Court Opinion

ID: 9727895
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 13:52:25.167025+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:44.210963
License: Public Domain

MESCHKE, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. In denying suppression, the trial court reasoned:
At the suppression hearing testimony was received indicating that the police department had been called by a person at Wendy’s after someone in the drive-up portion of the restaurant observed the defendant operating a pickup and appearing to be intoxicated. This information along with a description of the vehicle including license number was communicated to the dispatcher, who alerted Officer Chase. He, within a matter of minutes, approached the Wendy’s location and observed what he believed to be the vehicle in question coming out of the drive-thru portion of the restaurant. He observed the vehicle exit Wendy’s parking lot onto the service road and then turn into the driveway once again, where he approached the defendant and observed circumstances which led to the decision to make the arrest. The officer had observed no improper operation of the vehicle after he reached the area of Wendy’s restaurant. The only information that he had regarding the likelihood that an offense had been committed was the information of an apparently alcohol impaired driver and a description of the vehicle as the same had been transmitted via a Wendy’s employee who was unknown at the time.
The defense has a two-pronged approach in attacking the basis for the stop. First, it contends under eases decided by the Supreme Court the information available to the arresting officer was insufficient to allow him to have a reasonable, articula-ble suspicion of an offense.
Under the standard employed in the case of State v. Bryl, 477 N.W.2d 814 (N.D.1991), I agree with the Municipal Judge and conclude that, although sketchy, the composite of information that the officer had gave him reasonable cause to believe that he had the correct vehicle when he began watching the defendant’s pickup, and further, that based on information radioed to him, could conclude that the vehicle contained an impaired driver. Although the truck had been identified as “red,” it was in fact orange, a point the defense emphasized at the suppression hearing. The license plate number, however, had been communicated, and the I.D. of the vehicle was assisted as a result of that information.
In State v. Hornaday, 477 N.W.2d 245 (N.D.1991), the officer detained the defendant’s vehicle based on information he had received via a radio dispatch which contained information that another police officer believed that he had observed a parked car possibly containing individuals consuming alcohol. The Court upheld the trial court’s determination that the officer did have a reasonable, articu[l]able suspicion of criminal behavior (consumption of alcohol by minors). The Court cited Gieger v. Baches, 444 N.W.2d 692 (N.D.1989), where it held at 247 that, “Law enforcement officers are not required ‘to point to a single factor which, standing alone, signals a potential violation of law,’ but rather, ‘are to assess the situation as it unfolds and, based upon inferences and deductions drawn from their experience and training, make the determination whether all of the circumstances viewed together create a reasonable suspicion of potential criminal activity.’ ”
I agree with the analysis by the trial judge, largely for reasons expressed in State v. Nelson, 488 N.W.2d 600, 602-04 (N.D.1992):
Police may briefly stop an auto to investigate a reasonable suspicion that a driver *646may be violating a law, without waiting for an actual violation or an actual injury to someone. State v. Bryl, 477 N.W.2d 814, 817 (N.D.1991). An officer need only have enough information for an articulable and reasonable suspicion that the driver has or may be violating the law. Id. at 816; State v. Neis, 469 N.W.2d 568, 569 (N.D.1991). The information of the stopping officer need not arise from personal observation alone. Bryl at 816. Reasons for the suspicion may also come from another person or officer. Id. The collective information of law enforcement personnel, known by or transmitted to the stopping officer, must be considered to assess whether a stop is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. State v. Rodriguez, 454 N.W.2d 726, 729 (N.D.1990). These Fourth Amendment signposts guide us here.
On review, we recognize the trial court’s superior position to assess the demeanor and credibility of the witnesses, and we defer to that court’s factual determinations about searches and seizures, unless those factual determinations are contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. Bryl. See also State v. Piekar, 453 N.W.2d 783, 785 (N.D.1990); State v. Morrison, 447 N.W.2d 272, 275 (N.D.1989); State v. Frank, 350 N.W.2d 596, 599 (N.D.1984). As an appellate court, we do not usually resolve conflicts in the evidence, determine the credibility of explanations, or weigh the evidence..
[[Image here]]
... Oestreieh had a reason to stop Nelson. In Whiteley v. Warden, 401 U.S. 560, 91 S.Ct. 1031, 28 L.Ed.2d 306 (1971), the United States Supreme Court summarized this view that requires consideration'of the collective information communicated among fellow officers.
Certainly police officers called upon to aid other officers in executing arrest warrants are entitled to assume that the officers requesting aid offered the magistrate the information requisite to support an independent judicial assessment of probable cause. Where, however, the contrary turns out to be true, an otherwise illegal arrest cannot be insulated from challenge by the decision of the investigating officer to rely on fellow officers to make the arrest.
