Opinion ID: 2569128
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Stop Was Reasonable Under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Text: {16} We next review the reasonableness of the stop under the Fourth Amendment. This issue is a mixed question of law and fact. State v. Neal, 2007-NMSC-043, ¶ 15, 142 N.M. 176, 164 P.3d 57. [W]e review any factual questions under a substantial evidence standard and we review the application of law to the facts de novo. Id. {17} The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, and its protections extend to investigatory stops that fall short of custodial arrests. United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273, 122 S.Ct. 744, 151 L.Ed.2d 740 (2002); Neal, 2007-NMSC-043, ¶ 18, 142 N.M. 176, 164 P.3d 57. The central inquiry under the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness and involves two questions: `whether the officer's action was justified at its inception,' and `whether it was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place.' Neal, 2007-NMSC-043, ¶ 18, 142 N.M. 176, 164 P.3d 57 (quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19-20, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889). {18} In this case, the scope of the officers' conduct was reasonable given the totality of the circumstances. Upon stopping the vehicle, Officer Martinez immediately recognized Defendant and knew that Defendant had outstanding warrants for his arrest. After confirming the warrants, the officer properly placed Defendant under arrest, at which time Defendant gave consent to search the vehicle. Cf. Neal, 2007-NMSC-043, ¶ 20, 142 N.M. 176, 164 P.3d 57 (Under Fourth Amendment standards, a police officer making a lawful stop `may conduct an investigation reasonably related to the circumstances that gave rise to the officer's reasons for the stop.' (quoting State v. Williamson, 2000-NMCA-068, ¶ 8, 129 N.M. 387, 9 P.3d 70)). Defendant has not argued, and we do not find, that Defendant's consent to search the vehicle was involuntary or withdrawn at anytime during the search. Therefore, we are concerned only with whether the stop was justified at its inception. See Neal, 2007-NMSC-043, ¶ 33, 142 N.M. 176, 164 P.3d 57 (`For evidence to be admissible, consent must be both voluntary and purged of all taint from a prior illegality.' (quoting State v. Prince, 2004-NMCA-127, ¶ 20, 136 N.M. 521, 101 P.3d 332)). {19} A stop is justified at its inception if the officer making the stop had a reasonable suspicion that a crime had been or was being committed. Vandenberg, 2003-NMSC-030, ¶ 21, 134 N.M. 566, 81 P.3d 19; Prince, 2004-NMCA-127, ¶ 9, 136 N.M. 521, 101 P.3d 332 (In the context of a Fourth Amendment analysis, an officer may stop a vehicle when he or she has reasonable suspicion that a traffic law has been violated.). Reasonable suspicion arises if the officer can point to `specific articulable facts . . . that, when judged objectively, would lead a reasonable person to believe criminal activity occurred or was occurring.' Vandenberg, 2003-NMSC-030, ¶ 21, 134 N.M. 566, 81 P.3d 19(alteration in original and internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Taylor, 1999-NMCA-022, ¶ 7, 126 N.M. 569, 973 P.2d 246). {20} When these specific articulable facts originate from a third-party, then whether the stop was justified depends on the third-party's reliability as the source of such information. Where the third-party is a known, reliable source of information, an officer may reasonably rely on that information. See State v. Pallor, 1996-NMCA-083, ¶ 13, 122 N.M. 232, 923 P.2d 599 (finding that information provided by an informant, whom the officer knew to be reliable, provided reasonable suspicion to justify an investigatory stop). Similarly, where the officer independently confirms the third-party's information about a defendantincluding the defendant's description or actions  the officer may reasonably rely on that information. See State v. Urioste, 2002-NMSC-023, ¶¶ 11-13, 132 N.M. 592, 52 P.3d 964 (finding it is more reasonable that an officer had adequate suspicion where the officer observes a suspect moving or acting in accordance with a tip). {21} In this case, whether Officer Martinez acted reasonably depends on Agent Edmondson's reliability when he reported the seatbelt violation to Officer Martinez. We find that generally, an officer may reasonably rely on information from another officer that a crime has been or is being committed. Moreover, Agent Edmondson's information was reliable because Officer Martinez personally confirmed Agent Edmondson's description of Defendant's vehicle and its direction of travel. Therefore, Officer Martinez acted reasonably and the stop was justified under the Fourth Amendment.