Case Title: ALFRED LEE CLARK V. THE STATE OF WYOMING

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: wyoming

Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Date: 2006-07-21T00:00:00Z

Document:
ALFRED LEE CLARK V. THE STATE OF WYOMING2006 WY 88138 P.3d 677Case Number: 05-103Decided: 07/21/2006
APRIL 
TERM, A.D. 2006

 
 
ALFRED 
LEE CLARK,

 
 
Appellant

(Defendant),

 
 
v.

 
 
THE 
STATE OF WYOMING,

 
 
Appellee

(Plaintiff).

 
 

Appeal 
from the DistrictCourtofHot 
SpringsCounty

The 
Honorable Gary P. Hartman, Judge

 
 

Representing 
Appellant:

            
Ken 
Koski, State Public Defender, PDP; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel. 

 
 

Representing 
Appellee:

            
Patrick 
J. Crank, Attorney General; Paul Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael 
Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Daniel M. Fetsco, Senior Assistant 
Attorney General.     

 
 
Before 
VOIGT, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL*, KITE, and BURKE, JJ.

 
 
*Chief 
Justice at time of the expedited conference.

 
 

KITE, 
Justice.

 
 
[¶1] 
Alfred Lee Clark was charged with one count of possession of a controlled 
substance, marijuana, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-7-1031(c)(iii) 
(LexisNexis 2003).  Prior to trial, 
he filed a motion to suppress the marijuana seized from his vehicle, claiming 
the search violated the federal and state constitutions.  The district court denied the 
motion.  Mr. Clark entered a 
conditional guilty plea to the possession charge, reserving his right to appeal 
the denial of his suppression motion.  
We affirm.

  

ISSUES

 
 
[¶2]      Mr. Clark 
presents the following issue:

 
 
Whether 
the district court erred when it denied appellant's motion to 
suppress.

 
 
The 
State rephrases the issue as follows:

 
 
Did the 
district court properly deny appellant's motion to suppress 
evidence?

 
 
FACTS

            

[¶3]   On November 16, 2003, at 
approximately 1:30 a.m., Thermopolis police officer Pat Cornwell stopped a 
vehicle for a missing headlight.  He 
approached the driver's side window of the vehicle and asked the driver for his 
license and proof of insurance.  The 
driver responded that he did not have his driver's license.  Officer Cornwell detected the odor of 
alcohol coming from inside the vehicle.  
He pointed his flashlight into the vehicle and noticed an empty six pack 
container and a Nintendo 64 box taped shut with duct tape along with other 
clutter in the back seat. 

 
 
[¶4]  As the driver flipped through his wallet 
looking for his driver's license, Officer Cornwell saw what appeared to be 
either a Colorado driver's license or identification card.  He asked the driver to produce the card, 
which identified Mr. Clark as the driver. The passenger passed an insurance card 
to Mr. Clark which he in turn handed to Officer Cornwell.  The card reflected the vehicle was 
insured in the name of Matthew Kobbe.  
Officer Cornwell recognized the passenger as someone he had previously 
arrested while working for the Park County Sheriff's Office in Powell.  He asked the passenger to produce his 
driver's license which identified him as Matthew Kobbe, the owner of the 
vehicle.  Officer Cornwell 
remembered Mr. Kobbe's prior arrest was for failure to pay fines on a 
methamphetamine charge in NatronaCounty.  

 
 
[¶5]  Officer Cornwell asked Mr. Clark and Mr. 
Kobbe to remain seated in the vehicle while he returned to his patrol car to 
contact dispatch and request a check on both their driver's licenses.  He also called for back-up 
assistance.  As he waited for 
dispatch, Officer Cornwell noticed Mr. Kobbe appeared to have reclined his seat 
back so that he was almost out of view.  
He also observed Mr. Clark nervously smoking a cigarette and looking 
frequently in his rearview mirrors.  
Officer Cornwell thought Mr. Clark seemed more nervous than was typical 
in an ordinary traffic stop.   

 
 
[¶6]  Within ten or twenty minutes, dispatch 
advised Officer Cornwell that Mr. Clark's Colorado driver's license had been 
revoked, he had an outstanding ticket from 2003 in Wyoming for driving under 
suspension and there was an "in-state only" warrant for his arrest in Colorado 
for failure to appear on domestic violence charges.  When Officer Martinez arrived on the 
scene, the officers discussed the situation and their concern Mr. Clark was 
unlikely to appear in court in Wyoming if ticketed for driving under 
suspension, second offense.  They 
decided to arrest him. 

