State v. Kellogg

CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 6, 2015
DocketA-14-038
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Kellogg (State v. Kellogg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Kellogg, (Neb. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Decisions of the Nebraska Court of Appeals 638 22 NEBRASKA APPELLATE REPORTS

dismiss. We find there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in imposing sentences within the statutory limits. We find the record is insufficient to determine whether counsel’s failure to maintain a continuing objection to the inflammatory state- ment constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. We find the record is also insufficient to determine whether Glazebrook received ineffective assistance of counsel with regard to the witnesses called to testify at trial. Affirmed.

State of Nebraska, appellee, v. Betty K ellogg, appellant. ___ N.W.2d ___

Filed January 6, 2015. No. A-14-038.

1. Investigative Stops: Motor Vehicles: Probable Cause. A traffic violation, no matter how minor, creates probable cause to stop the driver of the vehicle. 2. Investigative Stops: Motor Vehicles: Police Officers and Sheriffs. Once a vehicle is lawfully stopped, a law enforcement officer may conduct an investi- gation reasonably related in scope to the circumstances that justified the traffic stop. This investigation may include asking the driver for an operator’s license and registration, requesting that the driver sit in the patrol car, and asking the driver about the purpose and destination of his or her travel. Also, the officer may run a computer check to determine whether the vehicle involved in the stop has been stolen and whether there are outstanding warrants for any of its occupants. 3. Investigative Stops: Motor Vehicles: Police Officers and Sheriffs: Probable Cause. To expand the scope of a traffic stop and continue to detain the motor- ist, an officer must have reasonable, articulable suspicion that a person in the vehicle is involved in criminal activity beyond that which initially justified the interference. 4. Probable Cause: Words and Phrases. Reasonable suspicion entails some mini- mal level of objective justification for detention, something more than an incho- ate and unparticularized hunch, but less than the level of suspicion required for probable cause. 5. Police Officers and Sheriffs: Probable Cause. Whether a police officer has a reasonable suspicion based on sufficient articulable facts depends on the totality of the circumstances. 6. Probable Cause. Reasonable suspicion must be determined on a case-by- case basis. Decisions of the Nebraska Court of Appeals STATE v. KELLOGG 639 Cite as 22 Neb. App. 638

7. Constitutional Law: Search and Seizure: Arrests: Probable Cause. The Fourth Amendment mandates that an arrest be justified by probable cause to believe that a person has committed or is committing a crime. 8. Probable Cause: Words and Phrases. Probable cause is a flexible, common- sense standard that depends on the totality of the circumstances. 9. Probable Cause: Appeal and Error. An appellate court determines whether probable cause existed under an objective standard of reasonableness, given the known facts and circumstances.

Appeal from the District Court for Burt County: John E. Samson, Judge. Affirmed. Nicholas E. Wurth, of Law Offices of Nicholas E. Wurth, P.C., for appellant. Jon Bruning, Attorney General, and Kimberly A. Klein for appellee. Moore, Chief Judge, and Irwin and Pirtle, Judges. P er Curiam. I. INTRODUCTION Betty Kellogg appeals her conviction for possession of methamphetamine, which charge arose out of a traffic stop. On appeal, she challenges the finding of the district court for Burt County, Nebraska, that the law enforcement officer who stopped her vehicle for speeding had reasonable suspicion to expand the stop beyond the purposes of the initial traffic stop and that there was probable cause to arrest her. We find no merit to these assertions, and we affirm. II. BACKGROUND The events giving rise to this incident occurred on or about June 12, 2012. On that date, Nebraska State Patrol Trooper Jason Morris observed a vehicle driven by Kellogg passing another vehicle and traveling at 73 miles per hour in an area where the posted speed limit was 60 miles per hour. Trooper Morris conducted a traffic stop. He testified that the only basis for the traffic stop was that Kellogg was speeding. Trooper Morris testified that when he asked Kellogg to produce her operator’s license and registration, Kellogg was unable to produce her license. He testified that she went “past Decisions of the Nebraska Court of Appeals 640 22 NEBRASKA APPELLATE REPORTS

her driver’s license several times while she was looking for it” in her wallet. He testified that he observed her operator’s license several times as she looked through items in her wallet, but did not point it out to her; Kellogg indicated to Trooper Morris that she “must have left it at home” and never did pro- duce the license. Trooper Morris obtained Kellogg’s license from her wallet after subsequently placing her under arrest. Trooper Morris described Kellogg’s demeanor at the time of the traffic stop as “appear[ing] to be confused, overactive, and unable to concentrate on the task [of providing her license and registration],” and he said that she “couldn’t concentrate [and] couldn’t sit still, she had gone past her driver’s license several times while she was looking for it.” He testified that her demeanor gave rise to suspicions that she was under the influence of a chemical substance. He testified that he did not detect the odor of alcohol or drugs and that Kellogg’s speech was not slurred. Trooper Morris asked Kellogg if she had been drinking or taking any drugs, and she indicated “that she was not currently drinking any alcohol and that she had taken some prescription medication . . . and she was following the recommended usage of that prescription.” Trooper Morris testified about his training and experience in relation to both alcohol and drugs and in discerning people that are under the influence of either. He testified that, by the time of this stop, he “had arrested approximately 230 [people for] driving under the influence” and had attended a “basic [driv- ing under the influence] course at the academy.” He testified that, in addition to his training related to alcohol usage, he had completed a separate training course and been certified as a drug recognition expert and had conducted more than 20 drug recognition expert evaluations. Based on his observations of Kellogg and on his suspicion that she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he asked Kellogg to perform field sobriety tests. He administered the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk-and-turn test, and the one-leg stand. In addition, he administered the “Romberg Balance” test and the finger-to-nose test. Decisions of the Nebraska Court of Appeals STATE v. KELLOGG 641 Cite as 22 Neb. App. 638

Trooper Morris testified that Kellogg “showed lack of smooth pursuit” in the horizontal gaze nystagmus test. He tes- tified that Kellogg had suffered an injury in one eye and that that eye was “deadened,” which prevented him from assessing whether the pupils in both eyes were equal. He testified that he “did not see nystagmus at maximum deviation or onset of nystagmus prior to 45 degrees.” He “did, however, see bloodshot glassy eyes in both eyes.” He testified that Kellogg “did not display impairment on the horizontal gaze nystag- mus test.” Trooper Morris testified that Kellogg “displayed impair- ment on the walk and turn” test. He indicated that “[i]n the first nine steps she missed the heel to toe four times and stepped off the line and raised her arms.” He acknowledged that “national training guidelines” suggest that the walk-and- turn test may be inaccurate for “elderly individuals,” acknowl- edged that the test becomes “nonconclusive” at age 65, and acknowledged that Kellogg was 61 years of age at the time of this traffic stop.

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State v. Kellogg, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kellogg-nebctapp-2015.