State v. Dennis

282 P.3d 955, 250 Or. App. 732, 2012 WL 2405196, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 789
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 27, 2012
DocketC092575CR; A145087
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 282 P.3d 955 (State v. Dennis) 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. Dennis, 282 P.3d 955, 250 Or. App. 732, 2012 WL 2405196, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 789 (Or. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

DUNCAN, J.

In this criminal case, defendant appeals the trial court’s judgment convicting and sentencing him for unlawful possession of methamphetamine, ORS 475.894. On appeal, defendant assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of a war-rantless search. Defendant consented to the search but argues that his consent was invalid because it was obtained in violation of his right, under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.1 Specifically, defendant argues that his consent was invalid because it was the product of an unlawful extension of an otherwise lawful stop. For the reasons explained below, we agree and, therefore, reverse and remand.

We begin with the facts, which we state consistently with the trial court’s findings. State v. Hall, 339 Or 7, 10, 115 P3d 908 (2005) (appellate court is “bound by the trial court’s findings of historical fact if constitutionally sufficient evidence in the record supports those findings”).

On November 14, 2009, Beaverton Police Officer Lutu saw defendant cross a street at a 45-degree angle, in violation of Beaverton City Code, section 6.02.520. Lutu, who was in uniform and driving a marked patrol car, pulled up to defendant and activated his overhead lights to stop defendant for jaywalking. It was cold out, and Lutu noticed that defendant was moving his hands around in his pockets. Lutu was concerned that defendant might have a weapon. Lutu told defendant to keep his hands out of his pockets, and he asked defendant if he had any weapons. Defendant replied that he had “a couple knives.”

Lutu asked defendant for identification. Defendant told Lutu that he did not have a driver’s license because it had been confiscated after a recent arrest. Defendant gave Lutu his name and date of birth, which Lutu relayed to dispatch to confirm defendant’s identity and check for warrants. It took 30 seconds for dispatch to respond.

[734]*734While Lutu and defendant were waiting for an answer from dispatch, defendant put his hands in his coat pockets. Lutu asked defendant if he could pat him down for weapons. Defendant consented, and Lutu began the pat-down. Lutu felt a large lump in defendant’s left front coat pocket; it was a knife, which he removed and placed on the trunk of the patrol car. Lutu resumed the patdown and felt a medium-sized lump in defendant’s right front pants pocket. Defendant told Lutu that the lump was a pocket knife. Lutu removed it. He patted defendant’s right front pants pocket again and felt a small lump. He asked defendant what the lump was, and defendant replied that it was “some filling for [his] tooth.” Lutu did not believe that the lump was a weapon; nevertheless, he asked if he could remove it, and defendant consented. It was a small, semitransparent container. Lutu asked if he could open it, and defendant consented. Inside the container, Lutu found “a white, crystal-like substance” that he believed to be methamphetamine. He arrested defendant for unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

Defendant moved to suppress the methamphetamine and his statements about it, arguing that the evidence resulted from an unlawful extension of the stop for jaywalking. Specifically, as relevant here, defendant argued that the officer’s request for consent to remove the container unlawfully extended the duration of the stop in violation of his rights under Article I, section 9. Defendant relied on State v. Rodgers, 219 Or App 366, 372, 182 P3d 209 (2008), aff'd sub nom State v. Rodgers/Kirkeby, 347 Or 610, 227 P3d 695 (2010), in which we ruled that an officer conducting a traffic stop “is free to question a motorist about matters unrelated to the traffic infraction during an unavoidable lull in the investigation, such as while awaiting the results of a records check,” but an officer “is not similarly free to question the motorist about unrelated matters as an alternative to going forward with the next step in processing the infraction, such as the writing or issuing of a citation.” Applying Rodgers, defendant asserted that (1) Lutu’s request to remove the container extended the stop because it did not occur during an “unavoidable lull” in the stop, id., and (2) the extension was unlawful because it was not independently justified by [735]*735reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, id., or an immediate threat of serious physical injury, State v. Kirkeby, 220 Or App 177, 187, 185 P3d 510 (2008), aff’d sub nom State v. Rodgers /Kirkeby, 347 Or 610, 227 P3d 695 (2010); see also State v. Amell, 230 Or App 336, 340, 215 P3d 910 (2009) (applying the officer-safety doctrine in the context of a traffic stop after Rodgers).2

Accordingly, at the hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress, the parties focused on whether Lutu’s request to remove the container occurred during an “unavoidable lull.” That is, they focused on whether Lutu made the request at a point when he was unable to go forward with the next step in processing the jaywalking violation.

Lutu testified that he could not recall whether he was still waiting to hear back from dispatch when he asked defendant for consent to remove the container. After listening to a recording of Lutu’s exchange with dispatch, the court found that dispatch responded 30 seconds after Lutu submitted defendant’s information.

Defendant argued that Lutu’s request for consent to remove the container could not have occurred before dispatch responded, noting that, after Lutu contacted dispatch, he (1) asked defendant for consent to pat defendant down; (2) patted defendant’s coat pocket, removed a knife, and put it on the trunk of the patrol car; (3) patted defendant’s pants pocket and removed a pocket knife; and (4) patted defendant’s pants pocket a second time. Those actions, defendant argued, would have taken more than 30 seconds. Thus, Lutu’s subsequent request to remove the container must have taken place after dispatch responded.

[736]*736The trial court concluded that Lutu did not have reasonable suspicion that the container held drugs. In addition, the trial court appeared to recognize that, because Lutu did not have reasonable suspicion that the container held drugs, whether Lutu’s request to remove it was lawful depended on whether the request was made during an unavoidable lull in the traffic stop, that is, whether it occurred before dispatch responded. Because there was no evidence establishing at what point dispatch responded with the information that Lutu needed to proceed with citing defendant, the court was not able to determine whether Lutu’s request for consent to remove the container took place before that point or after it. Nevertheless, the court concluded that the request was permissible:

“It is so close in time that I don’t think it matters. If he was able to do all that searching within the 30 seconds that he had, then that’s, obviously, great. That’s lawful. If [the request for consent to remove the container from defendant’s pocket] happened right after [dispatch responded], [Lutu] was in the middle of [the patdown], it’s not unreasonable, given what he was dealing with out there at that point.”

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

Related

State v. Daffern
486 P.3d 27 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)
State v. McBride
447 P.3d 1205 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)
State v. Rondeau
436 P.3d 49 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)
State v. Aguirre-Lopez
419 P.3d 751 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2018)
State v. Cowdrey
416 P.3d 314 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2018)
State v. Urig
412 P.3d 1196 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2018)
State v. Blackstone
410 P.3d 354 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2017)
State v. Dawson
386 P.3d 165 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2016)
State v. Mullens
366 P.3d 798 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2016)
State v. Huffman
360 P.3d 707 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)
State v. Booth
355 P.3d 181 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)
State v. Miller
340 P.3d 740 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)
State v. Zin Min Aung
335 P.3d 351 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)
State v. Peters
324 P.3d 474 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)
State v. Marino
314 P.3d 984 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2013)
State v. Kentopp
284 P.3d 564 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2012)
State v. Morfin-Estrada
283 P.3d 378 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
282 P.3d 955, 250 Or. App. 732, 2012 WL 2405196, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 789, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dennis-orctapp-2012.