 
 
[¶7]  As Officer Cornwell approached the 
vehicle to make the arrest, he noticed the Nintendo box had been partially 
covered with a coat or jacket.  He 
asked Mr. Clark to get out of the vehicle and arrested him for driving under 
suspension, second offense. As he was being arrested, Mr. Clark dropped his 
wallet.  He asked Officer Cornwell 
to give the wallet to Mr. Kobbe so he could get a room for the night.  Officer Cornwell picked up the wallet 
and noticed it was stamped with a picture of a marijuana leaf and the words 
"legalize" and "fix the deficit."  

 
 
[¶8] 
After completing the arrest and assisting Mr. Clark into the patrol car, Officer 
Cornwell returned to the passenger side of the vehicle and asked Mr. Kobbe to 
step out of the vehicle.   The 
officer again detected the odor of alcohol and determined from Mr. Kobbe's 
demeanor and slurred speech he was intoxicated and not capable of driving the 
vehicle.  Meanwhile Officer Martinez 
began searching the driver's side of the vehicle incident to Mr. Clark's 
arrest.  As Mr. Kobbe stood outside 
the vehicle, Officer Cornwell approached the passenger side to assist with the 
search.  He noticed empty beer 
bottles on the floorboard.  He 
picked up the Nintendo box which Officer Martinez had placed on the center 
console.  The box felt light and 
Officer Cornwell squeezed it and smelled the odor of marijuana.  He stuck his finger in a hole in the 
back of the box and felt something like dry plant material.  He opened the box, looked inside and 
found what appeared to be marijuana.

 
 
[¶9]  Officer Cornwell arrested Mr. Kobbe for 
possession of marijuana.  He 
returned to his patrol car and read Mr. Clark his Miranda warnings.  Before he was finished, Mr. Clark 
admitted the things in the vehicle were his.  Officer Cornwell asked if the substance 
in the box was marijuana and Mr. Clark confirmed it was. 

 
 
[¶10]  Mr. Clark was charged with one count of 
possession of marijuana with intent to deliver in violation of § 
35-7-1031(a)(ii) and one count of possession of marijuana in violation of  § 35-7-1031(c)(iii).  The State moved to dismiss count one, 
the delivery charge, which the district court granted.  Mr. Clark was arraigned only on count 
two, the possession charge.  Defense 
counsel filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized from the vehicle arguing 
the search violated both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution 
and Article 1, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution.  The district court denied the motion, 
concluding the search was incident to a lawful arrest and did not violate either 
the federal or state constitution.  
Mr. Clark entered a guilty plea conditioned on his right to appeal the 
order denying his motion to suppress.  
The district court entered judgment and sentenced Mr. Clark to not less 
than two nor more than four years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary but 
suspended the sentence and sentenced him to one year in the Hot Springs County 
Jail with credit for time served.  
The district court also suspended the latter sentence and placed Mr. 
Clark on supervised probation for three years.        

 

STANDARD 
OF REVIEW

 
 
[¶11]  When reviewing rulings on the 
admissibility of evidence, we apply the following 
standards:

 
 
Rulings 
on the admissibility of evidence are within the sound discretion of the trial 
court.  We will not disturb such 
rulings absent a clear abuse of discretion.  An abuse of discretion occurs when it is 
shown the trial court reasonably could not have concluded as it did.  Factual findings made by a trial court 
considering a motion to suppress will not be disturbed unless the findings are 
clearly erroneous.  Because the 
trial court has the opportunity to hear the evidence, assess witness 
credibility, and draw the necessary inferences, deductions, and conclusions, we 
view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court's 
determination.  Whether an 
unreasonable search or seizure occurred in violation of constitutional rights 
presents a question of law and is reviewed de novo. 

 

O'Boyle 
v. State, 2005 
WY 83, ¶ 18, 117 P.3d 401, 407 (Wyo. 2005) (citations 
omitted).

 
 
DISCUSSION

 
 
[¶12]  As reflected in the discussion above, 
Mr. Clark claimed in district court the search violated both the Fourth 
Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, § 4 of the Wyoming 
Constitution.  On appeal, he limits 
his claim of error to the district court's denial of his suppression motion 
under the Wyoming Constitution.  He 
correctly asserts that under Article 1 § 4, a search incident to arrest must be 
reasonable under all the circumstances.  
He argues the search of the vehicle in this case was not reasonable 
because once he had been arrested and placed in the patrol car it was not 
reasonable to search the vehicle. 

