State v. Bordeaux

217 P.3d 1, 148 Idaho 1, 2009 Ida. App. LEXIS 15
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 16, 2009
Docket33998
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 217 P.3d 1 (State v. Bordeaux) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho 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. Bordeaux, 217 P.3d 1, 148 Idaho 1, 2009 Ida. App. LEXIS 15 (Idaho Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

GRATTON, Judge.

Joel Evan Bordeaux was charged with trafficking in marijuana, I.C. § 37-2732B(a)(1)(B). Bordeaux entered a conditional plea of guilty and contends on appeal that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

At approximately 7:00 a.m. on October 9, 2003, a 1985 red Honda with Washington license plates was routinely detained at Port-hill, Idaho, a port of entry into the United States from Canada. The vehicle contained two male occupants, driver Scott Scheideman, and passenger Jeffrey Tate. The customs agent, Inspector Zimmerman, assisted by Inspector Whittaker, conducted the “primary interview,” and performed a “trunking” of the vehicle, requiring that the trunk be opened for an inspection. The only bag in the trunk was an athletic bag which, upon inspection, contained a pair of women’s panties. Inspector Whittaker asked the two individuals some questions and then allowed them to proceed across the border.

Based on a “visceral feeling” about the individuals’ responses to his questions and the women’s panties in the trunk, Inspector Whittaker suspected that one of the men might have a girlfriend or wife in Canada that he intended to pick up after she had walked across the border at some unregulated point. Inspector Whittaker radioed the United States Border Patrol at Bonners Ferry, Idaho, to notify them of the vehicle and the two men, but did not disclose his suspicion about a potential cross-border romance.

At about 7:10 a.m., Agent Shepard, a senior patrol agent with the Border Patrol, received a radio call that Inspector Whittaker needed to speak with an agent. Agent Shepard called Inspector Wdiittaker and was notified that two men in a red Honda with Washington license plates had just crossed the border and were headed south on Highway 95. Approximately fifteen to twenty minutes later, Agent Shepard, traveling north on Highway 95, observed a red Honda with Washington license plates drive by with what appeared to be three individuals, and possibly a fourth. He turned his vehicle around and conducted a stop to determine the “immigration status” of the individuals in the vehicle. Scheideman and Tate were seated in the front of the vehicle and Bordeaux was seated in the back of the vehicle next to a dog. Scheideman identified himself as a United States citizen, Tate identified himself as a Canadian citizen, and Bordeaux identified himself as a United States citizen. Agent Shepard asked which of the men had *5 come through the port of entry, and Scheideman and Tate responded that they had. Bordeaux initially responded that he was coming from Coeur d’Alene, but then responded that he was coming from his girlfriend’s house in Porthill at the Copeland exit. Bordeaux did not give Agent Shepard the name of the girlfriend or her address. Agent Shepard later testified that Bordeaux’s response made him suspicious and also testified that Bordeaux kept his hands in his pockets and did not make eye contact.

Agent Shepard asked the men to exit the vehicle because he was not sure how the dog would react to him reaching into the car to obtain their identification. Agent Shepard elected to do a pat down for his safety and noticed that Bordeaux’s boots were damp and had dirt on them. Agent Shepard asked the men to provide some identification, which Scheideman and Tate did to Agent Shepard’s satisfaction. Bordeaux provided a business card from a real estate office in Coeur d’Alene containing his name and photo. Bordeaux told Agent Shepard that he had been a real estate agent in Idaho, but he had lost his license for failure to pay his E.E.O. insurance. Agent Shepard testified that he asked Bordeaux for his social security number, which Bordeaux did not provide. Agent Shepard then contacted dispatch and initiated a records check to determine Bordeaux’s citizenship using his name and approximate age.

Agent Shepard confirmed that Scheideman was the owner of the vehicle. He asked Scheideman if he could run a drug dog around the vehicle and Scheideman agreed. Agent Shepard radioed for a drug dog, which arrived approximately five or ten minutes later. Also around 7:40 a.m., U.S. Border Patrol Agent Hurst arrived, as well as Idaho State Police Trooper Zimmerman.

Officer Schuman of the Boundary County Sheriffs office and his drug dog conducted a run around the vehicle, while Agent Hurst supervised. As Officer Schuman neared a window of the vehicle, the dog attempted to jump into the car. Officer Schuman put the dog into the front passenger seat and had her sniff the dashboard. Almost immediately the dog jumped into the back seat, pushing her head into the seat trying to get into the trunk. Officer Schuman testified that this was a “significant change in behavior,” indicating to him that the dog wanted to get into the trunk. Officer Schuman secured the dog and notified Agent Hurst of their findings.

As Agent Hurst was beginning to open or had already opened the trunk, Bordeaux handed one of the officers a card that stated that he did not waive his right to be free from a search of his person, vehicle, or property. As soon as the trunk was opened, Agent Hurst smelled the odor of marijuana. Inside the trunk was a backpack with an internal frame wrapped in a camouflage rain poncho. Inside the backpack, Agent Hurst discovered sealed bags containing a green, leafy substance, which later tested positive as marijuana. Eleven bags, weighing 1.3 pounds each, were recovered from the backpack. During the procedure using the dog and the subsequent search of the vehicle, Agent Shepard was performing a records check to confirm Bordeaux’s immigration status. Bordeaux’s status as a U.S. citizen was not determined until Agent Shepard arrived at the jail.

Bordeaux was connected with the backpack, which had not been in the vehicle at the border crossing, and bound over for trafficking in marijuana. He contends on appeal that the stop was not based on reasonable suspicion, that the continued detention was unreasonable and, therefore, that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the stop and detention.

II.

ANALYSIS

The standard of review of a suppression motion is bifurcated. When a decision on a motion to suppress is challenged, we accept the trial court’s findings of fact that are supported by substantial evidence, but we freely review the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found. State v. Atkinson, 128 Idaho 559, 561, 916 P.2d 1284, 1286 (Ct.App.1996). At a suppression hearing, the power to assess the credibility of witnesses, resolve factual conflicts, weigh evi *6 dence, and draw factual inferences is vested in the trial court. State v. Valdez-Molina, 127 Idaho 102, 106, 897 P.2d 993, 997 (1995); State v. Schevers, 132 Idaho 786, 789, 979 P.2d 659, 662 (Ct.App.1999).

A. Search and Seizure

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. United States v. Brignoni-Ponce,

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Bluebook (online)
217 P.3d 1, 148 Idaho 1, 2009 Ida. App. LEXIS 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bordeaux-idahoctapp-2009.