SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO . A

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STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff

- Respondent,

v. DANIEL P. WENDLER, Defendant

- Appellant.

_________________________

Submitted February 28, 2019

– Decided May 22, 2019 Before Judges Simonelli and Whipple. On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Gloucester Co unty, Municipal Appeal No. 11

- 16. Weir & Partners, LLP, attorneys for appellant (Georgios Farmakis, on the briefs). Charles A. Fiore, Gloucester County Prosecutor, attorney for res pondent ( Dana R. Anton, Senior Assistant Prosecutor , and Monica A. Bullock , on the brief). PER CURIAM NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet , this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36

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Defendant Daniel P. Wendler appeals from the Law Division's August 15, 2017 order entered after a judge, conducting a trial de novo , f ound him guilty of d riving w hile i ntoxicated (DWI) , N.J.S.A. 39:4

- 50 (a) ; o perating a m otor v ehicle with a c ontrolled d angerous s ubstance, N.J.S.A. 39:4

- 49.1; and p ossession of fifty grams or less of m arijuana, N.J.S.A. 2C:35

- 10(a)(4). For the following reasons, we affirm. We discern the following facts from the record. On April 3, 2015, Officer
Mar c Stevens was patrolling near a Walmart parking lot in Monroe Township. Stevens saw a silver pick

- up truck in the parking lot with the engine running and parked away from other vehicles. When Stevens approached the vehicle, he saw defendant slumped over the steering wheel. Stevens lit the vehicle with his spotlight to wake defendant

. Defendant did not react when Stevens shined his light in the car. St evens approached the vehicle and woke defendant up by banging on the car window and shouting through an open rear window. Stevens told defendant who he was and why he was there, but defendant was unresponsive to questions, instead he was fumbling through paperwork in his car. Defendant eventually rolled d own his window and appeared dazed, confused, and incoherent. When3 A

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Stevens asked for defendant's identification, defendant handed him several store receipts.
Stevens asked defendant to exit the vehicle so he could perform field sobriety tests, though Stevens smelled no alcohol coming from defendant

. Stevens administered t he horizontal gaze nystagmus test , and it was inconclusive. Defendant did not properly perform either the one

- leg

- stand test

or the w alk

- and

- turn test. St evens arrested defendant , placed him in the police vehicle , and then searched defendant's car for defendant's insurance and registration documents . Stevens looked in the center console , where he found a small bag of suspected marijua na. Stevens found defendant's documentation in the glovebox. The police brought d efendant to the police station and gave him

an Alcotest , which yielded a reading of 0.0. The police charged d efendant with the aforementioned motor vehicle and disorderly person offense s . Defendant moved to suppress, challenging the initial seizure of the marijuana based on lack of probable cause. After a hearing, on November 10, 2015 , the municipal court judge denied the motion because he found Stevens credibl e and found probable cause unnecessary because Stevens was performing a community caretaking function when he found defendant slumped over in the vehicle

. The judge found, t hereafter, the officer had the4 A

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authority to search the car for license and insuran ce documents under State v.
Keaton , 222 N.J. 438 (2015) . The matter was tried in municipal court on July 19, 2016 , and defendant was found guilty. The municipal court judge found proof of intoxication beyond a reasonable d ou b t under the observation stand ard enunciated in State v. Bealor , 187 N.J. 574 (2006) , and the presence of marijuana in the car. The matter was tried de novo on August 10, 2017 , in the Law Division

. Judge Kevin T. Smith issued a th o rough , forty

- one page written opinion on August 15, 2017, denying defendant ' s motion to sup press, and finding defendant guilty of operating a vehicle with a controlled substance, driving while intoxicated, and possession of fifty grams or less of marijuana

. This appeal follow ed. Defendant raises the following points on appeal:
I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

. II . THE COURT ERRED IN DENY ING APPELLANT'S MOTION T O SUPPRESS EVIDENCE RECOVERED AFTER AN U NCONSTITUTIONAL SEARCH AND SEIZURE.
A. THE SEARCH AND SEIZU RE WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL BEC AUSE THERE WAS NO WARRANT AND N O FACTS GAVE RISE TO A REASONABLE SUSPICION OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.5 A

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- ARREST SEAR CH OF APPELLANT'S VEHICLE WAS INDEPENDENTLY UNCONS TITUTIONAL

. III . EVEN IF THE EVIDENCE WAS NOT SUPPRESSED, THE COUR T ERRED IN AFFIRMING APPELLANT' S DWI CONVICTION

. A. THE STATE, WHICH PRO VIDED NO EXPERT OPINION OF IN TOXICATION, FAILED TO SATISFY IT S BURDEN IN PROVING APPELLANT WA S INTOXI CATED BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.
B. APPELLANT WAS NOT OP ERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE AT THE TIME OF HIS ARREST

