Wright v. State

940 S.W.2d 432, 327 Ark. 558, 1997 Ark. LEXIS 152
Supreme Court of Arkansas·Decided March 17, 1997·No. CR 96-1133·Published·Cited by 18 cases

Opinions

Tom Glaze, Justice.

Appellant Johnny Wright was found guilty by a jury of possession with intent to deli ver methamphetamine, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession with intent to deliver marijuana. For these convictions, Wright received two fife imprisonment terms, and ten and three-year prison terms, all to run consecutively. Wright appeals these convictions, raising three points for reversal. Two points go to the admissibility and sufficiency of the evidence, and so we first detail the relevant facts resulting in Wright’s arrest, charges, and convictions.

On December 30, 1995, at about 9:00 p.m., Wright was driving a new extended-cab pickup on Highway 270 outside Sheridan when State Police Officer Ronald Casey saw that Wright’s pickup had no registration plate. Casey stopped Wright, and immediately afterwards, Wright exited his pickup. Wright produced his driver’s license, but when asked for vehicle identification papers, Wright had no bill of sale, and could only produce a purchase order from Teeter’s Chevrolet of Malvern. Wright also could furnish no proof of liability insurance.

Being near Wright, Casey smelled a faint odor of alcohol, and when he asked if Wright had been drinking, Wright said that he had had one drink earlier. Officer Casey did not arrest Wright for drinking, but instead, he proceeded to Wright’s vehicle to compare the purchase order’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to the VIN on the truck. That is when Officer Casey saw Bobby Dixon, who was a passenger in the truck. Casey knew Dixon and had arrested him on several prior occasions. At this point, Casey decided that he would obtain Dixon’s birth date and run a check for possible outstanding warrants. In doing so, Casey opened the passenger door, asked Dixon to exit and further asked Dixon if he had been drinking. Dixon said he had and picked up a beer can, stating, “I was drinking this.” Casey set the beer can back on the pickup’s floorboard, and as he did, noticed a glass of whiskey beside the beer can.

After seeing the whiskey, Casey further observed a chrome-plated pistol lying behind the whiskey glass. At this point, Casey suspected both Wright and Dixon had violated Arkansas’s intoxication laws. In further investigation, Casey found a .32 derringer under the passenger seat, a Lorsin .380, and then Wright subsequently told Casey that a Bursa .380 was in a shoulder holster in the driver’s side pocket of the truck.

After Casey found the three weapons, a deputy sheriff arrived as backup. Casey then gave the weapons to the deputy and the deputy stayed with Wright and Dixon while Casey checked the pickup for other alcohol or weapons. He located a 1.75 liter bottle of whiskey and a green canvas bag. Upon opening the bag, Casey smelled methamphetamine. The bag also contained computerized weighing scales and a plastic bag of marijuana. The officers then handcuffed Wright and Dixon, and took them to the sheriffs office where they were later charged. While Wright duly moved for a directed verdict at trial and continues his challenge of the sufficiency of the State’s evidence on appeal, his primary argument is that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion to suppress. Obviously, if the officers’ testimonies and the evidence they found in the search of Wright’s pickup were properly admissible at trial, the State offered more than substantial evidence to support Wright’s convictions. Thus, we turn to Wright’s suppression issue.

When Wright failed to present Officer Casey with vehicle registration papers, it was permissible for the officer to check the pickup’s VIN which could be seen through the windshield on the driver’s side of the truck. See New York v. Class, 475 U.S. 106 (1986) (Court upheld search when officers made traffic stop and in checking VIN, opened the car door and saw a concealed weapon). It was in conducting his VIN investigation that Casey saw passenger Dixon, whom Casey had arrested on past occasions. As the officer’s attention was temporarily diverted towards Dixon, he went to Dixon’s passenger door, opened it, asked Dixon to step out, and requested identification.

Under Ark. R. Crim. P. 2.2(a), Officer Casey was permitted to request Dixon’s cooperation in the investigation or prevention of crime. However, Wright argues that, when Casey approached Dixon’s passenger door, he had no information that Dixon was involved in a felony or misdemeanor or that Dixon was doing anything wrong. Even so, when checking out whether Wright had proper ownership or registration documents, Casey’s concern heightened upon seeing Dixon — a person he had arrested on prior occasions — and sensed the need to obtain a background check on him. Nonetheless, Officer Casey had not, at this stage, completed his traffic stop investigation of Wright.

Recently, the Supreme Court held that an officer making a traffic stop may order passengers to get out of the car pending completion of the stop. Maryland v. Wilson,_U.S._, 117 S.Ct. 882 (Feb. 19, 1997). The Court duly noted that, in Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106 (1977), it had already ruled that a police officer may as a matter of course order the driver of a lawfully stopped car to exit his vehicle. The Wilson Court extended the Mimms rule to passengers, reasoning that, while there is not the same basis for ordering the passengers out of the car as there is for ordering the driver out, the additional intrusion on the passengers is minimal.

Here, when Dixon departed the vehicle, he admitted drinking beer and handed Casey the beer can. When Casey merely replaced the can on the floorboard of the truck, he inadvertently viewed the glass of whiskey and immediately behind it, he saw a chrome-plated pistol. At that point, Casey said he reasonably suspected Wright and Dixon had violated Arkansas’s public-intoxication misdemeanor laws.

In determining the admissibility of the alcohol and other items found inside the pickup, we find guidance from this court’s decision in Stout v. State, 320 Ark. 552, 898 S.W.2d 457 (1995), where the court set out the plain-view exception to the general requirement of a search warrant. The Stout court stated the search-warrant exception is established when it is shown: (1) the initial intrusion was lawful; (2) the discovery of the evidence was inadvertent; and (3) the incriminating nature of the evidence was immediately apparent. Those requirements were shown here.

We would also point out that Ark. R. Crim. P. 3.1 provides that a law enforcement officer lawfully present in any place may, in the performance of his duties, stop and detain any person whom he reasonably suspects is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a felony or misdemeanor involving danger of forcible injury to persons. While this court has not been called upon to decide if a possible DWI offense falls within the language of Rule 3.1, our Court of Appeals has held, and we believe correctly, that a DWI violation carries with it the danger of forcible injury to others. See Nottingham v. State, 29 Ark. App. 95, 778 S.W.2d 629 (1989).

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Wright v. State, 940 S.W.2d 432, 327 Ark. 558, 1997 Ark. LEXIS 152 (Ark. 1997).

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Wright v. State
940 S.W.2d 432 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1997)