State v. Gallup

2015 UT App 86, 347 P.3d 1079, 784 Utah Adv. Rep. 18, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 82, 2015 WL 1586867
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedApril 9, 2015
Docket20131143-CA
StatusPublished

This text of 2015 UT App 86 (State v. Gallup) 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. Gallup, 2015 UT App 86, 347 P.3d 1079, 784 Utah Adv. Rep. 18, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 82, 2015 WL 1586867 (Utah Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

CHRISTIANSEN, Judge:

1 1 Jeffrey Gallup appeals from his conviection for driving under the influence of alcohol. Gallup pled guilty to DUI after the district court denied his motion to suppress certain evidence obtained during the traffic stop, but he reserved his right to appeal the court's suppression decision. Gallup argues on appeal that the factual findings made by the district court in denying his motion to suppress are clearly erroneous and that its legal conclusions are erroneous because they rely on the flawed factual findings. We affirm the district court's decision.

T 2 Aleohol-enforeement agents conducting a covert inspection of a bar for liquor law violations watched Gallup drinking in that bar for several hours. 1 The agents saw Gallup drink several beers between approximately 9:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. Around 1:00 am., the agents saw Gallup leave the bar, walk to his vehicle, and drive out of the bar's parking lot. The agents followed Gallup and pulled him over after they saw him commit two traffic violations. Gallup was arrested and charged with DUI after he failed field sobriety tests.

{3 Gallup filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained during the traffic stop, arguing that the stop and subsequent investigation were not supported by reasonable suspicion. The district court held an evidentiary hearing on Gallup's motion. Agent Jalaine Hawkes, one of the alcohol-enforcement agents who watched Gallup at the bar, testified at the hearing that she saw Gallup order multiple drinks between 9:00 p.m. and 1:00 am., but she could not remember the exact number. Agent Steven Marble, another alcohol-enforcement agent who watched Gallup that same night, did not testify. After the hearing, Gallup submitted a supplemental memorandum to his motion to suppress. Gallup attached as an exhibit to his supple *1081 mental memorandum the police report Agent Marble prepared after Gallup's arrest. In this report, Agent Marble stated that he saw Gallup drink "at least 8 beers."

1 4 Before entering a final ruling, the court allowed the parties to present further oral argument on the motion to suppress. At argument, the prosecutor stated that the stop was justified based on the agents' observations that Gallup drank "at least eight beers" at the bar before driving. At the conclusion of oral argument, the district court denied the motion to suppress, basing its decision on "the testimonies from the officers that they saw the defendant drink at least eight beers at the bar." Gallup appeals that ruling.

15 "A trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress is reviewed for correctness, including its application of the law to the facts." State v. Tripp, 2010 UT 9, ¶ 23, 227 P.3d 1251. We review the district court's underlying factual findings for clear error. Id.

$6 First, Gallup challenges the district court's factual finding that "[the officers observed [Gallup] consume at least eight beers before leaving the bar." Gallup argues that the court's finding detailing the number of beers the alcohol enforcement agents saw Gallup consume was not supported by the evidence presented at the hearing on the motion to suppress. The detail of "eight beers" was only in Agent Marble's police report, which was not admitted at the eviden-tiary hearing but rather was attached as an exhibit to Gallup's supplemental memorandum filed after that hearing. While it is true that Agent Hawkes was not able to specifically testify at the hearing as to the number of drinks Gallup consumed, Gallup himself attached Agent Marble's report containing the statement of that number to his supplemental memorandum and asked the district court to consider other statements Agent Marble had made in that report.

T7 "[Oln appeal, a party cannot take advantage of an error committed [below] when that party led the trial court into committing the error." State v. Dunn, 850 P.2d 1201, 1220 (Utah 1998). "While the invited error doctrine is crafted to discourage[ ] parties from intentionally misleading the trial court so as to preserve a hidden ground for reversal on appeal, it is also intended to give the trial court the first opportunity to address the claim of error." State v. Geukgeuzian, 2004 UT 16, ¶ 12, 86 P.3d 742 (alteration in original) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Even inadvertent errors that are not "conscious attempt{s] to mislead the trial court" may fall within the invited error doctrine when they lead the district court into making legal errors. Id.

T8 In this case, Gallup provided the district court with Agent Marble's statement in an exhibit attached to his supplemental memorandum. Gallup sought to use Agent Marble's report to impeach Agent Hawkes, arguing that a particular statement in Agent Marble's report demonstrated that Agent Hawkes's and Agent Marble's testimonies "are contrary to one another and not credible." Even though Gallup did not affirmatively seek to admit the agent's statement into evidence at the hearing, Gallup placed the agent's report before the court and asked the court to consider it. Cf. Clayton v. Ford Motor Co., 2009 UT App 154, ¶ 48, 214 P.3d 865 (holding that any error based on admission of a report was invited where the plaintiffs introduced a trooper's report into evidence "on their own accord"). As a result, we conclude that Gallup led the district court into relying on Agent Marble's statement because had Gallup not provided the court with the report, the court would have heard only that Gallup consumed several alcoholic drinks that evening, but not specifically "at least eight beers."

19 Even if the doctrine of invited error did not apply, however, Gallup failed to preserve his challenge to the district court's reliance on the report. "As a general rule, claims not raised before the trial court may not be raised on appeal." State v. Holgate, 2000 UT 74, ¶ 11, 10 P.3d 346 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Because Gallup did not object when the State referenced Agent Marble's statement during argument or when the district court found orally and in writing that the agents saw Gallup drink at least eight beers, he has failed to *1082 preserve his argument that the district court could not properly consider that evidence.

110 Gallup also has not preserved his claims that the district court made inadequate findings regarding conflicting evidence and witness credibility. 2 A party must "challenge in the trial court the adequacy of the court's factual findings to preserve an adequacy of the findings issue for appeal." In re K.F., 2009 UT 4, ¶ 59, 201 P.3d 985; see also State v. Titus, 2012 UT App 231, ¶ 11, 286 P.3d 941. "[Rlequiring a party to object to the adequacy of the detail of the trial court's findings before appeal allows the trial judge to address and correct, if necessary, the level of detail in his or her findings before the case moves forward." In re K.F., 2009 UT 4, ¶ 62, 201 P.3d 985.

T 11 Gallup relies on State v. Genovesi, 871 P.2d 547 (Utah Ct.App.1994), and State v. Lovegren, 798 P.2d 767

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Related

State v. Patefield
927 P.2d 655 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1996)
State v. Dunn
850 P.2d 1201 (Utah Supreme Court, 1993)
State v. Lovegren
798 P.2d 767 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1990)
State v. Genovesi
871 P.2d 547 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1994)
State v. Tripp
2010 UT 9 (Utah Supreme Court, 2010)
State v. Geukgeuzian
2004 UT 16 (Utah Supreme Court, 2004)
Clayton v. Ford Motor Company
2009 UT App 154 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2009)
State v. Holgate
2000 UT 74 (Utah Supreme Court, 2000)
State Ex Rel. Kf
2009 UT 4 (Utah Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Titus
2012 UT App 231 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2012)
State ex rel. K.F. v. State
2009 UT 4 (Utah Supreme Court, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
2015 UT App 86, 347 P.3d 1079, 784 Utah Adv. Rep. 18, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 82, 2015 WL 1586867, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gallup-utahctapp-2015.