Venegas v. State

2012 WY 136, 287 P.3d 746, 2012 Wyo. LEXIS 143, 2012 WL 5328602
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 30, 2012
DocketNo. S-12-0025
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 2012 WY 136 (Venegas v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Venegas v. State, 2012 WY 136, 287 P.3d 746, 2012 Wyo. LEXIS 143, 2012 WL 5328602 (Wyo. 2012).

Opinion

HILL, Justice.

[11] After being charged with driving while under the influence, Juan Carlos Valdez Venegas (Venegas) appeals a district court's denial of his motion to suppress based upon his contention that the officer's stop was based upon an improper anonymous informant. Additionally, Venegas asserts that there was insufficient evidence for a jury to convict him. We affirm.

ISSUES

[12] Venegas states three issues:

1. Whether the decision of the lower court to deny the motion to suppress of the [748]*748defendant was in error, or constituted an abuse of discretion, and/or was arbitrary and capricious under the facts and cireum-stances of this case.
2. Whether there was sufficient evidence to convict the defendant of the charge of driving while under the influence, as applied to him, and under the facts and circumstances of this case.
3. Whether the trial court erred in denying [Venegas's]l motion for new trial in light of the insufficiency of evidence adduced at trial.

FACTS

[13] On March 17, 2011, while on foot patrol, a Laramie police officer was approached by a female who reported that Venegas had been drinking at the Buckhorn Bar, was "wasted," and was about to drive away in his vehicle.

[14] The police officer located Venegas's vehicle as it was pulling away. The officer shined his flashlight at the driver, who nearly hit the officer. Venegas was instructed to stop, which he did. Upon contacting Vene-gas, the officer noted signs of intoxication, including Venegas's difficulty exiting the vehicle and his inability to comply with simple instructions for field sobriety tests. Venegas ultimately refused to take the field sobriety tests and portable breath testing. Venegas was then arrested and taken to the Albany County Detention Center, where he also refused chemical testing.

[15] Venegas was charged with a felony DUI, his fourth. He filed a motion to suppress, claiming that his stop and arrest were unconstitutional because the officer's actions were based upon a tip from an unidentified informant. The motion was denied, and the case was tried before a jury on September 2, 2011. After the jury found Venegas guilty, he filed a motion for new trial, which the court denied. He was sentenced to 18-24 months, and this appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

[16] In his first issue, Venegas argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress, complaining that the arresting police officer relied upon the tip of an unknown, unidentified female who approached him on the street. Venegas contends that just because an officer is told someone is intoxicated does not make it so. The State responds that the police officer had reasonable suspicion that Venegas was drunk, based upon a tip from a citizen informant, and the fact that Venegas nearly hit the officer with his vehicle before being ordered to stop.

[17] In reviewing a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress evidence, we do not interfere with the trial court's findings of fact unless the findings are clearly erroneous. McGarvey v. State, 2009 WY 8, ¶ 12, 200 P.3d 785, 789 (Wyo.2009).

We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court's determination because the trial court has an opportunity at the evidentiary hearing to assess the credibility of the witnesses, weigh the evidence, and make the necessary inferences, deductions, and conclusions.

Id. The constitutionality of a particular search is a question of law that we review de movo. Sam v. State, 2008 WY 25, ¶ 9, 177 P.3d 1173, 1176 (Wyo.2008); Fenton v. State, 2007 WY 51, ¶ 5, 154 P.3d 974, 976 (Wyo.2007) (quoting Pena v. State, 2004 WY 115, 1 25, 98 P.3d 857, 869 (Wyo.2004)).

[T8] The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const., amend. IV. A routine traffic stop constitutes a seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment "even though the purpose of the stop is limited and the resulting detention quite brief" Damato v. State, 2003 WY 18, ¶ 9, 64 P.3d 700, 704 (Wyo.2003) (quoting Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 653, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 1396, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979)). Because a traffic stop is more analogous to an investigative detention than a custodial arrest, the reasonableness of such stops is analyzed under the two-part test articulated in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19-20, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1879, 20 LEd.2d 889 (1968):(1) whether the initial stop was justified; and (2) whether the officer's actions during the detention were "reasonably relat[749]*749ed in seope to the cireumstances that justified the interference in the first instance." Damato, I 9, 64 P.3d at 705.

[T9] A stop is justified when an officer can show specific, articulable facts and rational inferences giving rise to a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed or may be committing a crime. Lovato v. State, 2012 WY 10, ¶ 10, 269 P.3d 426, 429 (Wyo.2012). Reasonable suspicion is a lower standard than probable cause and requires a fact-centered inquiry based upon the "totality of the cireumstances." Fender v. State, 2003 WY 96, 11 ¶ 3, 74 P.3d 1220, 1225 (Wyo.2003). Reasonable suspicion can come from the officer's personal observations or from information provided by an informant, Orchard v. State, 2011 WY 145, ¶ 12, 262 P.3d 197, 201 (Wyo.2011). Reliance upon an informant's tip is reasonable if the tip contains "sufficient "indicia of reliability'" such as predicting another person's future behavior, relating to specific information showing the informant's knowledge of that person's affairs, and so long as the police can corroborate some portion of the tip. Id.; Buckles v. State, 998 P.2d 927, 930 (Wyo.2000). A tip from an identified informant is generally regarded as more reliable than one from an anonymous informant because identification exposes the person to possible prosecution if the report proves false. McChesney v. State, 988 P.2d 1071, 1076 (Wyo.1999). We expanded on this thinking in McChesney and explained that "[the tip [from] an anonymous informant is unlike that of an identified citizen-informant. The latter tips are higher on the reliability scale because an identified informant exposes himself to possible criminal and civil prosecution if the report is false." Id.

[110] In the instant case, the officer encountered a citizen, face-to-face, who gave him information that Venegas was about to drive drunk. The informant also pointed to Venegas's truck, which was parked near the Buckhorn Bar. The informant conveyed specific facts about Venegas, and she accurately predicted his future behavior. The face-to-face nature of the officer's encounter with the citizen-informant enhances the reliability of her information because by approaching the officer in person, she subjected herself to potential consequences if she was lying. However, the informant was not lying, as the officer corroborated most of her information even before he approached Venegas's truck-the truck's lights were activated, a man was behind the wheel, and the driver almost hit the officer.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Mark David Davis v. The State of Wyoming
2025 WY 120 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2025)
Andrew Lee Boyer v. The State of Wyoming
2025 WY 93 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2025)
Thow C. Guandong v. The State of Wyoming
2022 WY 83 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2022)
Pier v. State
421 P.3d 565 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2018)
Kennison v. State
417 P.3d 146 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2018)
Cameron Clayton Jennings v. State
2016 WY 69 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2016)
Clay v. State
2016 WY 55 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2016)
Carl Wayne Allgier v. State
2015 WY 137 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2015)
Carlos Yammon Pena v. The State of Wyoming
2013 WY 4 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 WY 136, 287 P.3d 746, 2012 Wyo. LEXIS 143, 2012 WL 5328602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/venegas-v-state-wyo-2012.