment? For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgments of the circuit court. I. MOTION TO SUPPRESS A. Factual Background At the hearing concerning appellant's motion to suppress, Mr. M.,1 the principal of the elementary school where appellant was employed, testified that appellant served as a "paraeducator," which is an assistant to the special education teachers, during the 2009-2010 school year. He stated that on March 17, 2010, a teacher gave him letters written by appellant that were found in the desk of either C.B. or her twin sister, third-grade students

We have abbreviated many witnesses' names to their initials in an effort not to disclose their identities or the school and class in which appellant interacted with the victim.

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who shared a homeroom. Mr. M. testified that he called appellant that evening and left a voicemail message. When appellant returned Mr. M.'s call the following morning, Mr. M. advised that there was an investigation involving inappropriate communications between appellant and a student and that appellant should remain away from the school until further notice. Mr. M. also contacted other administrators, the head of his school's security, and the police. He stated that Detective First Class Erika Heavner and another officer arrived at the school on March 18, 2010. The officers asked Mr. M. about appellant and requested that Mr. M. provide consent to search the desk used by appellant. Mr. M. executed a consent form and led the officers to the desk. The officers opened the drawers and examined the contents as Mr. M. stood nearby. At the hearing, Mr. M. described appellant's desk, which was owned by the school system, as being located in the "first grade pod," an area surrounded by three first grade classrooms, a technology classroom, and an alternative education classroom. This common area also contained two other desks used by two other paraeducators. According to Mr. M., appellant did not share his desk with anyone and, as a returning faculty member, could retain the same desk from year to year. Appellant's desk could have been locked, but appellant had not requested a key to lock the desk. Mr. M. also indicated that lockers were available for paraeducators to store their personal belongings, but, to his knowledge, appellant had not requested one. Because appellant's desk was located in a common area between classrooms,

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Mr. M. observed that there was a good deal of student traffic passing by appellant's desk between classrooms and that small groups and after-school programs used the common area. He went on to state that the groups using the common area would not need to access appellant's desk unless "to borrow a pencil or something like that." Lastly, Mr. M. testified that appellant's employment was terminated soon after March 18, 2010. Mr. M. collected some of appellant's belongings from the desk, storing them in a bin in his office bathroom. Appellant never returned to the school to collect these items, but Mr. M. was uncertain whether appellant was allowed to enter the school. Next, Detective Heavner, who was assigned to the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Section of the Criminal Investigations Division, Family Crimes Unit of the Howard County Police Department, testified regarding her investigation on March 18, 2010. She indicated that she received Mr. M.'s permission to search the desk. Detective Heavner described the desk as having a vertical column of three drawers labeled "seminars, research data," "student data," and "learning" and a flat drawer in the center of the desk in front of the chair labeled "utensils." In the drawers, she found greeting cards and assignments from various students, a printed excerpt of a book entitled "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation," a blank "Paraeducator/Paraprofessional Voluntary Transfer Request Form," a drawing of a bear, and a small cardboard box. The box contained a number of folded pieces of paper. She stated that the first piece of paper was addressed to "Raven K," a nickname for appellant, from "Steeler girl," a nickname for C.B. Detective Heavner stated that once she saw the first

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paper on top, she placed all the papers back into the box and seized the box. On March 26, 2010, eight days later, Detective Heavner applied for and executed a search warrant for the box and its contents. The box contained a multitude of notes and cards that appeared to be from C.B. to appellant. Following the receipt of testimony and argument, the circuit court denied appellant's motion to suppress, finding that appellant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of the desk. The circuit court ruled as follows: I make my decisions based on the evidence that's in front of me, this desk was, in fact, assigned to Mr. Walker, that's without dispute. This desk was capable

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