People v. WEHMAS

246 P.3d 642
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedJanuary 18, 2011
Docket09SC1002
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 246 P.3d 642 (People v. WEHMAS) 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. WEHMAS, 246 P.3d 642 (Colo. 2011).

Opinion

246 P.3d 642 (2010)

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Petitioner
v.
Arnold WEHMAS, Respondent.

No. 09SC1002.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

November 22, 2010.
As Modified on Denial of Rehearing January 18, 2011.

*644 Carol Chambers, District Attorney, Eighteenth Judicial District, Andrew Cooper, Chief Deputy District Attorney, Centennial, Colorado, Attorneys for Petitioner.

Brien & Martinez Law, LLC, Katherine Brien, Boulder, Colorado, Attorneys for Respondent.

Chief Justice MULLARKEY delivered the Opinion of the Court.

I. Introduction

We granted certiorari to review the district court's order affirming the county court's suppression of evidence on the grounds that warrantless home entry was not justified because (1) driving under the influence ("DUI"), a misdemeanor, is not a sufficiently grave offense, and (2) dissipating blood alcohol levels in a DUI suspect do not constitute the exigent circumstance of immediate risk of destruction of evidence. We affirm in part and reverse in part the district court's judgment. We hold that DUI is a grave offense that may support a warrantless entry into a person's home. However, under the facts presented here, the potential dissipation of the defendant's blood alcohol content ("BAC") is not a sufficiently exigent circumstance to justify warrantless home entry. We therefore affirm the suppression ruling on the ground that the officers acted unreasonably under these circumstances in entering the defendant's home without first obtaining a warrant.

II. Facts and Procedural History

Arnold Wehmas was charged in county court with multiple offenses arising out of allegedly driving drunk, hitting a parked car in the parking lot of his apartment complex, *645 and going to his apartment without exchanging information with the owner of the car he hit. The charges included the misdemeanor offenses of DUI and leaving the scene after striking an unattended motor vehicle ("hit and run"). Because the arresting officers entered Wehmas's apartment without obtaining a warrant, he moved to suppress all evidence that was obtained as a result of the warrantless entry.

At the suppression hearing, the primary arresting officer was the only person to testify. He testified to the following facts:

At around 2:45 a.m., two witnesses observed Wehmas drive his van into a parked vehicle in the parking lot of his apartment complex. One of the witnesses, the owner of the damaged vehicle, came outside in response to the car alarm. After the collision, Wehmas parked his van nearby, spoke with the owner of the damaged vehicle, said he would "settle it," and left, going to his apartment.

Four officers arrived at the scene, interviewed the two witnesses, and investigated the damage. Both witnesses described Wehmas as being drunk. The owner of the damaged vehicle was able to identify the apartment Wehmas entered after leaving the parking lot.

Three of the officers knocked on Wehmas's door. Receiving no answer, the police contacted the property owner, who was able to identify Wehmas by name and by a photo from a previous arrest. After unlocking the apartment with the property owner's key, the officers entered Wehmas's apartment to arrest him. Finding Wehmas in bed asleep, they shook him awake. The arresting officer asked Wehmas how much he had to drink, and Wehmas responded "not much." The officer then advised Wehmas he was under arrest. In the process of helping Wehmas out of the apartment, the arresting officer observed several signs of intoxication, including bloodshot and watery eyes; slow, thick-tongued speech; poor balance; and a strong smell of an alcoholic beverage on Wehmas's breath.

During cross-examination, the officer agreed that the officers had not offered Wehmas an opportunity to take roadside field tests. And, the prosecution presented no evidence that the defendant was verbally offered—whether at the time of arrest or within the statutory two-hour time frame—a blood or breath test, or that he refused those tests.

The prosecution offered little evidence regarding the time frame within which the investigation and arrest took place. During cross-examination, the officer's responses were not expressed with certainty, but the officer estimated that the dispatch call occurred at 2:48 a.m., that he called the property owner around 3:00 a.m., and that it took the property owner approximately five minutes to arrive at the apartment. The police report justifying the warrantless arrest notes the dispatch call occurred at 2:48 a.m. and the time of arrest was 4:10 a.m. Thus, the time that elapsed from dispatch to arrest was one hour and twenty-two minutes.

Following the testimony, the prosecution argued that the evidence should not be suppressed because exigent circumstances justified the officers' warrantless entry into the apartment. The prosecution contended that the officers had acted reasonably because otherwise too much time would have lapsed and caused loss of evidence regarding whether Wehmas was drunk, and because Wehmas was a flight risk because he did not own the apartment.

Defense counsel contended that the officers did not act reasonably in entering Wehmas's home without first securing a warrant. Counsel argued that only the most serious felony offenses justify a warrantless home entry, and that potential dissipation of blood alcohol content did not constitute an exigent circumstance.

Ruling from the bench, the county court initially denied the motion to suppress. It concluded that the officers had probable cause to believe that Wehmas was driving under the influence. Assessing whether exigent circumstances existed, the court ruled that destruction of evidence in the form of dissipation of Wehmas's BAC was a sufficiently exigent circumstance because of the concern that the passage of time would reduce BAC and because DUI is a grave offense. *646 Accordingly, the county court denied Wehmas's motion to suppress evidence.

One year later on the morning of trial, the county court revisited and reversed its suppression ruling. In now granting the motion to suppress, the county court explained that DUI was not a sufficiently grave offense to justify the officers' warrantless entry into Wehmas's home because it was not a felony or a violent crime. In examining the factors of the case, the court rejected the notion that exigent circumstances justified warrantless entry because the case involved a minor accident in a parking lot, the officers knew Wehmas's location, and they could have secured his home while they obtained a warrant. Moreover, the court reasoned that, under the circumstances, the officers had sufficient time to obtain a warrant and could have secured the area to prevent Wehmas from driving again while intoxicated. The court, however, did not specifically revisit whether dissipating BAC alone constituted a sufficiently exigent circumstance. The county court suppressed all evidence obtained from the moment the police officers entered the apartment, including their observations.

On appeal, the district court affirmed the county court's revised ruling. Addressing the exigency determination, the district court concluded that the gravity of the offense was the first factor to consider. Because DUI is a misdemeanor offense, the court agreed with the county court and rejected the notion that it was a grave offense. In addition, it concluded that the gradual dissipation of BAC did not constitute an exigent circumstance because Wehmas could not take any action to hasten that dissipation.

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Related

People v. Wehmas
246 P.3d 642 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2011)

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246 P.3d 642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-wehmas-colo-2011.