Olson v. State

698 P.2d 107, 1985 Wyo. LEXIS 471
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedApril 11, 1985
Docket84-70
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 698 P.2d 107 (Olson 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
Olson v. State, 698 P.2d 107, 1985 Wyo. LEXIS 471 (Wyo. 1985).

Opinion

CARDINE, Justice.

This appeal is from a conviction of driving while under the influence of an intoxicating liquor in violation of § 31-5-233, W.S.1977.

We affirm.

Appellant raises the following issues: “I. Whether or not the trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion to dismiss for lack of probable cause.
“II. Whether or not the trial court erred in admitting evidence as to the results of the Intoximeter test inasmuch as appellant’s consent to the test was not knowingly and voluntarily made.
“III. Whether or not the court erred in denying appellant’s motion in limine and allowing testimony concerning reports from ‘unknown’ truck drivers.
“IV. Whether or not the court erred in instructing the jury that it was not neces *109 sary for the prosecution to prove unsafe driving.”

FACTS

A Wyoming highway patrolman was issuing a citation to a speeder on Interstate 80. A tractor trailer pulled up behind, stopped and the driver informed the officer that a car behind him was being driven erratically. Another truck driver pulled up and provided more information about that automobile. The patrolman turned on his CB and heard more discussion about the vehicle. The automobile in question went by; both truck drivers identified it as the vehicle they were describing earlier. The patrolman checked the speed of the car at 59 miles per hour. He followed the vehicle for approximately one mile down the highway and onto an exit ramp. The car was observed to weave slightly and to hug the inside of the ramp. The patrolman stopped the automobile. It was being driven by Michael Olson. The officer noticed the smell of alcohol and that Olson’s eyes appeared to be bloodshot and watery. He asked Mr. Olson to perform two field sobriety tests; Olson did not perform these tests adequately.

At that time the officer placed Olson in the patrol car, read him his “Miranda” rights, and gave some additional field sobriety tests. He then was arrested, charged with driving while under the influence (DWUI), and advised: “Your failure to submit to any test may result in the suspension of your license.” Mr. Olson asked what would happen if he refused to submit to the test. The officer stated: “I advise your license to operate will be suspended.” When Olson asked for how long, the officer replied that he did not know, that it was up to the motor vehicle department and asked again if Olson would submit to a test. Olson agreed to take the test. The results of the breath test showed a blood alcohol level of .12 percent. Appellant Olson decided to get an independent blood test; however, he subsequently changed his mind.

Appellant filed a motion to dismiss for lack of probable cause to arrest, a motion in limine relating to the information given by the unidentified truck drivers, and a motion to suppress the Intoximeter test because the appellant did not knowingly and voluntarily consent to the test. The motion to dismiss and the motion to suppress were denied. The motion in limine was taken under advisement.

After a trial by jury, appellant was convicted. The conviction was affirmed by district court and appealed to the supreme court.

PROBABLE CAUSE TO ARREST

Appellant contends that the initial stop was illegal and, therefore, any evidence obtained as a result of that stop should not have been considered in determining probable cause for arrest. The arresting officer directly observed only that the vehicle was exceeding the speed limit, weaving slightly and hugging the exit ramp. Appellant contends that the officer did not stop him because of the speeding violation because he was not ticketed for that offense; and since the informant’s information was not sufficient to provide a basis for even an investigatory stop, it was an illegal stop and the charge should be dismissed.

The standards applicable to a confrontation between a citizen and a policeman investigating suspicious circumstances are stated to be:

“[I]n justifying the particular intrusion the police officer must be able to point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion. * * * And in making that assessment it is imperative that the facts be judged against an objective standard: would the facts available to the officer at the moment of the seizure or the search ‘warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief’ that the action taken was appropriate?” Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1880, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).

A policeman is not required to simply shrug his shoulders and allow a crime to *110 occur merely because he lacks the necessary information required for probable cause to arrest. Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972). He may make an investigatory stop.

“An investigatory stop must be justified by some objective manifestation that the person stopped is, or is about to be, engaged in criminal activity.
“Courts have used a variety of terms to capture the elusive concept of what cause is sufficient to authorize police to stop a person. Terms like ‘articulable reasons’ and ‘founded suspicion’ are not self-defining; they fall short of providing clear guidance dispositive of the myriad factual situations that arise. But the essence of all that has been written is that the totality of the circumstances— the whole picture — must be taken into account. Based upon that whole picture the detaining officers must have a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity.” (Footnote and citations omitted.) United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 101 S.Ct. 690, 695, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981).

We have consistently applied these standards in Wyoming cases. A law enforcement officer may properly make an investigatory stop without probable cause to arrest. Lopez v. State, Wyo., 643 P.2d 682 (1982); Parkhurst v. State, Wyo., 628 P.2d 1369 (1981).

Using the totality-of-the-circumstances test, did the officer have sufficient reason to stop appellant? The patrolman testified that he was issuing a speeding citation when a truck driver pulled up behind and stated that a

“ * * * Buick, silver or gray, coming eastbound * * * was all over the road, that they were trying to flag down a couple of girls in another car, * * * that this vehicle passed him on the left hand side [going into the] median * * * driving real crazy * * *.

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Bluebook (online)
698 P.2d 107, 1985 Wyo. LEXIS 471, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/olson-v-state-wyo-1985.