 
 
[¶13]  Mr. Clark cites Vasquez v. State, 990 P.2d 476 (Wyo. 
1999) and Cotton v. State, 2005 WY 
115, 119 P.3d 931 (Wyo. 2005) in which this Court held the searches at issue 
were reasonable under the state constitution because of officer safety 
concerns.  Unlike those cases, Mr. 
Clark contends, the instant case involved no officer safety issue; therefore, 
the search incident to arrest was not reasonable.  Mr. Clark also cites language from Vasquez indicating a search conducted 
incident to arrest for purposes of discovering evidence related to the crime is 
reasonable.  He argues, however, 
that rationale does not apply here because evidence related to the crime for 
which he was arrested  driving under suspension  was unlikely to be found in 
the vehicle.  The State also cites 
Vasquez and Cotton as support for its claim that the 
search was reasonable because of officer safety concerns and to prevent evidence 
from being hidden or destroyed.  The 
district court concluded the search was reasonable under both the federal and 
state constitutions because it was incident to a lawful arrest.   

 
 
[¶14]  Although the issue has been raised in a 
number of cases, this Court has addressed the constitutionality of warrant-less, 
non-consensual vehicle searches under Article 1, § 4 in only a few cases.1  In the first of those, Vasquez, an officer stopped a vehicle 
after receiving a report it was weaving on the highway and almost hit another 
vehicle.  The officer confirmed the 
driver was intoxicated and arrested him for driving under the influence of 
alcohol.  Other officers called to 
the scene noticed empty cartridges and shell casings in the bed and passenger 
compartment of the pickup truck.  
They removed the passengers and searched the vehicle, finding cocaine in 
a fuse box next to the steering wheel. 

 
 
[¶15]  Mr. Vasquez argued the search was 
unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution 
and Article 1, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution. We held the search was 
reasonable under Article 1, § 4 because it was incident to a lawful arrest and 
law enforcement had reason to be concerned one of the occupants was armed. We 
also re-affirmed prior case law holding that Article 1, § 4 allows reasonable 
vehicle searches incident to arrest for evidence related to the crime and to 
prevent the arrestee from reaching weapons or concealing or destroying 
evidence.  Vasquez, 990 P.2d  at 488-89.  Specifically, we held "the arrest 
justified a search of the passenger compartment of the vehicle and all 
containers in it, open or closed, locked or unlocked, for evidence related to 
the crime and for weapons or contraband which presented an officer or a public 
safety concern."  We 
concluded:

 
 
The 
shell casings and the presence of two adult passengers presented an officer 
safety and a public safety concern which permitted a search incident to arrest 
although Vasquez's arrest had been accomplished and he was secure inside a 
patrol car.  It appears from the 
record that the passengers were also arrested and, although we are not told, it 
would seem their arrest created the need for the officers to secure the vehicle 
if left on the roadside.   

 
 

Vasquez, 990 P.2d  at 489.

 
 
[¶16]  In Guzman v. State, 2003 WY 118, 76 P.3d 825, (Wyo. 2003), we were again asked to consider the constitutionality of a 
search under Article 1, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution. Guzman involved a consent search, rather 
than a non-consensual search as in the instant case, and so our holding in that 
case is not pertinent to the issue before us.  However, some of the language from the 
opinion is relevant.  We 
said:

 
 
Both the 
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 4 of 
the Wyoming Constitution provide citizens with protection from unreasonable 
searches and seizures.  However, 
"neither the federal nor the state constitution forbids all searches and 
seizures; rather, they prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures." We have 
stated that under both constitutions, warrantless searches and seizures are per 
se unreasonable, with a few specifically established exceptions.  These specific exceptions 
include:

 
 
1) search of an arrested suspect and the area 
within his control;  2) a search 
conducted while in hot pursuit of a fleeing suspect;  3) a search and/or seizure to prevent 
the imminent destruction of evidence;  
4) a search and/or seizure of an automobile upon probable cause;  5) a search which results when an object 
is inadvertently in the plain view of police officers while they are where they 
have a right to be;  6) a search 
and/or seizure conducted pursuant to consent;  and 7) a search which results from an 
entry into a dwelling in order to prevent loss of life or 
property.

 
 

Guzman, ¶ 13, 
76 P.3d  at 828 (emphasis added). 

 
 
[¶17]  In Cotton, an officer stopped a vehicle for 
a cracked windshield.  The officer 
asked to see the driver's license and discovered it was suspended.  Because there was an adult passenger in 
the vehicle, the officer called for back-up assistance.  The first officer arrested the driver 
for driving with a suspended license.  
As he was getting into the patrol car, the driver asked the passenger in 
his vehicle to retrieve his shirt from the back seat and take it home with 
him.  The second officer retrieved 
the shirt from the vehicle, patted it down before handing it to the passenger, 
felt something in the pocket, removed it and discovered a bag of crack 
cocaine.  We upheld the denial of 
Mr. Cotton's suppression motion, concluding the search was reasonable under all 
of the circumstances because of officer safety concerns.  We said:

 
 
Mr. 
Cotton had been arrested.  The 
presence of an adult passenger presented a safety concern causing the arresting 
deputy to call for back-up assistance.  
When Mr. Cotton asked the passenger to retrieve the shirt, the assisting 
deputy was justified on the basis of safety concerns in retrieving the shirt 
himself rather than allowing the passenger to go back to the vehicle.  He was further justified in checking the 
shirt for weapons before handing it to the passenger.  Once he discovered there was something 
in the pocket of some substance (measuring approximately three inches in 
diameter and weighing 4.5 grams), he also was justified in removing it from the 
pocket before handing the shirt to the passenger.

