IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION THREE STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent,

v. CHRISTOPHER LEE MURPHY, Appellant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. 36295

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UNPUBLISHED OPINION

P ENNELL , C. J.

— Christopher Murphy appeals his convi ction for second degree unlawful possession of a firearm. He argues the firearm should have been suppressed as the fruit of an unlawful seizure. We disagree and affirm.
FACTS 1 Richland police responded to a Motel 6 after a clerk called 911 . The clerk repo rted a man and woman were refusing to leave the property after being denied a room. The pair

was ass ociated with a distinctive pickup truck pulling a flatbed trailer . By the time the police arrived, the man and woman were no longer at the motel. However, t heir truck was observe d across the street in a parking lot. Of ficers went to make contact

.

1 The following facts are taken from the suppression hearing in Mr. Murphy’s case and the trial court’s factual findings. Mr. Murphy has not challeng ed the court’s findings. They are thus deemed verities on appeal. State v. Tamblyn , 167 Wn. App. 332, 336

- 37, 27 3 P.3d 459 (2012). 

### FILED MAY 21, 2020 In the Office of the Clerk of Court WA State Court of Appeals, Division IIINo. 36295

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2 As law enforcement approached, the man from t he truck started walking toward
the officers in an aggressive manner . The man was wearing baggy clothes and his hands

we r e in his pockets . O fficers tried to keep their distance. The man was instructed to stop
and to keep his hands out of his pockets. The man stopped, but continued to move his hands in and out of his pockets. The man was asked for his name and he stated he wa s Christopher Murphy. At some point, the motel clerk called back to 911 and reported the police were talking to the right person. Officers ran Mr. Murphy’s name through dispatch. They discovered he had no warrants, but his driver’s license was suspended an d he had a prior felony conviction rendering him ineligible to possess firearms. Officers began talking to Mr. Murphy about the Motel 6 incident and other subjects, including his truck. Officers believed the truck
was similar to a suspicious vehicle report ed the evening before , and possibly stolen

. V arious items in the truck bed and an attached trailer were suggestive of stolen property. During the interaction with the officers , Mr. Murphy was fidgety and continued to dig around in his pockets despite repea ted instructions to keep his hands out. Mr. Murphy’s repeated behavior of placing his hands in his pockets caused the officers to be concerned for their safety. Mr. Murphy was advised that if he continued to disobey instructions to keep his hands visible , he would be handc uffed. Mr. Murphy did not heed this warning . O fficers then placed Mr. Murphy in handcuffs and performed aNo. 36295

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3 pat

- down search. T his search occurred approximately 19 minutes after the initial police

contact

. The pat

- down uncovered a firearm and Mr. Murphy was arrested for unlawful
possess ion of a firearm. The State later filed charges. Prior to trial, Mr. Murphy filed a motion to suppress the firearm evidence , arguing
the firearm had been unlawfully seized. The parties agreed Mr. Murphy “was det ained
and was not free to leave within seconds of the initial contact” with the officers. C lerk’s
P apers at 53. The issue, therefore, was whether the 911 call a nd Mr. Murphy’s initial
reaction to law enforcement was sufficient to justify a seizure.
The tri al court denied Mr. Murphy’s suppression motion. It held that reasonable suspicion justified the initial police stop . In addition, Mr. Murphy’s continued noncompliance with instructions and suspicious behavior provide d adequate grounds
for prolonging the s cope of the stop. The court subsequently found Mr. Murphy guilty of
unlawful firearm possession at a stipulated facts bench tri al. Mr. Murphy timely appeals

. ANALYSIS
Initial s eizure Mr. Murphy contends he was illegally seized because officers lacked reas onable suspicion that he committed trespass, or any other crime, at the Motel 6. We disagree.No. 36295

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4 Law enforcement m ay perform warrantless stop s when faced with reasonable suspicion that a person “has been or is about to be involved in a crime.” State v. Acrey , 148 Wn.2d 738, 746

- 47 , 64 P.3d 594 (2003). Reasonable suspicion can be supported by

an informant’s tip, so long as it is reliable under the circumstances. State v. Z.U.E. , 183 Wn.2d 610, 618, 352 P.3d 796 (2015) . A known citizen informant calling 911 to report contemporaneous events is generally considered truthful. Navarette v. California , 572 U.S. 393, 399

- 400, 134 S. Ct. 1683, 188 L. Ed. 2d 680 (2014)

. Mr. Murphy does not challenge the truthfulness of the motel clerk’ s tip . He instead argues the conte nt s of the tip were insufficient to support an apparent crime of trespass.
See State v. Sieler , 95 Wn.2d 43, 621 P.2d 1272 (1980). We disagree. The motel clerk
did not simply report that Mr. Murphy and his companion failed to leave. She clarified Mr. Murph y refused to leave after being asked to do so “several times.” Report of Proceedings (RP) ( Aug. 2, 2018) at 6

. Dispatch relayed this information to the responding officers by noting Mr. Murphy was refusing to leave. These circumstances were sufficient

to c re ate reasonable suspicion of tre spass. RCW 9A.52.080 (trespass includes unlawful entry or remaining on the premises of another) ; State v. Kutch , 90 Wn. App. 244 , 2 47, 951 P.2d 1139 (1998) (authorized person may revoke an individual’s license to remain in a building that is otherwise open to the public). The police did not need to investigate aNo. 36295

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5 possible defense to trespass before performing a stop. State v. Guzman

- Cuellar , 47 Wn. App. 32 6 , 331, 734 P.2d 966 (1987).
S cope of i nvestigation Mr. Murphy also app ears to claim the officers improperly expanded the scope of their investigation to include criminal activity other than trespass. 2 The State contends
the officers appropriately expanded their investigation due to Mr. Murphy’s suspicious behavior, the appea rance of the truck and trailer, and th e brevity of the investigation.
We agree with the State. A stop may be prolonged when interaction with a suspect “‘ arouses further suspicions. ’” State v. Smith , 115 Wn.2d 775, 785, 801 P.2d 975 (1990 ) ( quoting Guzman

- C uellar , 47 Wn. App. at 332 )

. That is what happened here. Although officers initially sought contact with Mr. Murphy in response to a fairly minor offense , Mr. Murphy’s behavior quickly aroused suspicions that something more serious was afoot. Mr. Murphy’s aggressive conduct , and noncompliance with instructions to keep his
hands out of his pockets , raised a reasonable concern that he was armed and posed a current danger

. See State v. Williams , 102 Wn.2d 733, 740, 689 P.2d 1065 (1984).

2 Mr. Murphy’s brief focuses almost entirely on whether there was an initial basis for the stop. He does not specifically argu e that, even if the stop was warranted at the outset, offi cers exceeded the proper scope.No. 36295

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6 Nineteen minutes was no t a particularly long period of detention , s ee i d . at 741 n.4, particularly given Mr. Murphy’s failure to provide consistent information about what happened at the Motel 6. Indeed, Mr. Murphy’s companion testified she felt it was only a “couple minutes” be fore Mr. Murphy was handcuffed. RP (Aug. 2, 2018) at 21. Given the totality of the circumstances, law enforcement had sufficient justification for detaining Mr. Murphy up through the pat

- down search and seizure of the firearm.
CONCLUSION The judgment of conviction is affirmed. A majority of the panel has determined this opinion will not be printed in
the Washington Appellate Reports, but it will be filed for public record pursuant to
RCW 2.06.040.

_________________________________ Pennell , C. J.
WE CONCUR:

______________________________ Korsmo, J.

______________________________ Fearing, J.