State v. Duhaime

2011 UT App 209, 258 P.3d 649, 685 Utah Adv. Rep. 12, 2011 Utah App. LEXIS 209, 2011 WL 2567768
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedJune 30, 2011
Docket20091017-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2011 UT App 209 (State v. Duhaime) 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. Duhaime, 2011 UT App 209, 258 P.3d 649, 685 Utah Adv. Rep. 12, 2011 Utah App. LEXIS 209, 2011 WL 2567768 (Utah Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

DAVIS, Presiding Judge:

{1 Gary Duhaime appeals the trial court's ruling on his motion to suppress marijuana evidence seized following a traffic stop of his vehicle. We reverse and remand.

BACKGROUND

T 2 On January 14, 2009, a highway patrolman out looking for drug activity observed a Lincoln Town Car with Texas license plates, driven by Duhaime, traveling eastbound on Interstate 80 in Summit County. The patrolman ran a check on the car's license plate number and discovered that it was a rental car. The patrolman claimed that the rear license plate light was not working. He also observed the driver make what the patrolman claimed to be an illegal lane change. At approximately 11:06 p.m., on the pretext of the foregoing violations, the patrolman pulled the car over. 1 The encounter with Duhaime and his wife (Wife) was recorded by a camera in the patrolman's vehicle.

T3 The patrolman approached the car from the passenger side. He observed fast food containers, four cell phones, and a map in the front seat, as well as luggage in the back seat. Wife was sleeping in the passen *652 ger seat and did not wake up for a "couple of minutes" after the patrolman pulled them over. The patrolman began questioning Du-haime about his travel plans. The patrolman informed Duhaime that he had made an illegal lane change and that his license plate was not properly illuminated. He also requested to see Duhaime's car rental agreement and his driver license. Duhaime had rented the car for $1,200 in Oakland, California, and intended to drop it off in Chicago, Illinois. The patrolman then continued to inquire about the details of the couple's travel plans, including where they were from, where they were going, who they were visiting, how long they planned to stay, how long they had been planning the trip, why they decided to drive rather than fly, when and where they planned to stop for the evening, and what they planned to do after their visit to Chicago. The patrolman considered several of Duhaime's answers to be inconsistent or suspicious and testified that Duhaime "was very, very nervous in answering questions about his trip, his origination and his destination."

T4 After conversing with the couple for several minutes, the patrolman returned to his car and requested that another officer bring a dog to sniff the car for drugs. He returned to Duhaime's vehicle and gave him a verbal warning regarding the lane change and the license plate, apparently concluding the reason for the stop. He then asked Duhaime whether he had any illegal drugs in the car and requested to search the car. Duhaime denied having any drugs and refused consent. The patrolman informed Du-haime that he had called for a drug detection dog and that he intended to detain Duhaime until it came. When the dog arrived, it alerted on the trunk of the car, where the officers subsequently found seventy-six one-pound vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana. Duhaime was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a third degree felony. See Utah Code Ann. § 58-37-8@)(a2)0), (b)) (Supp.2010). 2

5 Duhaime filed a motion to suppress the marijuana evidence, arguing that the patrolman lacked reasonable suspicion to stop him for an equipment or traffic violation and that the detention was longer than necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop. The trial court found that the patrolman's testimony regarding the license plate light was credible, that no contrary testimony was presented, and that it was unclear from the video whether the light was functioning. The trial court specifically found that inconsistencies in the patrolman's testimony were the result of exaggeration, miscommunication, or failure of recollection, not fabrication. 3 The trial court further found that Duhaime's nervousness, combined with the luggage in the back seat and the four cell phones, gave the patrolman sufficient reasonable suspicion to justify his extensive questioning concerning Duhaime's travel plans. Combined with what the patrolman felt were suspicious answers given by Duhaime, these factors, the trial court concluded, gave the patrolman reasonable suspicion to detain Duhaime until the drug detection dog arrived. The trial court therefore denied Duhaime's motion to suppress. Duhaime pleaded guilty to the third degree felony but reserved his right to appeal the trial court's denial of the motion to suppress. See generally State v. Sery, T58 P.2d 985, 989 (Utah Ct.App.1988). The trial court signed a certificate of probable cause stating that the case raised substantial issues of law for appeal.

ISSUE AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

T6 Duhaime argues that the trial court should have granted his motion to suppress on Fourth Amendment Grounds, see U.S. Const. amend. IV, because the patrolman did not have reasonable suspicion to pull *653 him over, the patrolman's questioning exceeded the permissible scope and duration of the traffic stop, and the patrolman lacked reasonable suspicion to detain him to await the arrival of a drug detection dog. "When reviewing a district court's denial of a motion to suppress, the appellate court disturbs the district court's findings of fact only when they are clearly erroneous" but "reviews the district court's legal conclusions for correctness." State 'v. Baker, 2010 UT 18, ¶ 7, 229 P.3d 650. Furthermore, we give no deference to the trial court's "application of law to the underlying factual findings in search and seizure cases." State v. Brake, 2004 UT 95, ¶ 15, 103 P.3d 699.

ANALYSIS

17 The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits "unreasonable search and seizures." U.S. Const. amend. IV. "'[Sitopping an automobile and detaining its occupants constitutes a "seizure" within the meaning of the [Fourth and Fourteenth] Amendments," State v. Case, 884 P.2d 1274, 1276 (Utah Ct.App.1994) (alterations in original) (quoting Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 653, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979)), and requires at least a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity, see State v. Johnson, 805 P.2d 761, 763 (Utah 1991). A reasonable investigatory stop must be "justified at its inception," and "the detention following the stop [must be reasonably related in seope .to the cireum-stances that justified the interference in the first place." State v. Applegate, 2008 UT 63, ¶ 9, 194 P.3d 925 (internal quotation marks omitted). « Reasonableness in the Fourth Amendment context " 'is measured in objective terms by examining the totality of the cireumstances.'" Baker, 2010 UT 18, ¶ 10, 229 P.3d 650 (quoting Ohio v. Robinette, 519 U.S. 33, 39, 117 S.Ct. 417, 136 L.Ed.2d 347 (1996)). Unless, "during the scope of the traffic stop, the officer forms new reasonable articulable suspicion of eriminal activity ..., the officer must allow the seized person to depart onee the purpose of the stop has concluded." Id. €18 (citation omitted).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2011 UT App 209, 258 P.3d 649, 685 Utah Adv. Rep. 12, 2011 Utah App. LEXIS 209, 2011 WL 2567768, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-duhaime-utahctapp-2011.