Goettl v. State

842 P.2d 549, 1992 Wyo. LEXIS 174, 1992 WL 349482
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 30, 1992
Docket90-284
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 842 P.2d 549 (Goettl v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goettl v. State, 842 P.2d 549, 1992 Wyo. LEXIS 174, 1992 WL 349482 (Wyo. 1992).

Opinions

THOMAS, Justice.

The only question presented in this case is whether law enforcement officers had probable cause to stop Edward E. Goettl (Goettl) and then to arrest him for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and conspiracy to commit that offense. Relying upon Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990), the trial court ruled that the requisite probable cause was present. Goettl argues a collateral and alternative issue with respect to the denial of a motion to suppress all evidence obtained after the stop on the ground the stop was not supported by sufficient probable cause. We agree with the decision of the trial court that this record establishes adequate probable cause to justify the action of the law enforcement officers in stopping Goettl and then arresting him for the offenses with which he was charged. The resolution of that question also determines the question arising out of the motion to suppress because that motion assumed the absence of the requisite probable cause. The judgment and sentence entered by the trial court is affirmed.

In the Brief of Appellant, Goettl submits his statement of the issues as follows:

I. Whether the court below erred when it found that the anonymous tip furnished the necessary indicia of reliability to justify a forcible stop of the Appellant’s vehicle.
II. Whether the court below erred by denying the motion to suppress all evidence obtained after the arrest of the Appellant when the arrest was made without probable cause.

In its Brief of Appellee, the State of Wyoming sets forth the issues in this way:

I. Did the information furnished by the anonymous informant, as corroborated by law enforcement officers, exhibit sufficient indicia of reliability to justify the investigatory stop of Appellant’s automobile?
II. Was Appellant unlawfully arrested, so as to require suppression of his subsequent confession?

The record demonstrates the following facts that are material to the disposition of this case. At about 3:45 P.M. on Saturday, April 28, 1990, the dispatcher for the Johnson County Sheriff’s office at Buffalo received a telephone call from an anonymous informant who claimed knowledge of illegal drug activity. The informant told the dispatcher that Don Goettl, the appellant’s brother, had “a lot of acid” and that Don Goettl and Goettl were going to Sheridan to sell it. Apparently, Goettl had come [551]*551from Colorado to visit his brother and had brought the LSD to Wyoming with him. The informant advised the dispatcher that the Goettl brothers planned to transport the drugs in Goettl’s silver Volvo automobile, bearing Colorado license UKB 606. The informant stated that the vehicle was parked at 178 Western Avenue in Buffalo, which was Don Goettl’s address. In addition, the informant told the dispatcher the Goettl brothers were going along with others; they were getting ready to leave; and they would be leaving soon.

The dispatcher then contacted an officer of the Buffalo Police Department and asked the officer to come to the station. After the officer arrived, the dispatcher related the content of the anonymous phone call. About 4:00 P.M., the officer went by Don Goettl’s residence at 178 Western Avenue to attempt to verify the information the anonymous informant had furnished. The officer saw a silver Volvo bearing Colorado license plate UKB 606 parked in the driveway of Don Goettl’s residence with the passenger door open. The make of car, the license number, and its location all matched the information given by the informant. The officer then left the neighborhood where the residence was situated and drove to the north exit on the route from Buffalo leading to Sheridan. In about twenty minutes, the officer saw the same silver Volvo traveling north on Highway 87 toward the interstate. He could see at least four people in the Volvo. At the time he saw the car with the people in it, the officer was at a pay telephone talking to an agent of the drug task force. That agent then contacted Kevin Hughes, the supervisor of the Northeast Drug Enforcement Team, at about 4:15 P.M. and reported the information he had received from the Buffalo police officer. The information given to Agent Hughes consisted of the substance of what the informant had told the dispatcher, including a description of the vehicle, together with the observations of the Buffalo police officer.

Agent Hughes then left Sheridan and traveled toward Buffalo after using his radio to arrange with officers of the Sheridan Police Department to watch for the silver Volvo in case Hughes missed it. After traveling about five miles south toward Buffalo, Hughes saw the Volvo traveling toward Sheridan. He turned around and followed the Volvo, but missed the Coffeen exit at Sheridan which the Volvo had taken. After Goettl’s Volvo turned off the interstate, an officer of the Sheridan Police Department stopped it because of Agent Hughes’ earlier request. There were five people in the car: Goettl, Don Goettl, Laura Goettl, Shalom Waltenbaugh and Matthew Demary.

Goettl was driving the Volvo when the Sheridan police officer pulled the vehicle over. Goettl presented a Wyoming driver’s license to the officer who made a radio check and learned from the Wyoming Highway Patrol that Goettl’s Wyoming driver’s license had been suspended. At that time, the Sheridan police officer arrested Goettl for driving while his license was suspended.

Agent Hughes arrived at the Volvo some three or four minutes after it was stopped by the Sheridan police officer. Agent Hughes advised Goettl of his constitutional rights in accordance with the decision in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, 10 A.L.R.3d 974, reh’g denied, 385 U.S. 890, 87 S.Ct. 11, 17 L.Ed.2d 121 (1966). Goettl then gave permission to Agent Hughes to search both his person and the vehicle he was driving. That search did not disclose any contraband on Goettl’s person. Agent Hughes then requested, and received, consent to search one of the passengers, Matthew De-mary. That search revealed a quantity of LSD in the pocket of Demary’s trousers. Demary then was placed under arrest by Agent Hughes-, and he was advised of his constitutional rights in accordance with the Miranda decision. Thereafter, the other occupants of the car, except for Laura Goettl, consented to a search of their persons, but no other contraband was disclosed. All five people were then taken to the police station in Sheridan where they were questioned by Agent Hughes and another Sheridan police officer. In the course of the interrogation that evening, [552]*552Goettl made statements to Agent Hughes. Those statements were not recorded, but the contents of the statements were related by Agent Hughes in the course of his testimony at Goettl’s trial.

Goettl was charged with possessing a controlled substance, lysergic acid diethyla-mide (LSD), as defined in Schedule I, Wyo. Stat. § 35-7-1014(d)(xii) (1988), with intent to deliver and with conspiring to deliver that controlled substance, in violation of Wyo. Stat. §§ 35-7-1031(a) and 6-1-303 (1988), respectively.1 A hearing was held on two different days in July addressing a defense motion to suppress the statements made by Goettl to Agent Hughes while he was under arrest. That motion was denied.

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Goettl v. State
842 P.2d 549 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
842 P.2d 549, 1992 Wyo. LEXIS 174, 1992 WL 349482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goettl-v-state-wyo-1992.