State v. Duong

2015 MT 70, 343 P.3d 1218, 378 Mont. 345, 2015 Mont. LEXIS 142
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 3, 2015
DocketDA 13-0751
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 2015 MT 70 (State v. Duong) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Duong, 2015 MT 70, 343 P.3d 1218, 378 Mont. 345, 2015 Mont. LEXIS 142 (Mo. 2015).

Opinion

CHIEF JUSTICE McGRATH

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Michael Duong (Duong) pled no contest to the charge of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute and reserved his right to appeal. He appeals from an order of the Seventh Judicial District, Dawson County, denying his motion to suppress and from the final judgment ordering Duong to pay the cost of his interpreter and imposing a ten-percent administration fee. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.

¶2 Michael Duong presents the following issues for review:

¶3 Issue One: Whether the District Court correctly determined that Trooper Muri had particularized suspicion to stop Duong’s vehicle.

¶4 Issue Two: Whether the District Court erred by ordering Duong to pay the costs of his interpreter.

¶5 Issue Three: Whether the District Court erred when it imposed a ten-percent administration fee on Duong.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶6 On October 16, 2012, Highway Patrol Trooper Troy Muri was patrolling on Interstate 94 near Glendive, Montana. Drug Enforcement Agent Richard Smith was also present in the vehicle, as Trooper Muri was familiarizing Agent Smith with the area. The patrol car was stationary alongside the interstate when Duong’s vehicle drove past around 9:30 p.m. Trooper Muri pulled onto the road and initially traveled at a high speed before reaching Duong’s vehicle and slowing down. Trooper Muri followed the vehicle for nearly two miles and observed Duong’s vehicle drive to the right, cross the fog fine, and drive onto the rumble strip. Trooper Muri then drove into the passing lane and remained there for approximately twenty seconds before returning to the right-hand lane. While the patrol car was in the passing lane, Duong again crossed the fog fine and drove onto the rumble strip. After observing Duong’s driving, Trooper Muri activated his emergency lights and stopped Duong.

*347 ¶7 Trooper Muri issued a warning citation to Duong. After discussing his travel plans and other recent stops by law enforcement, Trooper Mmi asked Duong if he had anything illegal in the vehicle and Duong replied that Muri could “check it out.” Duong then consented to a search of a cardboard box in the vehicle and Muri found fourteen pounds of marijuana inside. Duong was arrested and charged with possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute.

¶8 Duong was born in Vietnam, but has lived in the United States since 1985. He speaks English as a second language and requested the assistance of an interpreter during his criminal case. In January 2013, Duong moved to suppress the evidence obtained during the search, arguing that Trooper Muri did not have sufficient particularized suspicion to stop the vehicle, as well as other issues not raised in this appeal. On April 18 and 19, 2013, the District Court held an evidentiary hearing and heard from numerous witnesses including Trooper Muri. A patrol car video recording of Duong’s activities prior to the stop was also submitted as evidence. Trooper Muri testified that Duong’s car was weaving, that he crossed the fog line, and also drove onto the rumble strip. Based on these observations, Trooper Muri believed the driver might be falling asleep, experiencing a medical condition, preoccupied, distracted, or possibly impaired. He also described the recent increase in intoxicated drivers and fatal crashes in the area.

¶9 The District Court denied the motion to suppress and Duong pled no contest to the charges. Judge Simonton sentenced Duong to a six-year deferred sentence and ordered him to pay a number of fees including $800 for his public defender, $325 for his interpreter, and a ten-percent administration fee for fee collection costs.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶10 We review the denial of a motion to suppress to determine whether the district court’s findings were clearly erroneous and whether the court correctly applied the findings as a matter of law. State v. Flynn, 2011 MT 48, ¶ 6, 359 Mont. 376, 251 P.3d 143 (citations omitted). “Findings of fact are clearly erroneous if they are not supported by substantial credible evidence, if they are based upon misapprehension of the evidence or if review of the record convinces the Court that a mistake has been made.” Flynn, ¶ 6 (citations omitted).

¶ 11 Generally, this Court reviews a criminal sentence for legality; that is, whether the sentence falls within the statutory parameters. State v. Webb, 2005 MT 5, ¶ 8, 325 Mont. 317, 106 P.3d 521 (citations *348 omitted). “A trial court’s statutory interpretation is a question of law, which we review to determine whether it is correct.” Webb, ¶8 (citations omitted).

DISCUSSION

¶12 Issue One: Whether the District Court correctly determined that Trooper Muri had particularized suspicion to stop Duong’s vehicle.

¶13 The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article II, Section 11 of the Montana Constitution protect against unreasonable searches and seizures. Flynn, ¶ 7. Under Montana law, an officer “may stop any person or vehicle that is observed in circumstances that create a particularized suspicion that the person or occupant of the vehicle has committed, is committing, or is about to commit an offense.” Section 46-5-401(1), MCA; State v. Larson, 2010 MT 236, ¶ 19, 358 Mont. 156, 243 P.3d 1130. To establish particularized suspicion, the State must show that the officer had “objective data from which an officer can make certain inferences, and a resulting particularized suspicion that the occupant of the motor vehicle is or has been engaged in wrongdoing or was a witness to criminal activity.” Flynn, ¶ 7 (citations omitted). The focus of the inquiry is not whether the driving itself was illegal but rather, “whether the officer could point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant the intrusion.” Weer v. State, 2010 MT 232, ¶ 10, 358 Mont. 130, 244 P.3d 311 (citations omitted). Whether the officer had particularized suspicion is evaluated using the totality of the circumstances available at the time. Larson, ¶ 19 (citations omitted).

¶14 In Flynn, this Court rejected the notion that the particularized suspicion analysis can rely on a defendant’s after-the-fact explanation of the event. Rather, the focus is entirely on what facts were available to the officer. Flynn, ¶ 12. Specifically, the Court rejected the flawed analysis used in State v. Lafferty, 1998 MT 247, 291 Mont. 157, 967 P.2d 363, where the court improperly relied on the defendant’s after-the-fact explanation that she “crossed the fog line as she observed [the officer’s] patrol car come up behind her.” Flynn, ¶ 10 (quoting Lafferty, ¶ 17). Instead, we stated that “[a]n officer in the field need not consider every possible innocent explanation or legal exception before concluding that particularized suspicion exists.” Flynn, ¶ 11.

¶15 Duong argues that the State has not provided sufficient, objective data to support the traffic stop.

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Bluebook (online)
2015 MT 70, 343 P.3d 1218, 378 Mont. 345, 2015 Mont. LEXIS 142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-duong-mont-2015.