. IV

. THE COURT ERRED IN AFFI RMING APPELLANT'S CONVICTI ON UNDER [ N.J.S.A. ] 39:4

- 49.1

. When we review the Law Division's de novo review of a municipal appeal we consider whether there is sufficient, credible evidence present in the record to uphold the findings of the Law Division. State v. Johnson , 42 N.J. 146, 162 (1964) . Just as the Law Division is not as well situated as the municipal court to determine credibility, neither are we , and thus , we do not make new credibility findings. State v. Locurto , 157 N.J. 463, 470

- 71 (1999) . Indeed, "[ w ] e do not weigh the evidence, assess the credibility of the witnesses, or make conclusions about the evidence." State v. Barone , 147 N.J. 599, 615 (1997)

. Nevertheless ,6 A

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"[a] trial court's interpretation of the law and the legal consequences that flow from established facts are not entitled to any special deference." Manalapan Realty , L.P. v. Twp. Comm. of Manalapan , 140 N.J. 366, 378 (1995). Wi th this standard in mind, we reject defendant's arguments and affirm his conviction for the reasons expressed by Judge Smith . We only add the following comments.
D efendant argues the court erred in denying his motion to sup press the evidence resulting fro m the search. Defendant asserts Stevens's initial actions

were not in furtherance of community caretaking, but were the beginning of a criminal investigation of alleged criminal trespassing. "The community

- caretaking doctrine recognizes that police offi cers provide 'a wide range of social services' outside of their traditional law enforcement and criminal investigatory roles." State v. Edmonds , 211 N.J. 117, 141 (2012) (quoting State v. Bogan , 200 N.J. 61, 73 (2009)) . To determine whether an action fal ls under the community

- caretak ing doctrine, the officer should be engaged in behavior "totally divorced from the detection, investigation, or acquisition of evidence relating to the violation of a criminal statute" and "objectively reasonable." State v. V argas , 213 N.J. 301, 315, 318 (2013) (quoting Cady v. Dombrowski , 413 U.S. 433, 441 (1973))

. After7 A

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reviewing the record, we conclude there was sufficient credible evidence Stevens was engaged in community

- caretaking. Testifying at the suppression hearing, Stevens acknowledged after he identified defendant at the scene , he recalled defendant was prohibited from entering that particular Walmart 's property

. However, Steven s was not familiar with defendant's car nor was h is initial interaction with defendant based on suspicion of trespassing. As the trial court found Stevens to be a credible witness and credited his version of the facts, we see no reason to disturb this finding. Stevens saw a running car with the driver slumped over the steering wheel. The driver did not initially react when Stevens shined his light in the car

. Given these facts , i t was objectively reasonable for Stevens to be concerned defendant might have been ill or injured, intoxicated, or otherwis e in need of aid , and his attempt to rouse defendant was justified under the community

- caretaking doctrine

. While Stevens 's initial acts were for community

- caretaking, at some point the stop transformed into an investigatory stop. An investigatory stop is based
on " [ r ] easonable suspicion[,] . . . a lower standard than the probabl e cause necessary to sustain an arrest. " State v. Stovall , 170 N.J. 346, 356 (2002) . Based8 A

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on the totality of the circumstances, an officer must have articulable reasons or

a particularized suspicion of criminal activity to justify an investigatory stop

. State v. Davis , 104 N.J. 490, 504 (1986) . When an officer commands a driver to exit a vehicle, this constitutes a seizure. State v. Smith , 134 N.J. 599, 609 (1994) . New Jersey courts have adopted the United States Supreme Court's view , articulated in Pennsylvania v. Mimms , 434 U.S. 106 (1977), that when an officer has already detained a driver, the request to step out of a vehicle is de minimis. Smith , 134 N.J. at 618 (agreeing with Mimms permitting an officer to order a driver to exit a vehicle , but declining to extend the per se rule to passengers)

. Stevens approached defendant sleeping in a running car and observes that upon waking , defendant seemed "dazed and confused" and was "inc oherent at the time." Considering the totality of the circumstances, we agree with the trial
court : Stevens had reasonable suspicion to suspect that the individual might be
i ntoxicated and about to drive and this justified the investigatory stop. If an officer gives a defendant the opportunity to present his vehicle credentials, but the defendant is unable or unwilling to do so, an officer may conduct a search of the vehicle for those credentials. Keaton , 222 N.J. at 442

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. When searching the vehicle for evidence of ownership , the officer must9 A

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confine his search " to the glove compartment or other area where a registration might normally be kept in a vehicle[.]" State v. Hamlett , 449 N.J. Super. 159,
172

- 73 (App. Div. 2017) ( alteration in original) (quoting State v. Jones , 195 N.J. Super. 119, 122

- 23 (App. Div. 1984) )

. At the suppression hearing, defendant testified Steven s neve r asked for vehicle credentials. Stevens testified he did

as k for credentials , and defendant handed him receipts

. The trial court credited
Stevens 's version of the facts. As instructed by Locurto , 157 N.J. at 470

- 71 , we defer to the factual determination of the trial court that Stevens asked defendant for his credentials and defendant was unable to provide them

