Court Opinion

ID: 9587820
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:26:42.595497+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:33:33.032673
License: Public Domain

Prager, J.,
dissenting: I respectfully dissent. Today’s decision will result in the erosion of one of the basic freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights of both the United States and Kansas Constitutions — the right of every individual to be free from unfettered intrusions on his or her right of privacy by government officials, the right to be left alone. The controversy presented in this case is an extremely difficult one. It cannot be denied there there is a wide difference of opinion on this issue held by reasonable persons of good faith. I have no disagreement with the excellent review of the legal precedents on this issue as contained in the majority opinion by Justice Holmes. However, I disagree with the majority’s application of the law to the factual circumstances in the case which is now before us.
The majority opinion declares, without equivocation, that when a police officer accosts an individual and restricts his freedom to depart the scene, he has seized that person. Stopping an automobile and detaining its occupants constitutes a seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, even though the purpose of the stop is limited and the resulting detention is quite brief. The essence of the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures is to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasion by governmental officials *544by imposing a standard of reasonableness upon the exercise of those officials’ discretion. The majority opinion states that whether a warrantless search and seizure is constitutional is determined by balancing the degree of legitimate governmental interests against the resulting intrusion on the individual’s Fourth Amendment rights. In applying the balancing test, the courts must weigh the gravity of the public concerns served by the seizure, the degree to which the seizure advances the public interest, and the severity of the interference with individual liberty.
The majority opinion suggests 13 specific factors to be considered in applying the balancing test. The district court considered the evidence in the light of the various factors and concluded that the warrantless search and seizure presented in this case could not be upheld. I agree with the trial court. It is important to emphasize that this is not a case involving a driver’s license checkpoint. The police officer who testified at the hearing in district court and counsel for the State on this appeal at oral argument conceded that the primary purpose of the roadblock was to catch drunk drivers, although incidental to that purpose arrests were also made for a number of other reasons, including some involving license violations. The trial court found that the roadblock in this case was there to catch drivers under the influence of alcohol (DUI). That same conclusion is accepted by the court on this appeal.
As I see it, the basic issue is this: Does the public interest in a DUI roadblock of the type established in this case outweigh the individual’s right to be free from intrusion on his or her right of privacy? The majority opinion correctly states that the burden of proof rests upon the State to prove the validity of the roadblock.
As to the public interest involved, no one can seriously contest the grave concern over the public peril created by drunk drivers. It is safe to say that official efforts to discover and deter drunk drivers are, and should remain, a high priority. Certainly, the need to identify and apprehend drunken drivers is just as clear and pervasive as the need to discover illegal aliens, which was determined to be a sufficient public concern to justify the checkpoint stops in United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 49 L.Ed.2d 1116, 96 S.Ct. 3074 (1976).
The most pressing question before us is the degree to which *545this roadblock checkpoint actually promoted the public interest in deterring drunk drivers. In this regard, we must recognize the fundamental distinction between the offenses of drunk driving, transporting illegal aliens, and failure to carry a valid driver’s license. This distinction turns on the way each of these violations is discovered by law enforcement officers. Violations of motor vehicle license laws and the transportation of illegal aliens are in no way physically apparent through mere observation of traffic. The same is not true for DUI violations. It is here that the distinction between the cases arise.
Generally drunk drivers, through their behavior behind the wheel, manifest their presence to even lay observers. They can easily be discerned by law enforcement officers skilled in identifying the signals indicating a driver is operating the vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In this case, the trial court specifically found that there are alternative less intrusive means available to officers to identify drunk drivers, and police officials need not go to the degree of stopping all traffic at a roadblock. The record in this case shows that the roadblock was in effect for a period of four hours from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. The officer testified that during that period, between 2,000 and 3,000 motor vehicles were stopped at the roadblock. A total of 74 violations were discovered at the checkpoint, only 15 of which were for driving while intoxicated. During this period of time 35 police officers were on duty, which for the four-hour period involved a total of 140 man hours. Although it does not specifically appear in the record before us, it was not unreasonable for the trial court to assume that the same or greater productivity in arresting drunk drivers could have been achieved by distributing the 35 officers at various places throughout the city for the sole purpose of observing erratic driving and stopping and checking drunk drivers. In my judgment, the trial court correctly concluded that the State failed in its burden of proof in establishing that the roadblock checkpoint promoted the public interest in light of available less drastic alternative measures which could have been used by the officers to combat the problem, without setting up a roadblock and stopping between 2,000 and 3,000 motorists.
We should not consider the factors suggested in the majority opinion. Factor No. 1 is concerned with the degree of discretion, *546if any, left to the officer in the field. It should be considered along with factor No. 4 pertaining to standards set by superior officers for setting up the roadblock or to structure the procedure to be followed by the officers present at the scene. Would a team of three officers, consisting of two patrolmen and a sergeant acting as supervisor, have the authority to set up a roadblock anywhere in the city at any time at their discretion? In the present case, the State has not shown the existence of standards or limitations on the discretion of police officers at the roadblock.
Factor Nos. 2 and 3 have to do with the location designated for the roadblock and the time and duration of the roadblock. These factors have in mind the permanency of the location of the checkpoint which is considered as essential in a number of the cases discussed in the majority opinion. In the case before us, the trial court noted that the. checkpoint in question had no permanency whatsoever and could have been moved to other locations. Thus it clearly appears that the checkpoint under consideration would not have the essential characteristics of permanency of location required by many of the cases.
Factor No. 6 is concerned with advance warning to the individual approaching motorist. The trial court found, and the record is clear, that advance warning to a motorist approaching the roadblock was practically nonexistent. In his testimony, the police officer admitted that no advance warning, like signs indicating “Danger, roadblock ahead” was present. He testified that no such warning was given because, under the law, a driver’s license checkpoint is not required to have an advance warning of any kind. At one point in his testimony, he stated that the only warning to approaching drivers at the scene was the police vehicles with their red lights operating. Four police cars with red lights were parked alongside the road near the curb. This factor of advance warning to approaching motorists is emphasized again and again in the cases. Here there was practically none.
Factor No. 12 is the degree of effectiveness of the checkpoint procedure. As noted above, during the period of four hours in which the roadblock was maintained, 2,000 to 3,000 cars were stopped and only 15 persons arrested for DUI. There was no evidence whatsoever presented by the State that the roadblock procedure had been more effective than the traditional, less intrusive method of detecting drunk drivers. The question again *547arises whether or not roadblocks are worth the price of public inconvenience and interference with the individual’s right of privacy.
I, likewise, believe that the majority of the court have failed to consider another important factor in this case. In substance, the majority opinion would seem to authorize any police agency in Kansas to set up a roadblock to discover DUI violations. If this is a proper procedure, why should not a police agency be able to maintain a roadblock to discover violators of other criminal statutes or city ordinances? Does the majority opinion contemplate that every individual police agency established in the state may, on its own, authorize DUI roadblocks of this type? In Kansas, we have 105 counties and 625 incorporated cities. If each of these political subdivisions decides to maintain a roadblock, we could have “Checkpoint Charley” at the boundary of every city and every county. Motorists could legally be stopped five times or even more often in driving from Wichita to Kansas City. My basic concern is that, without legislative standards and limitations, the rights of Kansas citizens to privacy and freedom from unreasonable intrusion by governmental officials would be destroyed. I cannot in good conscience accept that as a way of life in this land of freedom.
For the reasons set forth above, I would affirm the trial court, and I respectfully dissent.