State v. Anderson

314 P.3d 335, 259 Or. App. 448, 2013 WL 6022303, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 1368
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedNovember 14, 2013
Docket105119MI; A149005
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 314 P.3d 335 (State v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Anderson, 314 P.3d 335, 259 Or. App. 448, 2013 WL 6022303, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 1368 (Or. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

EGAN, J.

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for driving while suspended, ORS 811.182(4), contending that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence that was obtained during a traffic stop. After observing a crack in defendant’s windshield, a sheriffs deputy stopped defendant’s pickup truck and, in the course of the stop, discovered that defendant’s license was suspended. Defendant contends that the officer lacked objective probable cause to believe that the windshield crack placed defendant in violation of either ORS 815.020 or ORS 815.270. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand.

The facts are not in dispute. Jackson County Sheriffs Deputy McKay was traveling north when he saw a pickup truck turn south onto the same road; he observed that the pickup truck’s windshield was cracked. The only description of the crack that appears in the record was provided at the motion to suppress hearing during the state’s direct examination of McKay:

“[MCKAY]: I noticed a large crack going through the windshield of that vehicle and that is why I stopped the vehicle.
“[STATE]: And can you describe that crack for us, please?
“[MCKAY]: The crack was going from — stretching from the passenger side across the windshield all the way to the driver’s side of the vehicle.
“[STATE]: And what part of the windshield was it located, down near the wipers or up towards the ceiling of the cab?
“[MCKAY]: It was more up. It was more in the area to where it could have, I guess, impeded the vision of the driver. So it would have been kind of in the eyesight area.
“[STATE]: And was any portion of that a spiderweb crack?
“ [MCKAY]: It was off to the passenger side, so off to the right of the driver there was some spiderwebbing.
[450]*450“[STATE]: Okay. And then the line goes all the way across from the passenger side to the driver’s side?
“[MCKAY]: Correct.
“[STATE]: And it’s basically a level line all the way across maintaining at that somewhere in the eye level area the whole way across?
“[MCKAY]: Yeah.
“[STATE]: Depending on the height of the driver, obviously?
“[MCKAY]: Yeah, exactly.
“[STATE]: Now, did you feel like that violated any statutes?
“[MCKAY]: Yes. I believe that would be operating an unsafe vehicle.
“[STATE]: And what about a crack would make it an unsafe driving situation?
“[MCKAY]: Well, there’s *** numerous things that I believe makes it unsafe. For one, you have a crack going roughly through the eyesight of a driver. So he’s not only focusing down the road from what he’s looking at, he also has something in his vision that is gonna be — his eye is gonna be focusing on somewhat. So he’s kind of looking back and forth. In addition to [that] you have spiderwebbing off to the right so if he’s looking to the right clearing for a turn or if he’s looking at oncoming traffic coming from the right, that’s gonna be in the way of his vision as well.”

McKay went on to explain that he was concerned that light could potentially refract off the crack into the passenger compartment of the vehicle. He was also concerned that the crack had compromised the integrity of the windshield so that it would not offer the same protection as an uncracked windshield in the event that an object struck it.

As noted, McKay stopped defendant because of the cracked windshield. During the course of that stop, McKay learned that defendant’s license had been suspended. McKay accordingly issued defendant a citation for a violation of ORS 811.182 — driving while suspended — and ORS 815.220— obstruction of vehicle windows.

[451]*451Defendant filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained as a result of the traffic stop, contending that McKay lacked probable cause to believe that he had committed a traffic violation and that suppression was therefore required under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution.1

“In order to stop and detain a person for a traffic violation, an officer must have probable cause to believe that the person has committed a violation. Probable cause has two components. First, at the time of the stop, the officer must subjectively believe that a violation has occurred, and second, that belief must be objectively reasonable under the circumstances. For an officer’s belief to be objectively reasonable, the facts, as the officer perceives them, must actually constitute a violation. Thus, an officer’s belief may be objectively reasonable even if the officer is mistaken as to the facts.”

State v. Stookey, 255 Or App 489, 491, 297 P3d 548 (2013) (citations omitted) (emphasis in original).

At the hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress, McKay stated that, although he had cited defendant for driving with an obstructed window under ORS 815.220, he had listed the wrong statute in the citation. Thus, the state made no argument that it was objectively reasonable for McKay to think that defendant’s windshield placed him in violation of ORS 815.220. Instead, the state argued — as it does in this appeal — that the facts that McKay perceived constituted a violation of both ORS 815.020 — operation of an unsafe vehicle — and ORS 815.270 — operation of a vehicle that is loaded or equipped to obstruct the driver. See State v. Boatright, 222 Or App 406, 410, 193 P3d 78, rev den, 345 Or 503 (2008) (stating that “probable cause may be based on a mistake as to which law the defendant violated” and that “in order to satisfy the objective component, the facts that the officer perceives to exist must establish the elements of an offense, even if not the offense that the officer believed the defendant committed” (emphasis in original)).

[452]*452The trial court denied the motion to suppress.

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Related

State v. Rabanales-Ramos
359 P.3d 250 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
314 P.3d 335, 259 Or. App. 448, 2013 WL 6022303, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 1368, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-anderson-orctapp-2013.