State v. Bostic

637 So. 2d 591, 1994 WL 172173
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 4, 1994
Docket26,000-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 637 So. 2d 591 (State v. Bostic) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bostic, 637 So. 2d 591, 1994 WL 172173 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

637 So.2d 591 (1994)

STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
William BOSTIC, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 26,000-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

May 4, 1994.

*592 Geary S. Aycock, West Monroe, Joseph (Sib) Abraham, Jr., El Paso, TX, for defendant-appellant.

Jerry L. Jones, Dist. Atty. by J. Michael Ruddick, Monroe, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before NORRIS, J., and LOWE and PRICE, JJ. Pro Tem.

LOWE, Judge Pro Tem.

The Ouachita Parish district attorney charged appellant William E. Bostic with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, a Schedule I substance, and possession of a Schedule I substance with intent to distribute in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:966(A)(1). The conspiracy charge was dropped, and Bostic entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of possession with intent to distribute. At a trial on the merits, the jury found Bostic guilty as charged. Bostic was sentenced to eleven years at hard labor and was fined $5,000 with one year default time should he fail to pay. Bostic appeals his conviction and sentence, assigning six errors:

(1) The trial court erred in denying Bostic's motion to suppress.
(2) The trial court erred in granting the Motion to Quash the subpoenas issued to the Louisiana State Police for production of arrest reports and documents of 54 other similarly situated out-of-state defendants and denying the Public Records Request for said documents.
*593 (3) The trial court erred in deviating from the felony sentencing guideline recommendations of 24 to 36 months discretionary jail sentence.
(4) The trial court erred in finding aggravating circumstances sufficient to deviate from the sentencing guidelines under Sections 209(A) and (B).
(5) The trial court erred in finding that the 750 pounds of marijuana in this case created an aggravating circumstance under the Felony Sentencing Guidelines, Section 209(B), thereby justifying deviation from said felony guideline recommendations.
(6) The trial court erred in imposing an excessive sentence in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and Article 1, Section 20 of the Louisiana Constitution.

We affirm.

FACTS

Bostic was traveling east on Interstate 20 through Ouachita Parish December 19, 1992. The road was wet from rain earlier in the day. Bostic approached a construction zone in a large white Mallard motor home with North Carolina plates. The speed limit changed from 65 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour. Thinking the road was about to narrow to one lane, Bostic sped up to pass other vehicles.

Trooper Neal noticed Bostic as he entered the construction zone. His mental impression that Bostic was exceeding the speed limit was confirmed when the motor home entered his radar range going 70 miles per hour. Trooper Neal stopped Bostic to issue a traffic citation for speeding.

When Bostic produced a driver's license from Tennessee, Trooper Neal asked him about the two differing states on the driver's license and the plates. Bostic became nervous, broke eye contact, made outward hand movements, and rubbed his head back and forth. Trooper Neal thought it odd Bostic would be traveling alone in such a large vehicle. Bostic's presence on I-20 in Ouachita Parish when he claimed to be coming from Slidell, Louisiana, made Trooper Neal suspicious.

When asked for the motor home's registration, Bostic invited Trooper Neal inside while he looked for the papers. Bostic became more nervous. He moved his hands back and forth, he licked his lips as if his mouth were dry, and he appeared to be getting ill. By the time Bostic retrieved the vehicle registration, Trooper Anderson had arrived. When Trooper Neal went to his unit to run a license and registration check, Trooper Anderson walked over and advised Trooper Neal that Bostic was nervous and should be watched.

After the license and registration proved to be in proper order, Trooper Neal returned to where Bostic stood and asked his permission to search the vehicle. Bostic consented, signing the consent to search form Trooper Neal gave him. Trooper Neal searched the motor home and found about 750 pounds of marijuana. Bostic was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

DISCUSSION

Assignment of error number 1. The trial court erred in denying Bostic's motion to suppress.

Bostic argues the initial traffic stop was pretextual, his continued detention was illegal, and his consent to search was invalid. Under such circumstances, he reasons, the search was illegal, so the marijuana should have been suppressed.

A. THE INITIAL TRAFFIC STOP AS PRETEXT. In his first argument in this assignment of error, Bostic asserts Trooper Neal's subjective intention when he stopped the vehicle was to search it. This intent was motivated only by Bostic's out-of-state license plate. This subjective intention on the part of Trooper Neal, Bostic says, makes the stop a violation of his constitutional rights. Thus the evidence seized is the product of an illegal search, and should have been suppressed.

Trooper Neal testified he first saw Bostic speeding through a construction zone, on a wet road, in a large motor home, passing other vehicles. Bostic admitted he sped up *594 to pass others, thinking the road would change to one lane.

There is a split of authority concerning how to assess the constitutionality of allegedly pretextual searches. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit adopted an objective test in U.S. v. Causey, 834 F.2d 1179 (5th Cir.1987), saying: "So long as the police do no more than they are objectively permitted to do, their motives in doing so are irrelevant and hence not subject to inquiry." Causey, supra at 1184.

Here Trooper Neal was authorized to stop Bostic and to issue him a citation for speeding. The fact he may have hoped to gain an opportunity to search the motor home for drugs is of no moment. Trooper Neal's stop of Bostic is not invalid under Causey.

A more subjective standard for evaluating allegedly pretextual searches was stated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in United States v. Smith, 799 F.2d 704 (11th Cir.1986) and adopted by the Tenth Circuit in U.S. v. Guzman, 864 F.2d 1512 (10th Cir.1988). Under this test, an objectively reasonable search is not invalid solely because the officer acted out of improper motivation. Instead, the court should inquire whether a reasonable officer would have made the stop in the absence of the invalid purpose. Smith, supra at 709-710; Guzman, supra at 1517.

The record here is devoid of evidence concerning general practice among troopers, or what a reasonable trooper would have done, when confronted by such a flagrant speeding violation. However, common knowledge dictates that a reasonable trooper would have stopped a motor home driving 25 miles per hour in excess of the speed limit given the road conditions at the time. Trooper Neal's stop of Bostic is not invalid under Smith and Guzman.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Lara
78 So. 3d 159 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Snelling
36 So. 3d 1060 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
State of Louisiana v. Robert Allen Snelling
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010
State v. Sera
997 So. 2d 707 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Dixon
911 So. 2d 372 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
State v. Mitchell
869 So. 2d 276 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State v. Lincoln
794 So. 2d 56 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Arnold
779 So. 2d 840 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Brown
743 So. 2d 807 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
State v. Paggett
684 So. 2d 1072 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
State v. Durr
677 So. 2d 596 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
State v. Jacobs
648 So. 2d 5 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
637 So. 2d 591, 1994 WL 172173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bostic-lactapp-1994.