State v. Gerschoffer

763 N.E.2d 960, 2002 Ind. LEXIS 193, 2002 WL 339229
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 5, 2002
Docket71S05-0102-CR-106
StatusPublished
Cited by87 cases

This text of 763 N.E.2d 960 (State v. Gerschoffer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana 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. Gerschoffer, 763 N.E.2d 960, 2002 Ind. LEXIS 193, 2002 WL 339229 (Ind. 2002).

Opinions

ON PETITION TO TRANSFER

SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

In this case the Court of Appeals interpreted Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution to prohibit all sobriety checkpoints as unreasonable seizures. We disagree, but affirm suppression of the evidence obtained from the roadblock in this case because the procedures followed did not satisfy the requirements of Section 11, a part of Indiana's Bill of Rights.

Facts and Procedural History

Late on the night of June 18, 1999, the Indiana State Police and the Mishawaka Police Department jointly conducted a sobriety checkpoint on McKinley Avenue, just west of its intersection with Grape Road, in Mishawaka. Jarrod Gerschoffer was one of seventy drivers pulled aside for observation. The officer who greeted Ger-schoffer smelled alcohol and noted Ger-schoffer's glassy, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. Gerschoffer failed three sobriety field tests, and a subsequent chemical test showed that his blood alcohol content was 0.11.

This led the State to charge Gerschoffer with operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OWI), as a class D felony based on a previous OW1I conviction.

Gerschoffer moved to suppress all evidence obtained from the checkpoint, elaim-ing improper seizure under both the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution 1 and Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution.2 After a hearing, the trial court granted the motion, holding that although the checkpoint satisfied the Fourth Amendment, the failure to obtain a warrant was unreasonable under Article 1, Section 11.

The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that "a sobriety checkpoint ... conducted absent probable cause or reasonable suspicion of illegal activity, constitutes an unreasonable seizure as proscribed by Article [963]*9631, Section 11." State v. Gerschoffer, 738 N.E.2d 713, 726 (Ind.Ct.App.2000). We granted transfer to this Court, thus vacating that opinion. 753 N.E.2d 6 (Ind.2001).

I. Federal Roadblock Jurisprudence: A Brief Refresher

We examine claims under the Indiana Constitution separately from those based on federal constitutional counterparts. Ajabu v. State, 693 N.E.2d 921 (Ind.1998); see also Price v. State, 622 N.E.2d 954 (Ind.1993). Nonetheless, both the U.S. Supreme Court and this Court have addressed the Fourth Amendment's applicability to sobriety checkpoints, and a review of federal holdings may inform our state analysis.

The U.S. Supreme Court first suggested that roadblocks might satisfy the Fourth Amendment when it held random and dis-eretionary stops to check drivers' licenses and vehicle registrations unconstitutional in Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979):

This holding does not preclude the ... States from developing methods for spot checks that involve less intrusion or that do not involve the unconstrained exercise of discretion. Questioning of all oncoming traffic at roadblock-type stops is one possible alternative. We hold only that persons in automobiles on pub-le roadways may not for that reason alone have their travel and privacy interfered with at the unbridled discretion of police officers.

Id. at 663, 99 S.Ct. 1391 (footnote omitted).

The same year, the Court identified three factors to weigh in assessing the constitutionality of seizures less intrusive than traditional arrests: (1) "the gravity of the public concerns served by the seizure," (2) "the degree to which the seizure advances the public interest," and (8) "the severity of the interference with individual liberty." Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47, 51, 99 S.Ct. 2637, 61 L.Ed.2d 357 (1979) (random stop-and-identify statute held unconstitutional). The Court went on to say that a central concern in balancing these factors is "assur[ingl that an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy is not subject to arbitrary invasions at the unfettered discretion of officers in the field." Id. Therefore, "the seizure must be carried out pursuant to a plan embodying explicit, neutral limitations on the conduct of individual officers." Id. (citing Prouse, 440 U.S. at 663, 99 S.Ct. 1391).

Seven years later, we applied these federal principles in a Fourth Amendment challenge to a roadblock designed to check for licenses and registrations as well as OWI. State v. Garcia, 500 N.E.2d 158, 159-61 (Ind.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1014, 107 S.Ct. 1889, 95 L.Ed.2d 496 (1987)3 We held, three-to-two, that the OWI problem, including under-age drinking, was grave enough to justify nontraditional enforcement methods. Id. at 161. The arrest rate and the "obvious" deterrent effect sufficiently advanced the public interest. Id. at 162. The average stop was only two or three minutes, and many people turned around and avoided the roadblock after seeing it ahead, so the level of interference was acceptable. Id.

We also considered the degree of discretion involved. Based on a previously communicated plan, one officer flagged vehicles over in blocks of five as soon as the previous five were released. See id. at 160. An officer then asked each driver to produce a license or registration while [964]*964checking for indications of OWI or underage drinking. See id. at 161.

This uniformly followed procedure imposed sufficiently "explicit, neutral limitations" upon the individual officers to satisfy the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 162.

The U.S. Supreme Court took a similar approach and reached a similar conclusion in Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444, 110 S.Ct. 2481, 110 L.Ed.2d 412 (1990). Sitz challenged a roadblock procedure developed by a committee appointed under the authority of the state police, comprised of representatives from state and local police forces, state prosecutors, and a university transportation research institute. Id. at 447, 110 S.Ct. 2481. Under the procedure, all vehicles were stopped at the checkpoint for an average of twenty-five seconds. Id. at 448, 110 S.Ct. 2481. Only if the checkpoint officer detected signs of intoxication would he or she ask for a license and registration. Id. at 447, 110 S.Ct. 2481.

Applying the Brown balancing test, the Site court held that brief, suspicionless seizures at highway checkpoints for the purpose of combating drunk driving do not violate the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 455, 110 S.Ct. 2481; see also City of Indiannapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32, 34, 121 S.Ct. 447, 148 L.Ed.2d 333 (2000). It held, "No one can seriously dispute the magnitude of the drunken driving problem or the States' interest in eradicating it," and found the degree of intrusion as measured by duration of the seizure and intensity of the questioning slight. Sitz, 496 U.S. at 451-52, 110 S.Ct. 2481 (citing United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 96 S.Ct. 3074, 49 L.Ed.2d 1116 (1976) (upholding border checkpoints to detect illegal aliens)).

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Bluebook (online)
763 N.E.2d 960, 2002 Ind. LEXIS 193, 2002 WL 339229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gerschoffer-ind-2002.