People v. Baldwin

904 N.E.2d 1193, 388 Ill. App. 3d 1028, 328 Ill. Dec. 683, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 131
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 23, 2009
Docket3-08-0118
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 904 N.E.2d 1193 (People v. Baldwin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Baldwin, 904 N.E.2d 1193, 388 Ill. App. 3d 1028, 328 Ill. Dec. 683, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 131 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE O’BRIEN

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Adrian P Baldwin, was charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia (720 ILCS 600/3.5(a) (West 2006)). The defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence, which the circuit court granted. On appeal, the State argues that the circuit court erred when it granted the defendant’s motion to suppress. We affirm.

FACTS

On July 28, 2007, McDonough County deputy sheriff Mike Pilat initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by Curtis Baldwin, but owned by his wife. Pilat had observed the vehicle make two lane violations. The defendant, who was 17 years old at the time, was seated in the front passenger seat, and a minor female was seated in the backseat.

Pilat approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, and a reserve officer approached the passenger side of the vehicle. Pilat began talking to the defendant while the reserve officer shined his flashlight into the vehicle. Pilat obtained the driver’s information, then asked the passengers for identification. The passengers did not have any identification, so Pilat asked for and received the passengers’ names. Pilat testified that the defendant mumbled his name to Pilat, resulting in Pilat having to ask more than once for the defendant’s information. Pilat also had to ask more than once for the minor female’s name. Pilat testified that, although he smelled a faint odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle, he did not smell alcohol on the breath of the driver or the passengers. He did not smell any odor of cannabis.

Pilat also testified that the defendant began breathing heavily when Pilat asked for the defendant’s name. According to Pilat, the defendant appeared nervous and would not look at Pilat, although Pi-lat admitted that the defendant might have been distracted by the reserve officer. The defendant also kept his right hand at his side, along the seat. Pilat testified that he thought the defendant might be hiding something in his hand. On cross-examination, Pilat stated that he also thought that the defendant might have a weapon in his hand, although he did not inquire about the defendant’s hands, nor did he frisk the defendant.

A videotape of the stop was admitted into evidence at the suppression hearing. The tape began with the vehicle already at a stop. Within two minutes of the beginning of the tape, Pilat had obtained the driver’s and passengers’ information and returned to his squad car, at which point Pilat turned off his microphone. Approximately 21/2 minutes later, Pilat returned to the vehicle and began talking to the defendant. Nothing on the videotape indicated that any issue arose with the information run by Pilat. Likewise, at the suppression hearing, no evidence was introduced to indicate any issue arose with the information run by Pilat.

Approximately 40 seconds after returning to the stopped vehicle, Pilat asked the driver to step out of the vehicle, and Pilat and the driver began having a conversation at the rear of the vehicle. Because Pilat’s microphone was still off, there was no audio of the conversation on the tape of the stop.

Pilat testified that he asked the driver about the odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. The driver explained that he had been sober for approximately 10 or 11 years. The driver also explained that he had been playing in a band at a benefit being held at a bar that night, and he noticed an odd odor coming from the vehicle when he and the passengers were leaving the bar. The vehicle was a convertible; at the time it was parked in the bar’s lot, the top was down. When the stop was made, the top was up.

During the conversation, Pilat asked the driver for consent to search the vehicle numerous times, with multiple requests being made because the driver would not give a yes or no answer. Pilat testified that the driver refused to give consent. The driver testified that Pilat was “adamant” when asking for consent and persisted even though the driver told Pilat that there was no reason to search the vehicle.

At some point while he and the driver were talking at the rear of the vehicle, Pilat claimed that he saw the defendant turn around, look in the direction of Pilat and the driver, reach into his pocket, and reach down along his side.

Eventually, the conversation moved to the passenger side of the vehicle, where the tape shows the driver briefly talking to the defendant, then Pilat briefly talking to the defendant while shining his flashlight into the vehicle. The conversation moved back to the rear of the vehicle, and Pilat asked the driver to return to the vehicle and wait, as Pilat was going to request a canine to perform a sniff of the vehicle. After the approximately 3-minute, 15-second conversation outside the vehicle, the driver sat back down in the vehicle. At this point, approximately nine minutes had passed since the time at which Pilat’s camera began recording.

Approximately 30 seconds later, Pilat called to request a canine unit. The tape indicated that the canine unit arrived approximately two minutes later. When the sniff was completed, approximately 14 minutes had passed since the time at which Pilat’s camera began recording.

The dog allegedly alerted to the vehicle, and Pilat conducted pat downs of the driver and the defendant. In the subsequent search of the vehicle, Pilat found a homemade push rod, made for cleaning cannabis out of a pipe. Pilat found the push rod on the floor by the front passenger seat. Pilat later recovered a cannabis pipe from the defendant’s person.

After arresting the defendant and conducting a full search of the vehicle, Pilat gave the driver a warning for the lane violations.

During the suppression hearing, which was held on January 18, 2008, the parties contested the applicable law. The circuit court eventually agreed with the defendant that People v. Gonzalez, 204 Ill. 2d 220, 789 N.E.2d 260 (2003), was still good law and controlled the situation at hand. The court found that Pilat’s questioning was unrelated to the purpose of the stop. In addition, the court found that Pilat’s actions of calling for a dog sniff and “further delaying this matter” were inconsistent with the purpose of the stop. Accordingly, the court granted the defendant’s motion to suppress, and the State appealed.

ANALYSIS

On appeal, the State argues that the circuit court erred when it granted the defendant’s motion to suppress. Specifically, the State argues that the officer did not unreasonably delay the traffic stop. Alternatively, the State argues, without citation to any authority, that any delay was justified by a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity.

We employ a two-part standard of review when faced with a challenge to a circuit court’s ruling on a motion to suppress. People v. Luedemann, 222 Ill. 2d 530, 857 N.E.2d 187 (2006).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
904 N.E.2d 1193, 388 Ill. App. 3d 1028, 328 Ill. Dec. 683, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-baldwin-illappct-2009.