Cody Rutledge v. State of Indiana

28 N.E.3d 281, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 159, 2015 WL 1260053
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 19, 2015
Docket85A04-1407-CR-330
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 28 N.E.3d 281 (Cody Rutledge v. State of Indiana) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cody Rutledge v. State of Indiana, 28 N.E.3d 281, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 159, 2015 WL 1260053 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

BROWN, Judge.

[1] Cody Rutledge appeals his convictions for operating a vehicle while intoxicated as a class D felony and driving while suspended as a class A misdemeanor and his status as án habitual substance offender: Rutledge raises two issues which we consolidate and restate as whether the trial court abused its. discretion by admitting certain evidence. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] Around midnight or in the early morning hours of July 6, 2013, Wabash County Sheriffs Deputy Dustin Hurst was driving on patrol with Reserve Deputy David Brinson and on his way to Lagro, Indiana. Deputy Hurst encountered a maroon minivan and observed that it “appeared that the driver was having a hard time keeping the vehicle on the roadway,” “it appeared as it would approach the edge of the roadway, it would jerk back, multiple times ... um, trying to stay on the road,” and the driver jerked the wheel and it “wasn’t just from bumps.” 1 Transcript at 24, 49. Reserve Deputy Brinson observed the minivan “would drift off the road, come back on the road.” Id. at 54. Deputy Hurst followed the minivan until it pulled into a residential driveway. He drove by the minivan, read the license plate number, continued to a parking lot, and Entered the license plate number into his computer to determine if the minivan “belonged there,” which took a few seconds. Id, at 25. The address related to the license plate was in La Fontaine, and Deputy Hurst determined that the residence where the minivan was located was not in La Fontaine. Deputy Hurst started back and observed that the minivan had already backed out and-was starting onto the road again “[s]o, it stayed a very short ... time there and it continued east from there.” Id. at 26.

[3] Deputy Hurst turned around and saw that the minivan entered the Main Street of Lagro, went through a stop' sign, traveled approximately two blocks, and then pulled into another residence. Deputy Hurst continued by to a street,-turned *285 around, and returned to the location of the minivan which took about ten to thirty seconds. 2 During this time, he did not observe anybody around the minivan, any dome light illuminate, or any door open. Reserve Deputy Brinson did not observe any other vehicles, anything happening around the minivan, or any dome light illuminate.

[4] Deputy Hurst approached the minivan with his vehicle facing the driver’s side of Rutledge’s minivan and pulled up perpendicular to it. He could not initially tell with his headlights if anyone was sitting in the minivan and did not activate his red and blue lights. He later testified that he was “just’ going up to check on the driver and kind of see if they belonged where they were at. What was going on.” Id. at 29.

[5] Deputy Hurst exited his vehicle, walked up to the driver’s side , of the minivan, and observed Rutledge sitting in the driver’s seat “lying side wise over the ... center console of the vehicle with his head resting on the passenger seat.” Id. at 37. Reserve Deputy Brinson also exited Deputy Hurst’s vehicle and went to the back corner of the minivan. . Deputy Hurst tapped on the driver’s side window, Rutledge sat up, and they had a brief discussion before Rutledge exited the vehicle. Either Rutledge or Deputy Hurst opened the door so they could communicate. 3 Deputy Hurst asked Rutledge what was going on, and Rutledge said that he had been asleep and did not know what was going on. Deputy Hurst noticed an odor of an alcoholic beverage, that Rutledge’s eyes were red and glassy, that his speech was slightly slurred, and observed an open alcohol container in the driver’s side of the console. At one point during the conversation, Rutledge said that the keys were not in the ignition, and Deputy Hurst located the keys on the passenger side floor.

[6] Deputy Hurst asked Rutledge to step out of the vehicle. Rutledge completed a partial field sobriety test but then stated that he did not want to participate in any more such tests. Specifically, Deputy Hurst completed “about two-thirds of the way through the horizontal gaze nys-tagmus test” before Rutledge advised that he did not wish to participate any further. Id. at 38. Rutledge said that he was not operating the vehicle, that a friend had driven him to Lagro, and that the friend had left. Deputy Hurst stated that he did not see the dome light illuminate, and Rutledge said that maybe someone climbed out the window. 4 Deputy Hurst asked Rutledge if he had a driver’s license, and Rutledge indicated that he did not.

[7] Deputy Hurst offered Rutledge a certified chemical test and gave him the implied consent warning, and Rutledge refused. to take- the test. Deputy Hurst transported Rutledge to the Sheriffs Department and obtained a search warrant *286 for a blood draw. The blood was later determined to contain .19 grams of alcohol per hundred milliliters of blood.

[8] On July 8, 2013, the State charged Rutledge with operating" a vehicle while intoxicated as a class D felony and driving while suspended as a class A misdemean- or. On November 20, 2013, the State alleged that Rutledge was an habitual substance offender. On February 11, 2014, the State charged Rutledge with operating a vehicle with .15 grams of alcohol as a class A misdemeanor.

[9] On June 17 and 18, 2014, the court held a jury trial and the first phase addressed the charges of driving while suspended as a class A infraction, operating a vehicle while intoxicated as a class C misdemeanor,' and operating a vehicle with .15 grams of alcohol as a class A misdemean- or. Deputy Hurst testified regarding his observations of the minivan before actually approaching the vehicle, and defense counsel raised an objection to any testimony or evidence based upon the traffic stop. ’ Defense counsel objected on the basis of the Fourth'Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution and argued that there was no reason for the traffic stop as Deputy Hurst observed no improper driving. Defense counsel also argued that “I don’t believe you can establish a reasonable stop on the grounds that a vehicle is not from the locale, location ... ■ that it’s observed at.” Id. at 32.

[10] The prosecutor asked Deputy Hurst if he actually stopped the minivan, and Deputy Hurst said that he did not. He testified that his reason for approaching the minivan was that “it seemed to [him] that every time the police car would get behind his vehicle, it would pull into a residence in an attempt to kind of elude me” and “basically just to speak with the driver and see what, you' know, kind of what they were" up to.” Id. at 33. The prosecutor argued that there was not-a stop and that Deputy Hurst had “a reason to investigate what’s going on with this car or this driver, uh, to see if something’s wrong or ... what is happening.” Id. at 34. Defense counsel argued that there was no need of assistance and that the idea that the person in the minivan was attempting to elude Deputy Hurst was not a basis for a traffic stop or a Terry

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 N.E.3d 281, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 159, 2015 WL 1260053, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cody-rutledge-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2015.