State v. Bergeron

326 N.W.2d 684, 1982 N.D. LEXIS 390
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 17, 1982
DocketCrim. 858
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 326 N.W.2d 684 (State v. Bergeron) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bergeron, 326 N.W.2d 684, 1982 N.D. LEXIS 390 (N.D. 1982).

Opinions

ERICKSTAD, Chief Justice.

Defendant, Lloyd D. Bergeron, is appealing from a judgment entered November 25, 1981, by the Grand Forks County Court of Increased Jurisdiction, convicting him of driving while license suspended and of unauthorized use of a vehicle. Bergeron also appeals from the court’s order of restitution dated May 3, 1982.

On October 1, 1981, Brenda Kay Peterson, a private person, certified two citizen arrests alleging that Bergeron was driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of Section 39-08-01, N.D. C.C., and driving while license suspended in violation of Section 39-06-42, N.D.C.C. In addition, another citizen [Cathy Gilbertson], hereinafter complainant, filed a complaint alleging that Bergeron had violated Section 12.1-23-06, N.D.C.C., by his unauthorized use of her vehicle. The DWI charge was subsequently dismissed.

On appeal, Bergeron’s first contention is that the citizen arrests by Peterson for his alleged commission of the two misdemeanors were unlawful.1 Under Section 29-06-20, N.D.C.C.,2 a private person may arrest another for a “public offense committed or attempted in his presence.” The term “public offense” includes misdemeanors. Smith v. Hubbard, 253 Minn. 215, 91 N.W.2d 756 (1958).

Prior to 1967, a peace officer was authorized to make a warrantless arrest for a public offense under identical statutory language.3 Before amendment, the rele[686]*686vant part of Section 29-06-15, N.D.C.C., read as follows:

“29-06-15. Arrest without warrant. —A peace officer, without a warrant, may arrest a person:
1. Por a public offense, committed or attempted in his presence .... ”

Section 29-06-15, N.D.C.C., was amended to read in pertinent part:

“29-06-15. Arrest without warrant— Peace officer — Officer in the United States customs service or the immigration and naturalization service.
1. A peace officer, without a warrant, may arrest a person: a. For a public offense, committed or attempted in the officer’s presence; and for the purpose of this subdivision a crime shall be deemed committed or attempted in the officer’s presence when what the officer observes through the officer’s senses reasonably indicates to the officer that a crime was in fact committed or attempted in the officer’s presence by the person arrested.” § 29-06-15(l)(a), N.D.C.C.

Under Section 29-06-20, N.D.C.C., in order to constitute a valid citizen’s arrest, the public offense must have been committed or attempted in the private person’s presence. The phrase “in his presence” should be liberally construed. Thus, presence should be determined by whether or not the citizen detected commission of the offense through use of his senses. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 119, comment m (1965); State v. Govan, 123 N.W.2d 110, 115 (N.D.1963); People v. Brown, 45 Cal.2d 640, 642, 290 P.2d 528, 529 (1955); Gray v. Earls, 298 Mo. 116, 250 S.W. 567, 572 (1923). Senses include those of sight, hearing and smell. People v. Bock Leung Chew, 142 Cal.App.2d 400, 402-03, 298 P.2d 118, 120 (1956); Gray v. Earls, 298 Mo. 116, 250 S.W. 567, 572 (1923); Johnson v. Jackson, 140 Ga.App. 252, 230 S.E.2d 756 (1976).

Hence, in the case at bar, the crucial question is whether or not Bergeron was committing the misdemeanor of driving without a license within Peterson’s presence. Where Peterson saw Bergeron driving complainant’s car and was within minutes thereafter informed by a peace officer that Bergeron’s license was suspended, it is evident that Peterson’s sensory perception alerted her to the fact that Bergeron was driving with a suspended license. Thus, Peterson’s citizen arrest of Bergeron for committing the public offense of driving a motor vehicle with a suspended license was valid.

Because the charge of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor was dismissed, we will not discuss that matter in this appeal.

Bergeron contends that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence testimony regarding the following: (1) estimated amount of damage to complainant’s vehicle; and (2) Bergeron’s prior arrest for driving while license suspended. It is well-established that one of the guidelines of an effective appeal on any issue or contention is that the issue on appeal was first appropriately raised in the trial court so that the trial court could have ruled upon it. State v. McLain, 301 N.W.2d 616 (N.D.1981); State v. Helgeson, 303 N.W.2d 342 (N.D.1981); State v. Bartkowski, 290 N.W.2d 218 (N.D.1980); State v. Moore, 286 N.W.2d 274 (N.D.1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 943, 100 S.Ct. 2170, 64 L.Ed.2d 799 (1980); State v. Haakenson, 213 N.W.2d 394 (N.D.1973); Grenz v. Werre, 129 N.W.2d 681 (N.D.1964); Rule 103(a)(1), N.D.R.Ev. Our examination of the record discloses that no objections were made to the trial court concerning the [687]*687admissibility of this evidence. Therefore, by admitting this testimony into evidence, we find that the trial court did not commit a prejudicial error.

Nevertheless, Bergeron asserts that admitting into evidence testimony regarding his prior conviction violates his constitutional right against self-incrimination and is thus reviewable, notwithstanding the fact that counsel failed to make a timely objection. His contention is meritless in this instance because Bergeron was charged with driving a motor vehicle while his drivers license was suspended. In order to do this, the State had to introduce testimony proving that Bergeron’s license was currently in a suspended or revoked status. State v. Ruble, 77 N.D. 79, 40 N.W.2d 794 (1950).

Bergeron asserts that the trial court’s judgment was against the weight of the evidence. However, in criminal cases, we have unequivocally held that “at the appellate level we do not substitute our judgment for that of the jury or trial court where the evidence is conflicting, if one of the conflicting inferences reasonably tends to prove guilt and fairly warrants a conviction.” State v. Olmstead, 246 N.W.2d 888 (N.D.1976), cert. denied 436 U.S. 918, 98 S.Ct. 2264, 56 L.Ed.2d 759 (1978); State v. Neset, 216 N.W.2d 285 (N.D.1974); see also, State v. Kaloustian, 212 N.W.2d 843, 845 (N.D.1973); State v. Miller, 202 N.W.2d 673, 676 (N.D.1972); State v. Champagne,

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Bluebook (online)
326 N.W.2d 684, 1982 N.D. LEXIS 390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bergeron-nd-1982.