State v. Barber

379 P.3d 651, 279 Or. App. 84, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 786
CourtMarion County Circuit Court, Oregon
DecidedJune 22, 2016
Docket12C46161; A154582
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 379 P.3d 651 (State v. Barber) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Marion County Circuit Court, Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Barber, 379 P.3d 651, 279 Or. App. 84, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 786 (Or. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

DUNCAN, P. J.

Defendant appeals a judgment convicting him of one count of possession of heroin, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence discovered during an extension of a traffic stop.1 The trial court determined that the evidence against defendant was discovered after a police officer lawfully stopped defendant for a traffic violation and extended the stop to investigate whether he possessed drugs. Defendant argues that the extension of the stop violated Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution because it was not supported by reasonable suspicion that defendant possessed drugs and that the evidence should have been suppressed because the officer exploited the. unlawful detention to gain defendant’s consent to search the car. Defendant also argues, in the alternative, that the evidence should have been suppressed because his consent to the search was involuntary. We conclude that the extension of the stop was supported by reasonable suspicion that defendant possessed drugs and that defendant voluntarily consented to the search of the car. Accordingly, we affirm.

We state the facts consistently with the trial court’s explicit and implicit findings. State v. Ehly, 317 Or 66, 75, 854 P2d 421 (1993). In August 2012, Salem Police detectives in the Street Crimes Unit were conducting surveillance of the apartment of a suspected heroin dealer. After a detective, Bennett, observed suspicious behavior, described in more detail below, by two men in a Subaru, he asked another detective, Miller, to follow the car to further observe the men and eventually make a stop. Miller followed the car briefly and then called a patrol officer, Morrison, and explained that the detectives had been following the Subaru as a result of the occupants’ “possible drug activity” related to the apartment that the detectives were watching. Miller told Morrison that a detective had been watching an apartment as part of a drug investigation when he saw two men in a Subaru in the parking lot of the apartment complex. It was Morrison’s understanding that the detective saw one of the men go up to the apartment under surveillance and then [86]*86quickly come back to the car, where he and the other man “engaged in possible drug activity” for a short time before leaving in the car.2 Miller asked Morrison to locate and follow the car and “develop probable cause to stop the car and identify the occupants.”

A few minutes later, Morrison located the Subaru on the road he was on, heading in the opposite direction. He did a U-turn to come up behind it, and defendant, who was driving, quickly turned the car into the parking lot of a motel without signaling his turn. In Morrison’s experience, that particular motel was a frequent site of drug activity. Having observed defendant’s failure to signal, a traffic violation, ORS 811.335(l)(b), (3), Morrison turned on the overhead lights on his marked patrol car in order to stop defendant for the violation.

Defendant did not stop his car immediately. Instead, he drove through the motel parking lot for approximately 35 yards at a very slow speed, which indicated to Morrison that defendant knew that Morrison was there. Defendant passed numerous open parking places and a fire lane where there was room to stop safely without impeding traffic. Instead, defendant continued to the back of the parking area, turned right, and parked in a parking stall at the very back of the complex. While defendant drove through the parking lot, he looked at his passenger, who was reaching down underneath the seat. That behavior made Morrison concerned, first, that the passenger might be reaching for weapons and, next, that defendant and the passenger were trying to conceal something — perhaps drugs — in the car.

Morrison parked his car behind defendant’s, blocking him in, then went up to the car and identified himself. [87]*87He told defendant that he had stopped him for not signaling his turn into the parking lot. Defendant responded that he had turned suddenly because he believed the driveway he had turned into was the only entrance to the motel. Morrison asked why defendant was at the motel, and defendant responded that he was staying at the motel for the night. Then Morrison asked defendant “if he had any weapons in the car or drugs or anything of that nature inside the car.” Defendant responded, “I don’t think I have any drugs.” Morrison responded, “Hey. That doesn’t sound very convincing. Do you or do you not have drugs in the car?” The record does not reveal defendant’s response to that question.

During the conversation that followed, Morrison asked defendant if he and the passenger were from the area. They responded that they were, and Morrison explained to defendant that, in his experience, a lot of people go to that motel to use drugs or engage in illegal activities. At some point, Morrison also obtained defendant’s license, registration, and insurance information.

Morrison asked defendant for consent to a search of the car for “drugs, weapons, anything of that nature.” Defendant asked, “Hey. What happens if I say no; if I say no to consent to the vehicle [search]?” Morrison responded that “that was well within his rights.” Defendant asked again what would happen if he did not consent. Morrison explained, “I could do a number of things. I could apply for a search warrant, I could call for a drug dog, or I could just drive away.” Defendant asked what would happen if Morrison found drugs, and Morrison explained, “I’d investigate that and proceed accordingly.”

Defendant was hesitant, so Morrison gave him a card advising him of his rights. He explained, “I’ll just have you read the card and if you agree with it then you can give consent. If not then we can move on.” After reading the card, defendant told Morrison that he did not want to consent to a search. Then he asked what Morrison was going to do next. Morrison told him, “I was going to go fill out a traffic warning complaint for the turn signal and see if a drug dog was working at the time.” Defendant asked what the dog was [88]*88going to do, and Morrison explained that the dog would walk around the car, and “if he alerted to the odor of a drug then we would proceed forward with that.”

Morrison left to go back to his car. As he was going to his car, defendant stuck his arm out and hailed Morrison, who went back toward defendant. Defendant asked to read the consent-to-search card again and then signed the card, giving consent.

At that point, defendant and the passenger got out of the car, and the passenger left the scene. Morrison called Miller, who came to help search the car. During the search, Morrison and Miller found the disputed physical evidence, and, when questioned about the evidence, defendant made incriminating statements.

Defendant was arrested and charged with one count of possession of heroin and one count of distribution of heroin. He moved to suppress the evidence discovered during the search and his statements, arguing that Morrison unlawfully extended the traffic stop without reasonable suspicion that defendant possessed drugs and, alternatively, that defendant’s consent to the search was involuntary. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that Morrison had reasonable suspicion to detain defendant while he conducted a drug investigation and that defendant’s consent was voluntary.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
379 P.3d 651, 279 Or. App. 84, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 786, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-barber-orccmarion-2016.