State v. Boatman

57 P.3d 918, 185 Or. App. 27, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 1758
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedNovember 13, 2002
DocketC 00-03-32067; A111380
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 57 P.3d 918 (State v. Boatman) 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. Boatman, 57 P.3d 918, 185 Or. App. 27, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 1758 (Or. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

*29 HASELTON, P. J.

Defendant appeals his conviction for possession of a controlled substance, ORS 475.992(1), arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained after defendant consented to the search of his briefcase. We affirm.

The trial court’s findings of historical fact are binding on us if there is constitutionally sufficient evidence in the record to support those findings. State v. Ehly, 317 Or 66, 75, 854 P2d 421 (1993). If findings were not made on all pertinent issues, we presume that the trial court decided the facts in a manner consistent with its ultimate conclusion. We must determine whether the trial court applied legal principles correctly to the facts. Id.

On March 8, 2000, at about 7:00 p.m., Deputy Schweitzer, a trainee, observed a car fail to stop at a red light. Schweitzer stopped the car, which defendant was driving. Schweitzer requested defendant’s driver’s license, proof of insurance, and the vehicle’s registration. Defendant responded that he had none of those items and that he had just purchased the car. He also stated that he had no identification. Defendant was arrested for failure to present a license, ORS 807.570, handcuffed, and placed in the police car.

Because defendant’s car had to be towed, Deputy Yohe, Schweitzer’s training officer, began an inventory of the car. As Yohe performed the inventory, Schweitzer attempted to determine defendant’s identity for purposes of issuing the traffic citation. Defendant told Schweitzer that his name was Michael Rex Allison and gave his birth date, and Schweitzer used his computer to attempt to verify defendant’s identity. Based on the information he received — and within 15 minutes of the commencement of the stop — Schweitzer became “51 percent convinced” that defendant was who he claimed to be.

Schweitzer then began to fill out the vehicle report necessary for towing defendant’s car. 1 Because Schweitzer *30 was a trainee, and did not have foil authority to make decisions pertaining to custody and release, he was expected to, and intended to, consult with Yohe on what actions to take next concerning defendant’s release. At that point, and before Schweitzer had consulted with him, Yohe returned to the police car and asked defendant for consent to search a briefcase that Yohe had found in the trunk during the inventory. Defendant said, “Okay,” and gave the officers the combination to the briefcase. There is no evidence that, at the time Yohe asked defendant for his consent, a traffic citation had been issued to defendant or the necessary paperwork associated with the impoundment and tow had been completed.

Yohe subsequently opened the briefcase and saw drug paraphernalia. The ensuing search of the briefcase yielded the drugs that were the subject of defendant’s suppression motion.

The trial court denied defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence found in the briefcase. It concluded, in pertinent part, that defendant was reasonably detained pursuant to ORS 807.570(4) for confirmation of his identity; that the inventory of the car, including the briefcase, was authorized by relevant provisions of the Multnomah County Code; and that, in any event, defendant gave knowing and voluntary consent for the search of the briefcase. Defendant subsequently was convicted, based on stipulated facts, of possession of a controlled substance.

On appeal, defendant makes several related arguments as to why the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. First, defendant argues, under ORS 807.570(4), that he was unlawfully detained after Schweitzer became “51 percent” certain that defendant was who he said he was. ORS 807.570 provides, in part:

“(1) A person commits the offense of failure to carry a license or to present a license to a police officer if the person ***:
“*****
*31 “(b) Does not present and deliver such license or permit to a police officer when requested by the police officer under any of the following circumstances:
“(A) Upon being lawfully stopped or detained when driving a vehicle.
“*****
“(4) A police officer may detain a person arrested or cited for the offense described in this section only for such time as reasonably necessary to investigate and verify the person’s identity”

(Emphasis and boldface added.) In that connection, defendant invokes State v. May, 162 Or App 317, 986 P2d 608 (1999), rev den, 330 Or 375 (2000), State v. Bishop, 157 Or App 33, 967 P2d 1241 (1998), and State v. Auer, 90 Or App 459, 752 P2d 1250 (1988), for the proposition that his identity was “verified” under ORS 807.570(4) at the point that Schweitzer attained the “51 percent” confidence level. Defendant asserts that, because the request for consent occurred after the lawful basis for the stop had dissipated, that request unlawfully — and, indeed, unconstitutionally — prolonged the stop.

Second, defendant asserts that, even if his identity had not been sufficiently “verified” by the time Yohe requested his consent to search the briefcase, May, Bishop, and Auer stand for the proposition that such a request for consent while a person’s identity is being investigated pursuant to ORS 807.570(4) has the effect of prolonging the detention and, thus, results in a violation of that statute. Defendant contends that his consent to search was the product of exploitation of the unlawful extension of his detention.

The state responds that May, Bishop, and Auer are distinguishable — and, in all events, not dispositive. In particular, the state asserts that, even if the request for consent so prolonged defendant’s detention as to violate ORS 807.570(4), that statutory violation does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation and, thus, does not provide grounds for suppression.

*32

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Related

State v. Middleton
432 P.3d 337 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2018)
State v. Hitchcock
197 P.3d 33 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2008)
State v. Kirkeby
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State v. Rodgers
182 P.3d 209 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2008)
State v. Raney
168 P.3d 803 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2007)
State v. Williams
136 P.3d 1201 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2006)
State v. Akuba
2004 SD 94 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
57 P.3d 918, 185 Or. App. 27, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 1758, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-boatman-orctapp-2002.