. Stevens searched the center console armrest in addition to the glove compartment of defendant's vehicle. T here was no evidence St evens knew in advance there was marijuana in the car , and he was not searching the car specifically for marijuana. Stevens was permitted to search for vehicle credentials in the places were the documents might reasonably be kept , such as a center console , and he found marijuana in plain view

. Accordingly, we discern

no error in the judge's determination. We reject d efendant 's argu ment that the State cannot prove he was under the influence of a nar cotic, hallucinogenic, or habit

- producing drug at the time of his arrest. N.J.S.A . 39:4

- 50(a) provides in pertinent part: "a person who10 A

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operates a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating . . . narcotic, hallucinogenic or habit

- producing drug" shall be subject to certain escalating penalties. "[T]he State's burden of proof unquestionably is beyond a reasonable doubt." Bealor , 187 N.J. at 586

. To prove whether a defendant was under the influence, the State must show "beyond a reasonable doubt that, at the time of his arrest, defendant suffered from ' a substantial deterioration or diminution of the mental faculties or physical capabilities[.] ' " Id. at 590 (quoting State v. Tamburro , 68 N.J. 414, 421 (1975) )

. A motorist is under the influence when his or her use of drugs has caused a substantial diminution of faculties and capabilities, Tamburro , 68 N.J.
at 421 , which has altered his or her coordination and mental faculties so as to make it unsafe for him or her to drive. State v. DiCarlo , 67 N.J. 321 , 328 (1975). "[C] ompetent lay observations of the fact of intoxication, coupled with additi onal independent proofs tending to demonstrate defendant's consumption of narcotic, hallucinogenic or habit

- producing drugs as of the time of the defendant's arrest, constitute proofs sufficient to allow the fact

- finder to conclude, without more, that the defendant was intoxicated

. " Bealor , 187 N.J. at 577

. "The statute does not require that the particular narcotic be identified." Tamburro , 68 N.J. at 421

. Nor does it "define the quantum of narcotics,11 A

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hall ucinogens or habit

- producing drugs required in order to violate its prohibition." Bealor , 187 N.J. at 589

. "Instead, as with alcohol intoxication, the issue is simple: was the defendant under the influence of a narcotic, hallucinogen or habit

- producing d rug while he operated a motor vehicle." Ibid

. (quotation omitted). Here , although there was no blood test to show the defendant had actually consumed marijuana, the presence of marijuana and the officer's other observations were sufficient proofs to sustain the conviction. We also reject d efendant 's contention he was not driving at the time of arrest, and thus , he cannot be convicted of driving under the influence, N.J.S.A. 39:4

- 50 (a)

. For the purpose of N.J.S.A. 39:4

- 50 (a) , " operates or drives " has been interpreted to occur when an individual " enters a stationary vehicle " in a public place, turns on the ignition and remains at the steering w heel with the intent to drive. State v. Sweeney , 40 N.J. 359, 360

- 61 (1963)

. Inten t to drive can be inferred by the fact finder based on the evidence presented. Id. at 361

. The trial court credited Stevens's testimony that when he approached defendant ' s vehicle, it was running and the keys were in the ignition. There was no evidence presented showing defendant intended to walk home or was within walking distance of his home. Further, no evidence suggested defendant was sleeping until he was no longer intoxicated. See State v. Daly , 64 N.J. 122, 12512 A

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(1973) (the court determined the defendant had been sleeping in his running car over an hour without driving and thus intent to drive could not be proven)

. Giv en these facts, the trial judge did not err in finding defendant was "operating a motor vehicle" under the meaning of N.J.S.A. 39 :4

- 50 (a)

. Defendant also contends he cannot be convicted of N.J.S.A. 39:4

- 49.1 for operating a motor vehicle on any highway while knowingly in possession of a controlled dangerous substance because a parking lot is not a highway. N.J.S.A. 39:1

- 1 d efines a " highway " as "the entire width between the boun dary lines of every way public ly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel." Defendant argues a private parking lot cannot be a highway under N.J.S.A. 39 :1

- 1

. While there is little authority addressing the question of what highway means under N.J.S.A. 39 :1

- 1 , we have said parking lots are sometimes "quasi

- public place[ s ] ." Brown v. Mortimer , 100 N.J. Super. 395, 405 (App. Div. 1968) ("While privately owned, the parking lot was clearly a quasi

- public place and subject to applicable provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act.") ; State v. Gillespie , 100 N.J. Super. 71, 75 (App. Div. 1968) ("The operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor in a quasi

- public place involves extraordinary danger of injury to the13 A

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driver or other members of the public or damage to their pr operty, just as does driving in that condition on a public highway.")

. Here, the Walmart parking lot was "open to the use of the public for the purposes of vehicular travel

. " N.J.S.A. 39:1

- 1. Whether a parking lot is open to the public for the purposes o f travel is a fact sensitive inquiry and does not lend itself to broad rules. We are satisfied that under the circumstances of this

case , the record supports the conclusion here

. Defendant's other arguments are without sufficient merit to warrant discussi on in a written opinion. R. 2:11

- 3(e)(2). Affirmed.