 
 

Cotton, 2005 
WY 115, ¶ 22, 119 P.3d 931, 936 (Wyo. 2005).

 
 
[¶18]  Thus, in Vasquez and Cotton we held the searches were 
permissible under the Wyoming Constitution because they were incident to arrest 
and reasonable under all the circumstances given the officer safety 
concerns.   In so holding, we 
rejected a bright-line rule in favor of a requirement that "a search be 
reasonable under all the circumstances as determined by the judiciary, in light 
of the historical intent of our search and seizure provision."  Vasquez, 990 P.2d  at 489. 

 
 
[¶19] 
The record in the instant case shows, after a valid stop for an equipment 
failure, Officer Cornwell discovered Mr. Clark was driving with a suspended 
license, had a prior outstanding ticket in Wyoming for the same offense and had a warrant out for his 
arrest in Colorado for failing to appear on a domestic 
violence charge.  Officer Cornwell 
recognized Mr. Kobbe from a prior arrest in Powell related to 
methamphetamine.  In addition, the 
officer observed suspicious behavior on the part of both individuals, including 
Mr. Kobbe disappearing from view momentarily inside the vehicle.  He also detected the odor of alcohol 
coming from the vehicle and saw the taped Nintendo box behind the driver's seat 
and did not know what might be inside.  
Given the suspicious circumstances and the presence of an adult 
passenger, he called for back-up assistance. 

 
 
[¶20]  When the search commenced, Mr. Clark had 
been lawfully arrested.  By the time 
Officer Cornwell began to assist with the search, he knew Mr. Kobbe was 
intoxicated.  He also knew the 
Nintendo box had been partially covered by someone inside the vehicle after he 
first observed it.  Although Mr. 
Kobbe was out of the vehicle, he was not under arrest and was standing next to 
the vehicle.  

 
 
[¶21]  Officer Cornwell testified the vehicle 
was a two-door Ford Probe and he and Officer Martinez searched the driver's side 
floorboard console area, passenger side floorboard seat area and directly behind 
the driver and passenger seat incident to Mr. Clark's arrest.  When the search commenced, the Nintendo 
box was located behind the driver's seat.  
Officer Martinez picked it up and placed it on the center console where 
Officer Cornwell found it during his search of the passenger side of the 
vehicle.  The presence of an 
intoxicated, adult passenger presented an officer safety concern which permitted 
a search incident to arrest although Mr. Clark had already been arrested and was 
secure inside the patrol car.  The 
presence of a box the size of a Nintendo, the contents of which were unknown and 
which had been partially covered up by someone inside the vehicle after the 
initial stop, presented further officer safety concerns justifying the 
warrant-less search incident to arrest.  
Paraphrasing what we said in Vasquez, Mr. Clark's arrest justified a 
search of the passenger compartment of the vehicle and all containers in it, 
open or closed, locked or unlocked, for weapons or contraband which presented an 
officer safety concern.  Having 
carefully reviewed de novo the 
evidence before us in light of our precedent, we hold the search was incident to 
a lawful arrest and reasonable under all the circumstances because of officer 
safety concerns.  It did not, 
therefore, violate Article 1, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution. Vasquez, 990 P.2d  at 481.2 

 
 
[¶22]  Affirmed.

 
 
FOOTNOTES

 
 

1We require 
thorough briefing and analysis of state constitutional claims in order to 
resolve them through an analytically sound approach.  We have declined to consider such claims 
absent proper briefing and analysis.  See for example Doles v. State, 994 P.2d 315, 320 
(Wyo. 1999); 
Meek v. State, 2002 WY 1, 37 P.3d 1279, fn. 2 (Wyo. 2002); Vassar v. 
State, 2004 WY 125, ¶ 14, 99 P.3d 987, 993 (Wyo. 
2004).

 

2Once Officer 
Cornwell arrested Mr. Clark and established Mr. Kobbe was too intoxicated to 
drive, impoundment of the vehicle was necessary and an inventory search of the 
vehicle and its contents would have been conducted. Thus, whether or not the 
officers had searched the vehicle incident to the arrest, the marijuana would 
have been discovered and would have been admissible at trial. Vargas-Rocha v. State, 891 P.2d 763, 767 
(Wyo. 
1995).