Opinion ID: 1138582
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Arrest in Arizona

Text: In light of our disposition of this case on the evidence of the prior crime, only one other claimed error need be addressed because it will arise again on retrial. That assignment is the denial of defendant's motion to suppress all evidence arising out of his arrest in Arizona. The motion challenged not only the physical evidence seized, but all statements made by defendant to Arizona police. Defendant was arrested in Arizona pursuant to a teletype request from Oregon that named the defendant as a suspect in a brutal homicide. The message also requested that defendant's truck be seized for crime lab processing. Defendant was stopped and advised of his Miranda rights. After consultation with an attorney who advised him that the police would be able to obtain a search warrant, defendant consented to a search of his truck. The trial court ruled that there was probable cause for the arrest and that defendant had consented to the search of his truck. The first issue is whether the legality of this stop is to be judged by Oregon law or by Arizona law. Although there could be circumstances in which such an issue might be troublesome, this is not such a case. The law of both states appears to be identical. Both states have statutes permitting a warrantless arrest when there is probable cause to believe a person has committed a felony. [8] Both parties assume that the law of each state is the same. Defendant admits that the trial court's findings that Carrie Love had been murdered and that defendant was a suspect in this murder were supported by the record. His sole challenge to the arrest is based upon his contention that [t]here was simply inadequate evidence that [the arresting officer in Arizona] had a reasonable belief [that] the Oregon officers had information sufficient to establish probable cause. In State v. Porter, 31 Or. App. 285, 288-89, 570 P.2d 396 (1977), the Court of Appeals held that probable cause: is to be evaluated on the basis of the collective information of the police rather than that of only the officer who effects the arrest as long as the arresting officer actually acted with an awareness or reasonable belief that fellow officers had information which, either taken alone or in conjunction with the knowledge possessed by the arresting officer, was sufficient to establish probable cause. (Emphasis in original.) Defendant assumes that Porter correctly states the law. He simply argues that the arresting officer in Arizona knew none of the incriminating facts known to Oregon officers but instead arrested defendant solely in reliance upon the information he had received over the teletype. Therefore, defendant argues, the Arizona officer lacked a reasonable belief that fellow officers had information which    was sufficient to establish probable cause to arrest defendant. The issue presented has never before been examined by this court. We agree with the Court of Appeals' resolution of the issue in Porter. A peace officer who does not himself have probable cause to arrest a felony suspect nonetheless may arrest the suspect if he reasonably believes that the officer or officers who have requested the arrest do have probable cause to make that arrest and if probable cause to arrest does, in fact, exist. Here the defendant concedes that the record supports the trial court's finding of probable cause. Therefore, the only remaining issue is whether a teletype message from another law enforcement agency requesting the arrest of a felony suspect is the kind of request upon which an officer reasonably may rely under this rule. We hold that such reliance is reasonable. Officers must be able to rely on such messages from fellow officers elsewhere in order to counteract the high degree of mobility criminals enjoy in this society. To hold otherwise would either prevent emergency requests for assistance, or would require that such requests contain long evidentiary summaries which each individual officer then would have to evaluate for probable cause, perhaps while driving down a highway following a suspect. [9] Defendant also challenges the voluntariness of his consent to the search of his truck. The consent was valid. Defendant was told that he could refuse to consent and he had the advice of counsel when making the decision to consent. This is not a case like State v. Williamson, 307 Or. 621, 772 P.2d 404 (1989), where the police coerced consent by threatening to detain a truck while obtaining a search warrant when they could not legally do so. Here the police had the legal right to detain the truck. Defendant had been legally stopped, the truck had been legally seized, and there was probable cause to conduct a search. The trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress.