State v. Barragan

2001 NMCA 086, 34 P.3d 1157, 131 N.M. 281
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 17, 2001
Docket21,846
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 2001 NMCA 086 (State v. Barragan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Barragan, 2001 NMCA 086, 34 P.3d 1157, 131 N.M. 281 (N.M. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

PICKARD, Judge.

{1} Defendant appeals from the judgment entered after a jury found him guilty of aggravated burglary, possession of burglary tools, larceny over $100, and concealing identity. Defendant asserts five grounds for reversal: (1) the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to a protective search; (2) the jury instructions directed the jury to find that the market value of the items taken by Defendant was greater than $100; (3) the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s motion for a directed verdict on the charge of possession of burglary tools and the aggravated portion of the charge of aggravated burglary; (4) the trial court abused its discretion in denying Defendant’s motion for a mistrial; and (5) the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the State to reopen its case to introduce an in-court identification of Defendant. We hold that the officer who searched Defendant exceeded the scope of a protective search when he emptied Defendant’s pockets after ascertaining that the item causing the bulge in Defendant’s pants was not a weapon. For this reason, we reverse three of Defendant’s convictions and remand for a new trial. We affirm Defendant’s conviction for concealing his identity. Because we reverse Defendant’s conviction for larceny based on the erroneous admission of evidence, it is unnecessary for us to reach Defendant’s challenge to the jury instructions.

FACTS

{2} At approximately 2:20 a.m. on February 3, 1999, police officers responded to a report of a possible burglary at a commercial building in Las Cruces. The building houses two businesses separated by an eight-foot “dummy wall” that leaves a small gap between the top of the wall and the ceiling of the building. An automobile repair shop occupies the south side of the building, and an automobile parts store is located on the north side. The repair shop portion of the budding also includes a separately secured, freestanding interior office. The burglar entered through an air conditioning vent above the office.

{3} When the police arrived at the business, they found a bay door to the repair shop partially open. The officers searched the repair shop and the parts store, but found no one inside. They did, however, find a stack of tools in a pile just inside the bay door as well as a small flashlight, which had been left on.

{4} After the officers had secured the interiors of the two businesses, the officers moved their search outside. Officer Syling, a K-9 officer, began a “wind scent” search with his dog, wherein the officer and dog position themselves downwind from an area such that the dog may detect the scent of persons upwind. After leaving the bay door, the dog alerted almost immediately. The dog lost the trail, but soon picked up a scent and alerted more strongly. Shortly after the dog alerted the second time, Officer Syling saw Defendant walk around the corner of a nearby building and notified other officers to stop and question Defendant.

{5} Officer Monget responded to Officer Syling’s request. As he approached Defendant in his patrol car, Officer Monget saw that another officer had already stopped beside Defendant. As he got out of his car, Officer Monget heard the other officer ordering Defendant to stop, and Officer Monget began issuing verbal orders to stop. Officer Monget drew his gun, pointed it at Defendant, and ordered Defendant to get down on the ground. Defendant complied with Officer Monget’s orders, and Officer Monget handcuffed Defendant.

{6} Officer Monget then stood Defendant up and began a protective search to ascertain whether Defendant was armed. Officer Monget testified that he felt hard objects in Defendant’s pockets. The officer pulled out a hard plastic device four-to-five inches long, which one of the victims later identified as a dog training tool. At trial, Officer Monget testified that after feeling the device, he was unsure whether it was a weapon. After removing the dog training device, Officer Mon-get emptied Defendant’s pockets, recovering two watches, some loose change, several video game tokens, a bandana, and a comb. The change, tokens, and watches were later identified as belonging to one of the victims.

{7} After the search, Officer Monget took Defendant back to the scene of the burglary to compare the soles of Defendant’s shoes to footprints found near the air conditioning vent through which the burglar had entered the building. The prints appeared to match. The officers showed the items seized from Defendant to one of the business owners, who identified the objects as having been in the locked office within the repair shop. The owner later testified that the office door had been pried open during the burglary, and that, after entering the office, the burglar appeared to have used a pry bar to open a locked cabinet.

{8} While taking pictures of the scene, the officers discovered a jacket in the air conditioning vent. After the jacket had been photographed, the officers removed it from the vent. They found a knife underneath the jacket. Neither the knife nor the jacket belonged to the owners of the two businesses.

{9} Prior to trial, Defendant moved to suppress the items seized during the pat-down search. The trial court denied Defendant’s motion, and the case was heard by a jury. The jury found Defendant guilty of aggravated burglary, possession of burglary tools, larceny over $100, and concealing identity. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

I. Motion to Suppress

{10} Typically, in reviewing a trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress, we determine whether the law was correctly applied to the facts, giving due deference to the factual findings of the lower court. State v. Duquette, 2000-NMCA-006, ¶7, 128 N.M. 530, 994 P.2d 776. We review de novo the trial court’s application of the law to the facts. State v. Paul T., 1999-NMSC-037, ¶ 8, 128 N.M. 360, 993 P.2d 74.

{11} Defendant challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress on three grounds: (1) the officers lacked reasonable suspicion to stop Defendant; (2) by drawing their weapons, ordering Defendant to lie down on the ground, and then placing Defendant in handcuffs, the officers used excessive force to detain Defendant; and (3) the full search of Defendant’s pockets exceeded the permissible bounds of an investigative detention. The State argues that the search was proper in all respects, but offers the inevitable discovery doctrine as an alternative justification for admitting the evidence should we decide that the search was improper. We conclude that the officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Defendant, but that the search of Defendant’s pockets exceeded the scope of a pat-down search for weapons. We hold that the record is insufficient for us to evaluate the State’s claim that the evidence is admissible under the inevitable discovery doctrine.

{12} “In appropriate circumstances and in an appropriate manner a police officer may approach a person for purposes of investigating possible criminal behavior, even though there is no probable cause to make an arrest.” State v. Watley, 109 N.M. 619, 624, 788 P.2d 375, 380 (Ct.App.1989) (citing Terry v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2001 NMCA 086, 34 P.3d 1157, 131 N.M. 281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-barragan-nmctapp-2001.