Nelson v. Driver & Motor Vehicle Servs. (In re Nelson)

447 P.3d 1212, 299 Or. App. 62
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 14, 2019
DocketA166526
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 447 P.3d 1212 (Nelson v. Driver & Motor Vehicle Servs. (In re Nelson)) 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
Nelson v. Driver & Motor Vehicle Servs. (In re Nelson), 447 P.3d 1212, 299 Or. App. 62 (Or. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

AOYAGI, J.

*64Petitioner was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) and violating a restraining order. The arrest took place in petitioner's bedroom in a house where he was temporarily residing. After arresting him, the police asked petitioner to consent to a breath test, which he refused. As a result of that refusal, the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division of the Department of Transportation (DMV) proposed to suspend petitioner's driving privileges for three years. Petitioner requested a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). After the hearing, the DMV ordered the proposed suspension. The circuit court affirmed the DMV's order. On appeal, petitioner raises a single assignment of error. As he did below, petitioner argues that the police violated his rights under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution by entering his bedroom without a warrant and without valid consent and that, therefore, the suspension is invalid.1 The state counters that the police had valid consent from the homeowner. For the following reasons, we reverse.

FACTS

We summarize the relevant historical facts consistently with the unchallenged findings in the final order. Brown v. DMV , 157 Or. App. 167, 169, 967 P.2d 919 (1998).

On a June night, the police received reports that petitioner had visited his wife's home in violation of a restraining order and that he was visibly intoxicated and driving. Around 1:00 a.m., Officer Voll located petitioner's parked car outside the home of Nisbet. Nisbet lived in the two-story, five-bedroom house with his wife and four children, and petitioner was living there temporarily. Voll and a cover officer, Officer Emile, approached the house together.

*65After about 15 minutes, the officers made contact with *1214Nisbet's 18-year-old daughter, who let them into the house.2

After entering the house, Voll asked to talk to Nisbet. In Voll's words, he wanted Nisbet to be "aware, number one, that we were in the home, so that we continued to essentially have that consent from the homeowner" and also wanted "to help make that transition in making contact with [petitioner] a little bit easier." The daughter, accompanied by the officers, went upstairs and knocked on the closed door of the master bedroom. Nisbet woke up, opened the door, and found his daughter and two police officers with flashlights in the hallway. Voll recalled that another young girl also came out of one of the bedrooms.

Voll wanted Nisbet's consent to remain in the house but did not affirmatively request consent; rather, he "operate[d] on the assumption" that, once Nisbet was awake and aware of the officers' presence, "by not kicking [them] out he was consenting [for them to be] in the residence." The officers explained to Nisbet that they "needed to speak to know where [petitioner] was located." In response, Nisbet pointed to the guest bedroom, which was located next to the master bedroom. As the ALJ found, the officers then "asked [Nisbet] to go in and get [petitioner], probably to avoid confrontation and keep things peaceful." According to Voll, the officers expressed concern to Nisbet about petitioner's "level of hostility" and "asked [Nisbet] to kind of let [petitioner] know to keep cool and hopefully kind of ease things-ease that transition between talking to [Nisbet] to talking to [the police]."

Nisbet walked into the guest bedroom, woke up petitioner, and spoke with him. After about three minutes, Voll "popped [his] head" into the room and asked Nisbet, "Are we good?" Nisbet responded something like "yeah."

At that point, the two officers walked into the bedroom, advised petitioner of his Miranda rights, and questioned him as he sat on the bed. Voll informed petitioner *66that he was under arrest for violating the restraining order and for DUII.

After his arrest, petitioner refused several requests to submit to a breath test. Upon receiving notice of petitioner's refusal to submit to a breath test in connection with a DUII arrest, the DMV proposed to suspend petitioner's driving privileges for three years, pursuant to ORS 813.100 and ORS 813.410.3 Petitioner requested a hearing. Among other things, petitioner argued that he was unlawfully arrested because the police entered his home without a warrant or a valid exception to the warrant requirement, in violation of Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution.

The ALJ rejected petitioner's constitutional argument, ruling that Nisbet's daughter had voluntarily consented to the officers' initial entry into the house and that Nisbet had voluntarily consented to the officers' entry into petitioner's bedroom.

For the entry into the bedroom, the ALJ found that, on the night of his arrest, petitioner had been staying in Nisbet's guest bedroom for approximately two weeks. While he was staying there, Nisbet stayed out of the guest bedroom to respect petitioner's privacy. Nisbet's wife, however, would go into the room from time to time to vacuum and make the bed. Based on those facts, the ALJ concluded that Nisbet had authority to consent to the police entering the guest bedroom:

"[B]y allowing Petitioner to stay in his guest bedroom temporarily, Mr. Nisbet did not surrender his common authority and control over the room. Petitioner was a guest in Mr. Nisbet's home and, as evidenced by Mrs. Nisbet's access to the room, retained the freedom to allow anyone *1215else access to the room at any time. The entry into the home and guest room was lawful."

*67Further, the ALJ concluded that Nisbet had voluntarily consented to the police entering the guest bedroom. The ALJ reasoned:

"The Court of Appeals' decision in State v. Briggs , 257 Or. App. 738 [, 307 P.3d 564, rev. den. , 354 Or. 386, 314 P.3d 964] (2013) is helpful in resolving this case. In Briggs , police pursued a suspected drunk driver to a hotel room. Police knocked on the door and a young woman answered.

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Related

State v. Carrillo
466 P.3d 1023 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2020)

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Bluebook (online)
447 P.3d 1212, 299 Or. App. 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nelson-v-driver-motor-vehicle-servs-in-re-nelson-orctapp-2019.