Whiteley at 568, 91 S.Ct. at 1037. In United States v. Hensley, 469 U.S. 221, 105 S.Ct. 675, 83 L.Ed.2d 604 (1985), the Supreme Court extended this concept to an investigatory stop, explaining that
if a flyer or bulletin has been issued on the basis of articulable facts supporting a reasonable suspicion that the wanted person has committed an offense, then reliance on that flyer or bulletin justifies a stop to check identification, ... to pose questions to the person, or to detain the person briefly while attempting to obtain further information. See Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 146 [92 S.Ct. 1921, 1923, 32 L.Ed.2d 612] (1972) (“A brief stop of a suspicious individual, in order to determine his identity or to maintain the status quo momentarily while obtaining more information, may be the most reasonable in light of the facts known to the officer at the time”). If the flyer has been issued in the absence of a reasonable suspicion, then a stop in the objective reliance upon it violates the Fourth Amendment. In such a situation, of course, the officers making the stop may have a good-faith defense to any civil suit. It is the objective reading of the flyer or bulletin that determines whether other police officers can defensibly act in reliance on it. Assuming the police make a Terry [Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968) ] stop in objective reliance on a flyer or bulletin, we hold that the evidence uncovered in the course of the stop is admissible if the police who issued the flyer or bulletin possessed a reasonable suspicion justifying a stop, ... and if the stop that in fact occurred was not significantly more intrusive than would have been permitted the issuing department. *647that effective law enforcement cannot be conducted unless police officers can act on directions and information transmitted by one officer to another and that officers, who must often act swiftly, cannot be expected to cross-examine their fellow officers about the foundation for the transmitted information.
*646Hensley 469 U.S. at 232-233, 105 S.Ct. at 682. [Some citations omitted]. Further, quoting an apt explanation by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Hensley clarifies
*647Hensley at 231, 105 S.Ct. at 682. See also 1 Wayne R. LaFave and Jerold H. Israel, Criminal Procedure § 3.3(e) (1984). Although we are concerned with a reasonable and articulable suspicion for a stop, not probable cause for the arrest, Hensley teaches us that the reason for a stop can be based on information communicated by a fellow officer.
I do not agree that this “tip” was anonymous or unreliable. Other opinions by this court have allowed an officer to credit a similar tip in formulating a reasonable and articulable suspicion. See State v. Guthmiller, 499 N.W.2d 590, 592 (N.D.1993):
The tip described the pickup by its color, direction, and license number. The fact that the officer acting on the information does not know the identity of the tipster does not make the information valueless. Neis, 469 N.W.2d at 570. The factual basis for a stop need not arise from the officer’s personal observations alone, but can arise from information furnished by others.' State v. Hornaday, 477 N.W.2d 245, 246 (N.D.1991); Wibben v. North Dakota State Highway Comm’r, 413 N.W.2d 329, 332 (N.D.1987) (“Upon corroborating other details of the anonymous tip, we believe that this officer had sufficient information for a reasonable suspicion, particularly when we take into account inferences and deductions that an investigating officer would normally make.”); State v. Lykken, 406 N.W.2d 664, 666 (N.D.1987); State v. Boushee, 284 N.W.2d 423, 430 (N.D.1979); State v. Lange, 255 N.W.2d 59, 63 (N.D.1977). Kapp confirmed the color, direction, and license number of the pickup before investigating why it was stopped so long.
As the following quotation shows, this ease is more like State v. Bryl, 477 N.W.2d 814, 817 (N.D.1991):
Although there was some differing testimony as to what Shelly Rutten told the dispatcher and what the dispatcher relayed to Officer Fix, it is known that the officer was advised that there was an intoxicated subject in a pickup at the Super Pumper station. From the information that Officer Fix had at that time, it was reasonable for him to believe that the pickup leaving the lot was the pickup that contained the intoxicated person. There was an articulable suspicion that the vehicle was being driven by an intoxicated person.
“[information from an anonymous informant used for an investigative stop must be sufficiently reliable to support a reasonable suspicion of unlawful conduct, though not the more exacting standard of probable cause necessary to make an arrest.” Wibben v. N.D. State Highway Commissioner, 413 N.W.2d 329, 331 (N.D.1987). See City of Minot v. Nelson, 462 N.W.2d 460, 462 (N.D.1990); State v. Dorendorf, 359 N.W.2d 115, 116 (N.D.1984). This tip is much like the one in State v. Neis, 469 N.W.2d 568 (N.D.1991). In Neis, the informant identified herself, the vehicle and the behavior, which was the same information that Shelly Rutten gave to the dispatcher. Id. at 569. This information provided certain indications of reliability of both the informant and the information.
See also State v. Hornaday, 477 N.W.2d 245 (N.D.1991) (approving brief communications of information between officers, and relied upon by the trial court in this ease), and State v. Neis, 469 N.W.2d 568 (N.D.1991).
Even if BurchiU had been unknown to the sheriffs department, her information was more than conclusory. Not only did she describe the pickup by its color, high antenna, and license number, but also she identified its location, described the erratic driving of a drunk driver, and gave her name to the sheriffs office. The fact that the officer making the stop did not know who she was does not make the tip worthless. See State v. Rodriguez, 454 N.W.2d 726, 729 n. 2 (N.D.1990) (“[L]aw enforcement officers must be allowed to rely upon information received from other officers”).
*648Id. at 570. In my view, the majority opinion discounts the report of an identified informant too much, and attenuates brief communications between law enforcement officers more than our prior precedents do.
For me, there are enough details in the named informant’s tip, including description of specific suspicious conduct of the driver, for reliability; adequate abbreviated communication between officers of information from an identified citizen informant; and reasonable verification of essential details about the identified driver, while that driver was circling out and back into Wendy’s driveway, for the officer to formulate a reasonable suspicion to make a minimally intrusive and respectful Terry approach to clarify ambiguous conduct in an effort to forestall drunken driving. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.