City of Eugene v. Silva

108 P.3d 23, 198 Or. App. 101
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMarch 2, 2005
Docket25-02-10169 A120338
StatusPublished

This text of 108 P.3d 23 (City of Eugene v. Silva) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Eugene v. Silva, 108 P.3d 23, 198 Or. App. 101 (Or. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

108 P.3d 23 (2005)
198 Or. App. 101

CITY OF EUGENE, Respondent,
v.
Joe Manuel SILVA, Appellant.

25-02-10169; A120338.

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and Submitted June 16, 2004.
Decided March 2, 2005.

*25 Michael J. Buseman argued the cause for appellant. With him on the brief was Douglas J. Dennett, P.C., Eugene.

Craig J. Capon, Eugene, argued the cause and filed the brief for respondent.

Before LANDAU, Presiding Judge, and BREWER, Chief Judge, and ARMSTRONG, Judge.

ARMSTRONG, J.

Defendant appeals his conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII). He assigns error to the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence. We reverse and remand with instructions to permit defendant to withdraw his plea.

At about 9:00 p.m. on August 26, 2001, Officers Fellman and Lawnicki of the Eugene Police Department were dispatched separately to investigate a damaged fire hydrant. Officer Fellman was the first to find the hydrant. A vehicle had run into it and sheared it from its base. Fellman concluded from the position of the hydrant that a vehicle had left its lane of traffic, crossed the opposing lane, and struck the hydrant.

Fellman explored the area and noticed a black pickup truck parked on the street in front of a duplex residence at 359 North Seneca, 300 feet from the hydrant. Defendant's friend, Warren, resided at 359 North Seneca. 359 North Seneca is on a cul-de-sac. Fellman also saw that a fresh fluid trail led from the hydrant to the pickup. The front of the pickup had damage that looked both recent and consistent with a collision with the hydrant. The pickup's engine was warm and fluid was dripping from the front of the pickup. No other vehicles were parked on the street near the pickup.

The officers noticed that a few lights were on inside the residence at 359 North Seneca, but that "[i]t was dark inside [and] not particularly well lit" and that, although the screen door was shut, the wooden door behind it was open. Fellman ran the pickup's license plate number and learned that the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division listed defendant as the owner of the pickup and his address as 3804 Pepper Tree in Eugene.

Officer Lawnicki independently learned that a black pickup had struck the hydrant, that the pickup was registered to defendant, and that defendant's address was listed as 3804 Pepper Tree. Neither officer made an effort to contact defendant at that address.

Fellman and Lawnicki believed that the driver of the pickup was likely intoxicated and would be found at or near 359 North Seneca. They based that belief, in part, on their training and experience that "intoxicated drivers who have left the scenes of crashes don't go very far, at least initially, because they are impaired." The officers knocked on the screen door of 359 North Seneca and yelled to announce their presence, but they received no response. At that time, they believed that no more than 30 minutes had elapsed since the accident.

Fellman then walked from the front door to a driveway on one side of the house and continued 30 to 40 feet into the backyard of the duplex to a shed. Lawnicki remained at the front door. No fence separated the front yard from the back. Fellman used a flashlight in an attempt to see into the shed before returning to the front door. Fellman walked behind the house again, this time on a concrete path, and located the back door to the residence. The back door was open. Fellman knocked and announced his presence at the back door and received no response. He then used his flashlight to illuminate *26 a bush in the backyard. The bush was 20 feet straight back from the back door, close to a fence along the perimeter of the backyard. The flashlight illuminated defendant lying on the ground under the bush with his back to Fellman.

Defendant initially did not respond to Fellman and came out from under the bush only after Fellman said that, if defendant did not come out, he would summon a canine police unit. The officers subsequently administered several tests to defendant and asked him a number of questions, which he answered. The tests indicated that defendant was under the influence of alcohol. The officers arrested him.

Defendant was prosecuted in Eugene Municipal Court and was convicted of DUII. He appealed to the circuit court, arguing that the evidence that the officers had obtained after entering Warren's backyard should be suppressed because they had obtained it by conducting a search that violated Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He also argued that his statements to the police should be suppressed because he had not made them voluntarily. The court concluded:

"Although defendant had permission to be at his friend's house, and by extension, the property surrounding the house, as a guest he would have a limited expectation of privacy under these circumstances.
"* * * * *
"Even if defendant did have some limited expectation of privacy under the circumstances, the contact was justified given that the officers developed probable cause that the crime of hit and run had been committed and reasonably determined that exigent circumstances existed."[1]

The court also concluded that defendant made all his statements to the officers voluntarily and that "he consented to both field sobriety tests and the alcohol breath test after being advised of his rights." The trial court accordingly denied defendant's suppression motion. Defendant entered a conditional plea of guilty, ORS 135.335(3), and appealed his conviction to challenge the denial of his suppression motion. On appeal, he renews his arguments under Article I, section 9.

As an initial matter, the city contends that we cannot reach the merits of defendant's arguments because defendant was prosecuted for violating Eugene City Code (ECC) section 5.005, and, under ORS 221.360, he cannot appeal from the circuit court's judgment. On the merits, the city argues that (1) defendant had no privacy right that the officers violated by searching Warren's backyard; (2) even if defendant had a privacy right, Fellman's search was justified by probable cause and exigent circumstances; (3) defendant's statements to the officers were voluntarily made; (4) defendant consented to the field sobriety tests; and (5) in any event, the tests were justified by probable cause and exigent circumstances.

We begin with the jurisdictional issue. ORS 221.360 imposes a limit on a defendant's right to appeal a conviction in circuit court that is based on a violation of a city ordinance.[2]See, e.g., City of Eugene v. Lincoln, 183 Or.App. 36, 42, 50 P.3d 1253 (2002). Consequently, we would have to determine the effect of ORS 221.360 on defendant's appeal if defendant had been convicted of *27 violating ECC section 5.005.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Glines
894 P.2d 516 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1995)
State v. Ohling
688 P.2d 1384 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1984)
State v. Davis
666 P.2d 802 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1983)
City of Lake Oswego v. Mylander
721 P.2d 433 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1986)
State v. Wrenn
945 P.2d 608 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)
State v. Tanner
745 P.2d 757 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1987)
State v. Somfleth
8 P.3d 221 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2000)
City of Eugene v. Silva
108 P.3d 23 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2005)
City of Eugene v. Lincoln
50 P.3d 1253 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2002)
State v. Yuen
49 P.3d 819 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
108 P.3d 23, 198 Or. App. 101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-eugene-v-silva-orctapp-2005.