State v. Butts

269 P.3d 862, 46 Kan. App. 2d 1074, 2012 Kan. App. LEXIS 4
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedJanuary 20, 2012
DocketNo. 104,817
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 269 P.3d 862 (State v. Butts) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Butts, 269 P.3d 862, 46 Kan. App. 2d 1074, 2012 Kan. App. LEXIS 4 (kanctapp 2012).

Opinion

Buser, J.:

David Butts appeals his convictions for possession of cocaine, in violation of K.S.A. 65-4160(a), and driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), in violation of K.S.A. 8-1567. Butts raises two issues on appeal. First, he contends the district court committed reversible error when it denied his motion to suppress incriminating evidence seized during the traffic stop by the law enforcement officer. In particular, Butts argues the traffic stop was not justified by the officer’s reasonable suspicion that he committed the traffic offense of speeding. Second, Butts contends the district court erred when it denied his motion to dismiss the information based on speedy trial grounds because the State failed to bring him to trial within 180 days of arraignment as required by K.S.A. 22-3402(2). We affirm the convictions.

Factual and Procedural Background

On March 17, 2009, at about 2:48 a.m., Officer David Hopkins of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department stopped a Chevrolet Equinox for speeding and swerving within its lane of traffic. David Butts was driving and a passenger was in the front passenger seat. According to Officer Hopkins, he noticed Butts’ vehicle by chance and he was unaware that other officers had observed Butts’ vehicle at a known drug house earlier in the evening.

Officer Hopkins first noticed Butts’ vehicle traveling at a speed of about 45 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour speed zone. The officer’s speed determination was an estimate based upon his observations, training, and experience with radar and speed detection. Unlike the more typical determinations of vehicle speed, Officer Hopkins’ visual estimation was not confirmed by any speed measurement device, stopwatch, or pacing of the vehicle by the officer.

[1077]*1077Officer Hopkins made a U-tum in order to follow Butts’ vehicle. After observing it for 4 blocks, the officer noted the vehicle was swerving within its own lane of traffic which he believed constituted improper driving on a roadway. According to Officer Hopkins, “The reason I stopped the vehicle was that I saw . . . what I believed to be [two] traffic infractions [speeding and swerving within the lane of traffic] and decided at that time to conduct a stop due to the fact that [Butts] could have been a DUI stop.”

After Officer Hopkins approached die vehicle, he noticed that Butts’ eyes were bloodshot, his speech was slurred, and there was a “strong” odor of alcoholic beverages coming from him. Additionally, the officer observed Butts fumbling to get his license out of his wallet.

Accompanying Officer Hopkins was Officer Gabriel Torres who administered field sobriety tests to Butts. Butts stumbled as he exited his vehicle, and he used the car door to maintain his balance. When Officer Torres asked Butts if he had been drinking, Butts admitted he had consumed “ ‘two to three Long Islands.’ ” In Officer Torres’ opinion, Butts failed the walk-and-tum test but passed the one-leg-stand test. Officer Torres arrested Butts for DUI.

During a search incident to the DUI arrest, Officer Torres discovered two baggies of crack cocaine in Butts’ right front pocket. Later, Butts was administered a breathalyzer test. The results reflected a .141 alcohol concentration level which is above the legal limit. See K.S.A. 8-1567.

On March 17, 2009, Butts was charged with possession of cocaine and DUI. He subsequently filed a motion to suppress evidence, and on February 1, 2010, the district court held a suppression hearing. The district court took the matter under advisement and later asked the parties for additional briefing and argument. On April 30, 2010, the district court held another hearing to make factual findings and legal conclusions regarding the motion to suppress. The district court denied Butts’ motion, concluding that the traffic stop was supported by reasonable suspicion of speeding, and Butts’ subsequent arrest for DUI was supported by probable cause. The district court scheduled tire jury trial for the first available date, May 10, 2010.

[1078]*1078On May 9, 2010, Butts moved to dismiss the charges, alleging the State violated his constitutional and statutory rights to a speedy trial. The district court denied the motion. The next day, Butts waived his right to a jury trial. The parties submitted the case on stipulated facts, and the district court found Butts guilty as charged.

On August 4, 2010, Butts was sentenced to a controlling term of 11 months’ incarceration but granted 18 months’ probation after serving 48 hours in jail. He filed a timely appeal.

Validity of the Traffic Stop

On appeal, Butts contends the stop of his vehicle was unlawful because it was not supported by reasonable suspicion that he was speeding or improperly weaving within the lane of traffic prior to the stop. Butts argues the traffic stop was based instead on a “fabrication by the police,” and the real reason for the stop was to “initiate an investigatory detention in order to effectuate the possible discovery of contraband, despite a lack of probable cause to do so.” Because the traffic stop resulted in the officers obtaining evidence of Butts’ intoxication and seizure of cocaine from his pocket during the search incident to his arrest for DUI, Butts claims the district court erred in not suppressing the evidence as fruit of the poisonous tree. See Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S. Ct. 407, 9 L. Ed. 2d 441 (1963); State v. Horn, 278 Kan. 24, 31, 91 P.3d 517 (2004).

The State concedes that Officer Hopkins did not have reasonable suspicion to stop Butts for violating K.S.A. 8-1522(a) which provides: “A vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane and shall not be moved from such lane until the driver has first ascertained that such movement can be made with safety.” See State v. Marx, 289 Kan. 657, 215 P.3d 601 (2009). The State argues, however, that Officer Hopkins “was justified in stopping [Butts] based upon the speeding infraction alone.”

The district court upheld the traffic stop because it found Officer Hopkins had reasonable suspicion to believe Butts had committed the traffic violation of driving in excess of the posted speed limit. Given this ruling, the State’s concession, and the argument presented on appeal, the issue before this court is whether Officer [1079]*1079Hopkins’ observation of Butts’ vehicle, which resulted in his estimation that the vehicle was moving in excess of the posted speed limit, provided reasonable suspicion to stop Butts for speeding.

As a general rule:

“When reviewing a motion to suppress evidence, an appellate court reviews the factual underpinnings of a district court’s decision for substantial competent evidence and tire ultimate legal conclusion drawn from those facts de novo.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
269 P.3d 862, 46 Kan. App. 2d 1074, 2012 Kan. App. LEXIS 4, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-butts-kanctapp-2012.