State v. Bui-Cornethan

2021 UT App 56, 490 P.3d 191
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedMay 27, 2021
Docket20190208-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2021 UT App 56 (State v. Bui-Cornethan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bui-Cornethan, 2021 UT App 56, 490 P.3d 191 (Utah Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

2021 UT App 56

THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS

STATE OF UTAH, Appellee, v. TU FAN BUI-CORNETHAN, Appellant.

Opinion No. 20190208-CA Filed May 27, 2021

Third District Court, Salt Lake Department The Honorable Elizabeth A. Hruby-Mills No. 181905704

Lori J. Seppi and Brady Smith, Attorneys for Appellant Sean D. Reyes and Nathan Jack, Attorneys for Appellee

JUDGE JILL M. POHLMAN authored this Opinion, in which JUDGES GREGORY K. ORME and DAVID N. MORTENSEN concurred.

POHLMAN, Judge:

¶1 Acting on an informant’s tip of suspected drug activity, police officers approached Tu Fan Bui-Cornethan and an acquaintance (HT) in a darkened cul-de-sac and inquired about their activities. In the ensuing twelve minutes, Bui 1 and HT were separated and questioned, the men emptied their pockets, HT was frisked, and the area was searched. By their own admission, the officers found no evidence linking the men to illegal activity. But before the officers left, one asked Bui if he had any weapons

1. Consistent with the parties’ briefing, we refer to the defendant as Bui. State v. Bui-Cornethan

on him. Bui denied that he was carrying, but when the officer told Bui he was going to frisk him, Bui admitted to having a handgun. Bui’s weapon was retrieved, and the State charged him with, among other things, possession of a firearm by a restricted person.

¶2 Bui moved to suppress the evidence, but the district court denied the motion, concluding that Bui’s Fourth Amendment rights were not implicated in what it deemed to be a consensual encounter. We disagree with the district court and reverse. We conclude that the motion to suppress should have been granted because the encounter was a level two seizure that was unlawfully extended when the officer inquired about the gun.

BACKGROUND 2

¶3 Late one evening in May 2018, Officer Allred spoke on the telephone for ten to fifteen minutes with a citizen informant regarding suspicious activity in a cul-de-sac near Irving Street. After identifying himself and sharing his general address, the informant described what he believed to be drug-related activity in the neighborhood. The informant told Allred about a Hispanic male with tattoos on his face, along with “maybe some other individuals,” who loitered around a black wrought iron fence in the area. The informant went on to explain that cars would pull up, the tattooed male would have a short exchange through the car windows, and then the vehicles would drive off. Based on Allred’s training and experience, he believed the informant’s tip described activity that was consistent with drug trafficking.

2. We recite the facts in detail because “the legal analysis of a search and seizure case is highly fact dependent.” State v. Hansen, 2002 UT 125, ¶ 5, 63 P.3d 650 (cleaned up).

20190208-CA 2 2021 UT App 56 State v. Bui-Cornethan

¶4 Officer Allred and his trainee, Officer Shupe, proceeded to the area described by the informant. There, at the end of a cul- de-sac, the officers found a black iron fence, which was at the edge of an apartment complex. The officers saw HT standing near the fence and Bui sitting on a cement block. HT matched the informant’s description: Hispanic with tattoos on his face. The officers made a U-turn, parked facing the men, and shined their squad car’s headlights and spotlight on Bui and HT. But they did not turn on the car’s red and blue lights or siren.

¶5 With the fence to the men’s backs, the uniformed officers approached to within five feet of the men, with Allred on their right and Shupe on their left. Allred asked, “What’s going on gentlemen?” explaining that they were “investigating” because they “had some suspicious activity in this area.” HT said that he was visiting his cousin who lived in a nearby apartment and that he “likes to hang out” in the area because the apartment was hot. During this questioning, a third officer, Officer Ruff, arrived at the scene. Ruff parked his police vehicle, with his headlights on, at the edge of the cul-de-sac. He then exited the car and stood next to HT who was now sitting on the cement block.

¶6 As Ruff arrived, Allred motioned to Bui with his hand and told him “to come over there and talk to [him] for a minute, by [his] car.” Bui complied. Then, after asking Bui more questions, Allred asked Bui to wait by the car while he searched the area.

¶7 In his search, Allred found a discarded broken crack pipe near the fence. 3 Finding no other evidence of a crime, Allred returned to HT and asked, “Do you have anything on you?” HT replied that he had only his cell phone. Allred then asked,

3. Officer Ruff opined that it is not unusual to find randomly discarded drug paraphernalia in the area.

20190208-CA 3 2021 UT App 56 State v. Bui-Cornethan

“Don’t care if I look do you?” HT answered, “No, go ahead bro.” Next, Allred instructed HT to stand up and proceeded to frisk him, but Allred found nothing. Allred asked HT one final time if he had any drugs on him. HT denied having any drugs and even turned out his pockets, showing Allred they were empty.

¶8 Allred then returned to Bui, who was still waiting in front of the squad car, and asked, “What about you?” Bui responded, “Sup bro?” And Allred clarified, “Got any drugs on you?” Bui stated that he did not. Allred then said, “Care if I check?” In response, Bui offered to empty his pockets and he revealed that they were empty except for a wallet. Bui then opened the wallet and showed its contents to Allred. It did not contain any drugs.

¶9 Allred told Bui that he and HT were in “a high crime area” and that their presence “over in the corner” was suspicious. Allred then pulled out a notepad and started taking Bui’s information, including his name and where he lived. Allred then returned to HT and asked him for his address and whether he had been involved in a fight nearby earlier that night. By now, a fourth officer (and a third squad car) had arrived at the scene.

¶10 Officers remained “pretty close” to HT and Bui throughout the investigation. But Allred felt that the situation was fairly “low key” and that the two men “could easily have a legitimate reason to be there.” Additionally, Allred did not believe that he had reasonable suspicion to detain Bui even after finding the broken crack pipe.

¶11 Finally, having found no drugs or evidence of a crime, Allred approached Officer Ruff, who had returned to his squad car. Ruff informed Allred that Bui was “one of our most notorious gangsters” and that he was associated with “all kinds” of gangs. Ruff also mentioned that Bui had been involved in shootings in the past. The exchange between Officers Allred and Ruff lasted about ninety seconds.

20190208-CA 4 2021 UT App 56 State v. Bui-Cornethan

¶12 Nearly twelve minutes after arriving on the scene, Allred returned to Bui and asked, “You don’t have any weapons on you, do you?” Bui responded, “No sir.” Allred then instructed Bui, “Let me check real quick.” Surrounded by all four officers, Bui raised his hands and asked whether it was “required for [them] to touch [him].” Allred responded, “I’m just going to pat you down, make sure you don’t have any weapons,” and then asked Bui again, “Do you have weapons on you?” This time, Bui admitted to having a handgun in his waistband. The other officers then handcuffed Bui while Allred located and removed the gun from Bui’s waistband.

¶13 Bui was charged with theft by receiving stolen property,4 possession of a firearm by a restricted person, and carrying a concealed firearm without a permit. Bui pleaded not guilty to the charges and filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained as a result of the search, claiming the stop violated his Fourth Amendment rights.

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Bluebook (online)
2021 UT App 56, 490 P.3d 191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bui-cornethan-utahctapp-2021.