People v. Salazar

964 P.2d 502, 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3467, 1998 Colo. LEXIS 478, 1998 WL 373304
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedJune 29, 1998
DocketNo. 98SA100
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 964 P.2d 502 (People v. Salazar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Salazar, 964 P.2d 502, 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3467, 1998 Colo. LEXIS 478, 1998 WL 373304 (Colo. 1998).

Opinions

Justice MARTINEZ

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

The People appeal a suppression order entered by the Pueblo County District Court in the prosecution of Joseph Jason Salazar. The trial court found that the police officer who detained Salazar lacked a reasonable suspicion to justify the stop. Therefore, the trial court suppressed evidence seized and statements made by Salazar subsequent to the stop. We affirm the trial court’s order and remand the case for further proceedings.

I.

On August 20, 1997, Officer Phil Casias was on duty in the area of Aloha Glorya’s, a bar in Pueblo, Colorado. At approximately 11:45 p.m., Casias was dispatched to Aloha Glorya’s in response to a call for service. That call resulted from an anonymous telephone call to police dispatch reporting that an individual was selling cocaine at the bar. The anonymous caller described the individual as a hispanic male, age 19 to 21, wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, and a baseball cap with the letter “G” on it. The caller stated that the individual stored the cocaine in his right shoe. The caller did not provide the basis for this information.

All of the above information, except the suspect’s age, was relayed to Casias by police dispatch. Upon entering the bar, Casias observed an individual who matched the de[504]*504scription provided by the caller. The individual was sitting at a table against the back wall of the establishment. Casias approached the individual, who later identified himself as Salazar, and asked him to go outside. Salazar said nothing, but stood up and started walking toward the exit. As they were exiting the bar, an employee of the bar, as well as a patron who was identified as an off-duty Department of Corrections officer, informed Casias that Salazar had not been creating a disturbance in the bar.

Once outside, Casias and Salazar were joined by another officer. At that point, Casias informed Salazar that Salazar matched the description of someone who was allegedly selling cocaine from the bar. Casi-as then asked permission to conduct a search of Salazar’s person, and Salazar purportedly consented to the search. A search of Salazar’s right shoe revealed a plastic baggie with several folds of ah unknown substance. Salazar identified the substance as chalk. The search of the shoe also produced a hand-held scale.

Because he suspected the substance within the baggie to be cocaine, Casias arrested Salazar for possession of a schedule II controlled substance. After a chemical test showed that the substance was not cocaine, Salazar was charged with possession with intent to distribute an imitation controlled substance, a class five felony. See § 18-18-422, 6 C.R.S. (1997).

After Salazar was bound over for trial, he filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence and Statements. In his motion, Salazar argued, inter' alia, that the police lacked both reasonable suspicion to stop him and probable cause to arrest him. At a hearing on the motion on March 3, 1998, the trial court heard arguments on the issues of reasonable suspicion, probable cause, and whether Salazar’s consent to a search of his person was voluntary. Although the evidence suggested that Salazar was intoxicated at the time of the search, the trial court found that Salazar’s consent to the search was given knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently.

On the issue of reasonable suspicion, the trial court made the following findings regarding the information known to Casias at the time of the stop: (1) an anonymous tipster described a person who the tipster claimed was dealing cocaine, (2) the tipster did not indicate how he knew that the person was dealing cocaine, and (3) a person who matched the description given by the tipster was present in the bar. The trial court concluded that this information was an insufficient basis for suspecting that criminal activity had taken place, was in progress, or was about to occur. Therefore, the trial court found that the stop of the defendant was improper, and suppressed the evidence seized and statements made by Salazar as a result of the stop.

The prosecution filed a Motion to Reconsider, arguing that the trial court’s ruling was based on the erroneous theory that an officer must observe criminal activity in order to justify an investigatory stop. The prosecution maintained that the information known to Officer Casias at the time of the stop, although indicative of innocent behavior, was sufficient to provide a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The trial court denied the prosecution’s motion, emphasizing that “[n]ot only was there no corroboration of any possible criminal activity, but there was absolutely no evidence of the anonymous informant’s basis of knowledge or his reliability.”

Pursuant to C.A.R. 4.1, the prosecution appeals the trial court’s order. The prosecution argues once again that Casias’s stop of Salazar was justified by a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

II.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, Section 7 of the Colorado Constitution protect against'unreasonable searches and seizures. See Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 372, 113 S.Ct. 2130, 124 L.Ed.2d 334 (1993); People v. Canton, 951 P.2d 907, 909 (Colo.1998). A warrantless search and seizure is unreasonable unless justified by an established exception to the Warrant Clause of the Fourth Amendment. See Canton, 951 P.2d at 909; People v. H.J., 931 P.2d 1177, 1180 (Colo.1997). Moreover, an arrest must be [505]*505based on probable cause to believe that the person arrested has committed a crime. See People v. Tate, 657 P.2d 955, 958 (Colo.1983). “However, under narrowly defined circumstances, a police officer may temporarily stop a person for investigatory purposes without probable cause to support a search warrant or probable cause to arrest the person.” Canton, 951 P.2d at 909.

An investigatory stop complies with the Fourth Amendment if three criteria exist. First, there must be an articulable and specific basis in fact for suspecting (i.e., a reasonable suspicion) that criminal activity has taken place, is in progress, or is about to occur. Second, the purpose of the intrusion must be reasonable. Third, the scope and character of the intrusion must be reasonably related to its purpose. See id; People v. D.F., 933 P.2d 9, 12 (Colo.1997). In this case, the prosecution appeals the trial court’s conclusion that Officer Casias lacked a reasonable suspicion to justify the initial contact with Salazar. Therefore, in this appeal, we address only the existence of the first criterion for an investigatory stop.

Our inquiry focuses upon “ ‘whether there were specific and articulable facts known to the officer, which taken together with reasonable inferences from these facts, created a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to justify the intrusion into the defendant’s personal security.’ ” People v. Garcia, 789 P.2d 190, 192 (Colo.1990) (quoting People v. Thomas,

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Bluebook (online)
964 P.2d 502, 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3467, 1998 Colo. LEXIS 478, 1998 WL 373304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-salazar-colo-1998.