State v. Arisco

663 A.2d 442, 39 Conn. App. 11, 1995 Conn. App. LEXIS 383
Connecticut Appellate Court·Decided August 29, 1995·No. 13354·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

HEIMAN, J.

The defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a trial to the court, of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs in violation of General Statutes § 14-227a (a).1 On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court improperly (1) denied his motion to dismiss the charge against him because he was stopped by the police in violation of article first, §§ 7 and 9, of the constitution of Connecticut, and (2) denied his application for participation in a pretrial alcohol education program. We are unpersuaded by the defendant’s claims and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The following facts are necessary for the resolution of this appeal. At approximately 2 a.m. on October 22, 1992, the defendant and a friend were walking on Vance Drive in Bristol. Officer John McNellis of the Bristol police department was patrolling the area, which was known for frequent sales of narcotics. When McNellis saw the defendant, he asked the defendant his name and why he was in the area. The parties presented conflicting evidence to the trial court as to whether McNellis called the defendant over to answer his questions or if he merely approached the defendant as the defendant was walking down the street.

[13] The defendant told McNellis his name and informed McNellis that he was in the area with a friend and that his truck was located in the Stop and Shop parking lot nearby. McNellis noticed that the defendant had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, that his speech was slurred and that he was having difficulty walking. McNellis asked the defendant if he planned to drive and the defendant replied that he did not. McNellis then wished the defendant a “nice night” and returned to his patrol car.

A few minutes after this encounter, McNellis was continuing his patrol of the area when he saw the defendant driving a truck on Farmington Avenue. McNellis immediately turned on the overhead lights on his cruiser and pulled over the defendant. McNellis observed that the defendant still smelled of alcohol, that he had difficulty standing and walking and that his speech was slurred. Three field sobriety tests were administered to the defendant, who failed each of them. On the basis of the defendant’s failure of those tests, McNellis believed he had probable cause to arrest the defendant for driving while intoxicated. Once at the police station, the defendant was again administered field sobriety tests, which he failed to perform adequately.

I

The defendant first asserts that the trial court improperly denied his motion to dismiss because he was stopped both on foot and in his vehicle in violation of article first, §§ 7 and 9,2 of the constitution of Connecticut. We decline to review this claim.

[14] The following additional facts are necessary to an understanding of our resolution of this claim. Prior to the commencement of trial, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss the charge against him. Upon presentation to the court, the defendant stipulated that the motion could be decided at the close of the evidence so that the witnesses would not have to testify twice. After all of the evidence was heard, the defendant argued that the case against him should be dismissed. In support of this claim, the defendant argued that he was stopped on the street in violation of his right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures under the Connecticut constitution, citing specifically to State v. Oquendo, 223 Conn. 635, 613 A.2d 1300 (1992). The defendant alleged that the actions of McNellis constituted a show of force and that the defendant did not feel he was free to leave. In addition, he claimed that all evidence flowing from that initial illegal stop was inadmissible as “fruit of the poisonous tree” and that, therefore, the second stop, while the defendant was in his vehicle, was also in violation of the Connecticut constitution.

In response, the state argued that in this case, there was no stop within the meaning of Oquendo. The state asserted that the evidence established that the defendant was never told to halt and that McNellis never gave any sort of directive to the defendant that would have made him feel he was not free to leave. In addition, the state asserted that the atmosphere surrounding the stop was not one that was police dominated because the stop took place on the street and a single officer faced two people. The state also pointed out that the defendant was not handcuffed or put in the police cruiser at the time of this initial stop. In conclusion, the state posited that even if the actions of the police officer did constitute a stop, there existed a reasonable articulable suspicion to support it.

[15] The trial court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss in open court. It concluded that there was no custodial search of the defendant and that there was no interference with the defendant’s right to leave or to conclude the questioning. The trial court did not, however, articulate any of the predicate facts on which it based its legal conclusions. The defendant did not file a motion for articulation requesting the trial court to enunciate the predicate facts found.

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State v. Arisco, 663 A.2d 442, 39 Conn. App. 11, 1995 Conn. App. LEXIS 383 (Colo. Ct. App. 1995).

663 A.2d 442 (State v. Arisco) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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