State v. Hall

115 P.3d 908, 339 Or. 7, 2005 Ore. LEXIS 374
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 15, 2005
DocketCC 9701546CR; CA A109813; SC S49825
StatusPublished
Cited by334 cases

This text of 115 P.3d 908 (State v. Hall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon 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. Hall, 115 P.3d 908, 339 Or. 7, 2005 Ore. LEXIS 374 (Or. 2005).

Opinions

[9]*9CARSON, C. J.

In this criminal case, we decide two questions. First, under the circumstances at issue here, did the police encounter with defendant constitute an unlawful “stop” under ORS 131.615(1) (1995) and, consequently, also an unlawful “seizure” under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution?1 Second, if so, did that unlawful stop vitiate defendant’s consent to the subsequent search of his person?

The state charged defendant with possession of amphetamine, ORS 475.992(4)(b), based upon evidence that a police officer had seized during a consent search of defendant’s person. The trial court denied defendant’s pretrial motion to suppress the state’s evidence, and a jury later convicted defendant of the charged offense. On defendant’s subsequent appeal, a majority of the Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, reversed. It held that, notwithstanding the voluntariness of defendant’s consent to the search, Article I, section 9, required exclusion of the challenged evidence because the police officer had stopped defendant unlawfully and then had “exploited” that unlawful stop to obtain defendant’s consent. State v. Hall, 183 Or App 48, 50 P3d 1258 (2002). We allowed the state’s petition for review. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals and reverse the judgment of the trial court.

[10]*10I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Our review of the trial court’s denial of defendant’s pretrial suppression motion is limited to issues of law. We are bound by the trial court’s findings of historical fact if constitutionally sufficient evidence in the record supports those findings. State v. Boone, 327 Or 307, 309, 959 P2d 76 (1998). If the trial court did not make express findings respecting all pertinent historical facts, and the record contains conflicting evidence, then we presume that the trial court found facts that were consistent with its ultimate conclusion. State v. Stevens, 311 Or 119, 126-27, 806 P2d 92 (1991). With those precepts in mind, we take the following facts from the trial court’s written findings and from the record.

At approximately 4:00 p.m. on January 8, 1997, Klamath Falls Police Officer Deese saw defendant walking along Washington Street near Tenth Street in Klamath Falls. Deese was in uniform and was driving a marked police vehicle. As Deese drove past defendant, he noticed defendant twice glance towards him and then quickly look away. After he had passed defendant, Deese observed in his rear-view mirror that defendant had turned around to look at him several more times.

Based upon those observations, Deese turned his vehicle around and drove back towards defendant. Without activating his overhead lights or blocking defendant’s way, Deese stopped his vehicle next to defendant and then motioned with two fingers for defendant to approach him. When defendant neared, Deese got out of his vehicle and asked defendant if he had any personal identification. Defendant handed Deese an identification card, which Deese used to radio the police dispatch for a warrant check relating to defendant.

After he had radioed the police dispatch, but before he had received back any information, Deese returned the identification card to defendant. Deese noticed that defendant appeared to be carrying something inside his jacket and asked defendant if he was carrying any weapons, knives, or illegal drugs. Defendant replied that he was not. Deese asked defendant if he minded if Deese searched him, and defendant [11]*11responded “no, go ahead.” After patting down the exterior of defendant’s jacket, Deese reached into defendant’s jacket pocket, pulled out a small glass vial, and opened it. Based upon the smell and the appearance of white residue inside that vial, Deese concluded that the vial contained methamphetamine, and he arrested defendant for possession of a controlled substance. Subsequent testing established that the vial contained traces of amphetamine.

Before trial, relying upon ORS 131.615(1) (1995), Article I, section 9, and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution,2 defendant moved to suppress the evidence of the vial and its contents upon the ground that that evidence was the fruit of an unlawful police stop.3 He also contended that suppression was required because he had not consented to the search voluntarily. After a hearing at which both Deese and defendant testified, the trial court denied defendant’s motion, concluding that Deese’s encounter with defendant had not amounted to a stop and that defendant’s consent to the subsequent search had been voluntary.4 As [12]*12noted, after a trial, a jury found defendant guilty of the charged offense.

Defendant appealed. Before the Court of Appeals, defendant did not challenge the trial court’s ruling that his consent to the search had been voluntary. Instead, he argued only that the state’s evidence was inadmissible because it had derived from an unlawful police stop.5

Sitting en banc, a majority of the Court of Appeals reversed. Contrary to the trial court, the Court of Appeals unanimously concluded that Deese unlawfully had stopped defendant without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. Hall, 183 Or App at 56, 62. In considering the effect of that illegality upon the admissibility of the evidence from the consent search that followed, that court also unanimously agreed that, notwithstanding the voluntariness of defendant’s consent, Article I, section 9, required the court to exclude the state’s evidence if that evidence had derived from “exploitation” of the unlawful stop. Id. at 58, 63. In deciding whether the state’s evidence in fact had derived from “exploitation” of that prior illegality, however, the court divided over both the applicable analysis and the result.

According to the majority opinion, whether evidence from a consent search derives from exploitation of prior unlawful police conduct6 depends upon whether the police gained information from that illegality that provided the impetus for the police to seek the defendant’s consent. Id. at 58 n 8, 59. Specifically, reaffirming the test articulated in [13]*13that court’s decision in State v. Stanley, 139 Or App 526, 912 P2d 948 (1996), rev’d on other grounds, 325 Or 239, 935 P2d 1202 (1997), the majority opinion explained that “exploitation occurs when unlawful police conduct reveals information that focuses police attention on the defendant and prompts [the police] either to seek the defendant’s consent or to ask questions leading to consent.” Hall, 183 Or App at 60 (quoting Stanley, 139 Or App at 535; internal quotation marks omitted). In this case, the majority opinion determined that Deese had “exploited” the unlawful stop because that stop had allowed Deese to observe bulges in defendant’s jacket, which, in turn, had prompted his request for defendant’s consent to the search. Id. at 59.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
115 P.3d 908, 339 Or. 7, 2005 Ore. LEXIS 374, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hall-or-2005.