State v. Carson

404 P.3d 1017, 287 Or. App. 631, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 1036
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 7, 2017
Docket140444271; A157936
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 404 P.3d 1017 (State v. Carson) 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. Carson, 404 P.3d 1017, 287 Or. App. 631, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 1036 (Or. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

EGAN, J.

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), ORS 813.010. Defendant assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence, asserting that the underlying traffic stop was not supported by probable cause. We conclude, as did the trial court, that there was probable cause to stop defendant. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying the suppression motion, and we affirm.

The relevant facts are undisputed. On April 18, 2014, around 9:40 p.m., Officer Louka was driving an unmarked police car in downtown Portland. While headed north on Northwest Second Avenue, a one-way street with two lanes, Louka drove up behind defendant’s car, which was completely stopped in the right lane of traffic just before an intersection. There was no stop sign or traffic light at the intersection, and no pedestrians were crossing in front of defendant’s car. Defendant’s vehicle did not have a turn signal or hazard lights on.

Although Louka could have pulled into the left lane and driven around defendant’s car, he instead pulled up behind the car and waited for approximately five seconds. Defendant’s vehicle did not move, and, at that point, Louka’s partner sounded the air horn on the police vehicle. The officers waited another few seconds, and because there was no movement by defendant’s vehicle, Louka activated his police vehicle lights, got out of his vehicle, and approached defendant at the driver’s side window. Louka believed when he got out of his car and walked toward defendant’s vehicle that defendant was impeding traffic. See ORS 811.130.1

Louka asked defendant why he was stopped in the middle of the road. Defendant replied that he “thought there was a stop sign there.” Louka observed that defendant’s speech was “unusually slow,” and that defendant had glassy, watery, and bloodshot eyes, and appeared to be looking past him. Based on his training and experience, Louka [633]*633believed that defendant was likely impaired by some type of intoxicant.

Defendant’s car started rolling forward; Louka told him to stop and asked for his driver’s license. After that, Louka called for a traffic unit to come to the scene to investigate defendant for DUII. Defendant was ultimately arrested and charged with DUII.

Before trial, defendant filed a motion to suppress his identity and all other evidence obtained as a result of the stop, including any statements made by him. At the hearing on the motion, the state argued, in part, that Louka had probable cause to stop defendant for impeding traffic in violation of ORS 811.130. Defendant asserted that, although Louka had “subjective probable cause” of a traffic violation, his subjective belief was not objectively reasonable as required to support probable cause of a violation of ORS 811.130.

The trial court denied defendant’s motion, explaining:

“[A]lthough traffic could have gone around [defendant], in this case he was completely blocking all traffic flow in that particular lane. He gave—once the officer went up and talked with him he gave no indication as to any reason as to why he needed to be there outside of the fact that he said that he was stopped for a stop sign, which did not exist.
* * ⅜ *
“An officer is not required—in order to have probable cause or reasonable suspicion an officer’s not required to eliminate every other possibility [of why a person is stopped] before effectuating the stop. Yes, there were other possibilities as to why someone might be stopped there.
“But the officer had reasonable suspicion because of the lack of action after the air horn was blown to believe he had probable cause at that point for a traffic stop for impeding traffic because in fact no traffic could get by in the right-hand lane of Northwest 2nd at that point.”

After a jury trial, defendant was convicted of DUII.

On appeal, defendant renews the argument that he made to the trial court. Although he does not challenge [634]*634the officer’s subjective belief that he impeded traffic, defendant asserts that the officer did not have probable cause to stop him because his conduct did not violate ORS 811.130. In other words, according to defendant, the officer’s belief was not objectively reasonable under the circumstances. In response, the state argues, in part, that the facts as the officer perceived them satisfied the elements of ORS 811.130, and the officer therefore had probable cause to believe that defendant had committed a traffic violation.2

We review the trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress for legal error, and are bound by the trial court’s factual findings if there is constitutionally sufficient evidence in the record to support them. State v. Maciel-Figueroa, 361 Or 163, 165-66, 389 P3d 1121 (2017). We begin with the legal test for probable cause:

“In order to stop and detain a person for a traffic violation, an officer must have probable cause to believe that the person has committed a violation. ORS 810.410(2), (3); State v. Matthews, 320 Or 398, 402, 884 P2d 1224 (1994). Probable cause has two components. First, at the time of the stop, the officer must subjectively believe that a violation has occurred, and second, that belief must be objectively reasonable under the circumstances. State v. Miller, 345 Or 176, 186, 191 P3d 651 (2008) (describing State v. Cloman, 254 Or 1, 456 P2d 67 (1969)). For an officer’s belief to be objectively reasonable, the facts, as the officer perceives them, must actually constitute a violation. State v. Tiffin, 202 Or App 199, 203, 121 P3d 9 (2005).”

[635]*635State v. Stookey, 255 Or App 489, 491, 297 P3d 548 (2013) (emphasis omitted). Thus, the issue on appeal is whether the facts, as the officer perceived them, constituted a violation of ORS 811.130. That is, was defendant “impeding traffic” under ORS 811.130 when he was stopped in the right lane of a two-lane, one-way street?

ORS 811.130 provides, in part:

“(1) A person commits the offense of impeding traffic if the person drives a motor vehicle * * * in a manner that impedes or blocks the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
404 P.3d 1017, 287 Or. App. 631, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 1036, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carson-orctapp-2017.