City of Missoula v. Armitage

2014 MT 274, 335 P.3d 736, 376 Mont. 448, 2014 Mont. LEXIS 616
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 9, 2014
DocketDA 14-0024
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2014 MT 274 (City of Missoula v. Armitage) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Missoula v. Armitage, 2014 MT 274, 335 P.3d 736, 376 Mont. 448, 2014 Mont. LEXIS 616 (Mo. 2014).

Opinions

CHIEF JUSTICE McGRATH

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 Amber Armitage appeals from an order of the Fourth Judicial District Court, Missoula County, affirming a Municipal Court decision denying her motion to suppress the results of a breath alcohol test. We affirm.

¶2 We restate the following issues for review:

¶3 Issue One: Whether the City of Missoula has authority to enact ordinances creating a misdemeanor penalty for the refusal to submit to a requested breath test.

¶4 Issue Two: Whether conducting a post-arrest breath test with Armitage’s consent was an unreasonable search and seizure.

¶5 Issue Three: Whether Missoula ordinances criminalizing the refusal to submit to a breath test unconstitutionally impair the freedom, of speech.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶6 At approximately 10:00 p.m. on November 24, 2012, Missoula Police Officer Nathan Mattix responded to a 911 call reporting a possibly impaired driver. The caller reported she was following a vehicle that was traveling below the speed limit, not maintaining a constant speed, and drifting into other lanes of traffic. The caller gave a description of the vehicle and its license plate number. Officer Mattix identified the vehicle while it was stopped at a red light. Upon accelerating, the vehicle drifted to the right and its tires crossed the white line on the right side of the road. Officer Mattix also learned from the 911 dispatcher that the vehicle’s registration was expired. Officer Mattix decided to conduct an investigative stop.

¶7 The driver of the vehicle was Amber Armitage. Officer Mattix read Armitage a preliminary alcohol screening test (PAST) advisory, which informed her that by operating a vehicle on public roads, she had given her implied consent to a preliminary breath test. He also notified her of her right to refuse that test. He informed her that pursuant to state [450]*450law, her license could be suspended for up to one year for refusing the test. He also informed her that pursuant to Missoula city ordinances, she could be charged with a misdemeanor and fined $500 for refusing the test. Armitage refused the test. Officer Mattix did not seize Armitage’s license. Armitage was not fined for refusing the test.

¶8 Officer Mattix placed Armitage under arrest and transported her to the police station for'booking. Officer Mattix read Armitage a “full” implied consent warning, again notifying her that under Missoula city ordinances, refusal to submit to a breath test is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $500 fine. Armitage then agreed to provide a breath sample at the police station.1 The breath test showed that her blood alcohol concentration was 0.134, exceeding the legal limit of 0.08.

¶9 Armitage was charged with negligent endangerment, driving under the influence of alcohol, operating a vehicle with expired registration, failure to carry proof of insurance, and operation of a noncommercial vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. She filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained as a result of the investigative stop. The Municipal Court denied the motion. Armitage entered a conditional guilty plea to the charge of operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, reserving her right to appeal the Municipal Court’s denial of her motion to suppress. The remaining charges were dismissed.

¶10 Armitage appealed the denial of her motion to suppress to the District Court, claiming Officer Mattix did not have a particularized and objective basis for making the investigative stop and violated §§ 61-8-402 and -409, MCA, by administering a breath test despite her initial refusal. She also claimed the Missoula ordinances imposing a $500 fine for refusing to give a breath sample were invalid because they conflicted with state law and violated her constitutional rights. The District Court affirmed the decision of the Municipal Court, holding that the investigative stop was justified by particularized suspicion, the Missoula ordinances were valid, and Armitage freely consented to the breath test administered at the police station. Armitage appeals those portions of the District Court’s order addressing the validity of the Missoula ordinances and the procedures [451]*451followed in administering the breath test.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶11 When reviewing the decision of a municipal court, a district court functions as an intermediate appellate court. City of Bozeman v. Cantu, 2013 MT 40, ¶ 10, 369 Mont. 81, 296 P.3d 461. On appeal from the district court, this Court examines the record independently of the district court’s decision, applying the appropriate standard of review. Cantu, ¶ 10. We review constitutional issues and questions of law de novo. City of Missoula v. Girard, 2013 MT 168, ¶ 10, 370 Mont. 443, 303 P.3d 1283.

DISCUSSION

¶12 Issue One: Whether the City of Missoula has authority to enact ordinances creating a misdemeanor penalty for the refusal to submit to a requested breath test.

¶13 Armitage claims the City of Missoula does not possess the authority to enact ordinances creating a misdemeanor penalty for the refusal to submit to a requested breath or blood test, because state law already addresses the issue. We first address the nature and extent of the City’s authority, and then examine the relevant statutes and ordinances governing the administration of breath and blood alcohol testing.

¶14 In 1997, the City of Missoula adopted a self-government charter. A local government operating under a self-government charter may exercise any power not prohibited by the Montana Constitution, state law, or the charter itself. Mont. Const, art. XI, § 6; § 7-1-101, MCA. The powers of a local government operating under a self-government charter must be liberally construed, with reasonable doubts resolved in favor of the existence of local government power. Section 7-1-106, MCA.

¶15 Local governments were given the option of adopting self-government charters under Article XI, Section 5 of the 1972 Montana Constitution. Prior to the adoption of the 1972 Constitution, the basic assumption was that the source of municipal power was the state. City of Billings v. Herold, 130 Mont. 138, 141-42,. 296 P.2d 263, 264-65 (1956). Municipalities could exercise only those powers expressly granted them by the legislature. D & F Sanitation Serv. v. City of Billings, 219 Mont. 437, 444, 713 P.2d 977, 981 (1986); Tipco Corp. v. City of Billings, 197 Mont. 339, 344, 642 P.2d 1074, 1077 (1982). The state could delegate to municipalities the power to regulate matters of [452]*452local concern. Herold, 130 Mont. at 142, 296 P.2d at 265. Regarding matters of statewide concern, if the state chose to regulate in a particular field, it was said to have occupied that field to the exclusion of municipalities under the doctrine of implied preemption. D & F Sanitation Serv., 219 Mont, at 444, 713 P.2d at 982. Driving under the influence was deemed an area of statewide concern, and therefore municipalities were without authority to enact ordinances regulating the subject.

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Bluebook (online)
2014 MT 274, 335 P.3d 736, 376 Mont. 448, 2014 Mont. LEXIS 616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-missoula-v-armitage-mont-2014.