State of Maine v. Ouellette

CourtSuperior Court of Maine
DecidedSeptember 7, 2021
DocketKENcr-20-1445
StatusUnpublished

This text of State of Maine v. Ouellette (State of Maine v. Ouellette) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Maine v. Ouellette, (Me. Super. Ct. 2021).

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE UNIFIED CRIMINAL DOCKET KENNEBEC, SS. AUGUSTA DOCKET NO. CR-20-1445

STATE OF MAINE

V. DECISION ON MOTION TO SUPPRESS

ROGER OUELLETTE

INTRODUCTION The matter before the court is the Defendant's Motion to Suppress dated August 19, 2020. The Defendant (Roger Ouellette) seeks to suppress all evidence following his detention, in his driveway, by Maine State Police Trooper (now Detective) James Moore on February 1, 2020 in Litchfield. Mr. Ouellette challenges the actions of Det. Moore on the basis that the officer lacked reasonable, artic1:1lable suspicioµ to make a stop of him. A testimonial hearing was held on June 29, 2021, at which both Det. Moore and Mr. Ouellette testified. State's Exhibit 1 and Defendant's Exhibit 1 were admitted into evidence without objection. Briefing on the motion was completed on July 16, 2021. Based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, the court makes the following findings of fact. FACTS During the evening of February 1, 2020, then Trooper Moore was on patrol along Route 126 in Litchfield, otherwise known as the Lewiston Road. He was traveling west in his marked cruiser. He was "deliberately" on patrol in that area (the Tacoma Lakes region) looking to "pick off' possible impaired drivers who had frequented a local restaurant located on Route 126 that, the trooper had heard, was "overserving" alcohol to its patrons. As he was heading west in the direction of the restaurant, the trooper observed a vehicle coming towards him, and further observed that the vehicle had crossed over the double yellow center line and was partially in his lane. Specifically, the trooper recalled that the tire on the vehicle was over the center line such that the trooper moved over in his lane. The trooper testified that that this was a violation of29-A M.R.S. § 2051(1). 1 Trooper Moore did not immediately reverse direction and stop the vehicle for this alleged violation. After losing sight of the lights on the vehicle, the trooper "flipped around" and followed, regaining visual observation of the vehicle after about 20-30 seconds, he estimated. Trooper Moore saw Mr. Ouellette's vehicle, with its brake lights still on, 2 parked near a building, which the trooper believed was a home, a short distance away on Route 126. Trooper Moore testified that he was "pretty positive" and had "no doubt" that Mr. Ouellette' s vehicle was the same vehicle that had earlier crossed over into his lane. Trooper Moore pulled over and waited for approximately 4-5 minutes because he wanted to see more of the vehicle in operation. The trooper then headed east on Route 126, past where Mr. Ouellette's vehicle was parked, and proceeded to the Huntington Hill Road, where he parked for about 10 minutes, waiting to see of the vehicle moved. After that, Trooper Moore headed back west, again passing the location where Mr. Ouellette's vehicle was still parked, with its lights on. After passing the Defendant's vehicle, Trooper Moore turned around again and watched some more. At some point, the Defendant's vehicle began to move. According to

1 Title 29-A M.R.S. § 2051(1) provides that "[w]hen a public way has been divided into 2 or more clearly marked lanes for traffic ... [a] vehicle must be operated as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane." A violation of section 2015 is a traffic infraction. 29-A M.R.S. §§ 101 (85), 103 and 104. , There may be some dispute or confusion in the record as to whether Trooper Moore saw the brake lights on the vehicle or the head lights. Nevertheless, there is no dispute that Mr. Ouellette's vehicle was parked by the building along Route 126.

2 Trooper Moore, the vehicle quickly crossed over Route 126 and entered Sand Pond Lane, which was across the street from where the vehicle had been parked. Sand Pond Lane was described as an icy, camp road. Trooper Moore testified that Mr. Ouellette's vehicle was traveling faster than he felt comfortable with, under the conditions, but he could not say how fast the vehicle was going. When the Defendant's vehicle left its location on Route 126 and crossed over to enter Sand Pond Lane, Trooper Moore followed with only his headlights on. The trooper could see the Defendant's vehicle tum into a driveway and saw the driver's side door of the vehicle open and the driver slip on the icy surface. 3 As Trooper Moore turned into the driveway, he activated his blue lights and cruiser camera. At that point, he approached Mr. Ouellette in the driveway and questioned him. Trooper Moore acknowledged that, "in his mind," he and the Defendant were essentially playing a game of "cat and mouse." For example, Trooper Moore did not immediately reverse direction and follow the vehicle that had crossed into his lane because the road was quite narrow, but also because the trooper did not want to signal the driver that he was being followed by law enforcement. At least in part, that was why Trooper Moore waited until he lost sight of the vehicle's rear lights before he turned around to follow the vehicle and catch up. Moreover, based on his experience as a patrol trooper for 8 years, Trooper Moore suspected that the driver of the vehicle was attempting to avoid him by pulling into the home and parking with the vehicle's brake lights on. Trooper Moore assumed that the driver did not live at that location, which further raised his suspicions. It was only later that Trooper Moore learned that Mr. Ouellette owned the property on Route 126, as well as the property on Sand Pond Lane. Also suspicious in Trooper Moore's mind was the way Mr. Ouellette crossed Route 126

, The cruiser camera does not show the door opening or the slip on the ice, but Trooper Moore testified that he could see more through the trees than is recorded on the cruiser camera.

3 and entered Sand Pond Lane, as he found the speed on an icy, camp road out of the ordinary. Trooper Moore acknowledged that he could have immediately stopped the vehicle that had crossed the center line, but he chose not to because he wanted to further investigate as to whether the operator of that vehicle was impaired. That was the primary focus of Trooper Moore's patrol that night. By the time Trooper Moore began to follow Mr. Ouellette onto Sand Pond Lane, if not earlier, he believed he was engaged in an OUI investigation. Mr. Ouellette testified and introduced three short video clips to illustrate where his vehicle was parked, the general area along Route 126, up to Huntington Hill Road and what could or could not be seen through the heavily tinted windows on the vehicle, a GMC 3li ton truck. DISCUSSION Mr. Ouellette contends that Trooper Moore effectuated a stop of him from the point in time when the blue lights on the officer's cruiser were activated, and that the stop was illegal because it was not supported by objectively reasonable and articulable suspicion. Specifically, Mr. Ouellette maintains that Trooper Moore: ( 1) did not have reasonable, articulable suspicion to believe that the Defendant was operating under the influence; (2) did not have reasonable, articulable suspicion to believe that he had committed a traffic infraction by violating 29-A M.R.S. § 2051 ( 1), and; (3) in the absence of reasonable, articulable suspicion, the gravity of the public interest did not outweigh the severity of the interference with the Defendant's individual liberty, such as to justify the stop. The Law Court has recently reaffirmed that "[a] stop is justified when an officer's assessment of the existence of specific and aiiiculable facts indicating a possible violation oflaw or a public safety risk is objectively reasonable considering the totality of the circumstances." State v. Simmons, 2016 ME ME 91, 'if 9, quoting

4 State v.

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Bluebook (online)
State of Maine v. Ouellette, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-maine-v-ouellette-mesuperct-2021.