Court Opinion

ID: 9885024
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 03:27:57.456563+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:43.293639
License: Public Domain

CRIPPEN, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The trial court did not err in its analysis of the cause for a decision of two officers to arrest respondent. Moreover, out scope of review is limited such that we cannot reverse the trial court unless its error is “clearly and unequivocally” demonstrated. State v. Webber, 262 N.W.2d 157, 159 (Minn. 1977).
Summarizing substantive law on cause for arrests, the Minnesota Supreme Court has stated:
[P]robable cause for arrest exists where there is a reasonable ground for suspicion supported by circumstances sufficiently strong in themselves to warrant a cautious man in believing' the accused to be guilty.
State v. Fish, 280 Minn. 163, 169, 159 N.W.2d 786, 790 (1968). (In Fish, in addition to suspicions aroused by the time and place where the defendant was stopped, his car was seen leaving a burglarized business place, and an officer saw in his car an item known to have been on display in the burglarized building. On these facts, the supreme court affirmed a trial court decision that there was proper cause for arrest.)
At the time respondent was arrested here, five facts justified suspicions of police officers about his conduct:
1. A theft had been reported.
2. Respondent was observed shortly thereafter at a place one block from the reported theft.
3. An officer observed respondent walking on the street at about 4:00 a.m. on a cold February night.
4. Respondent fit a scant description of the alleged thief.
5. Respondent lied to Officer Johnson about his whereabouts earlier that night.
It has not been strongly contended that Officer Johnson had cause for arrest before appellant’s lie was discovered. Factors numbered 1 through 4 above constituted only articulable cause for an investigative stop. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).
What is the significance of further suspicion prompted by discovery of respondent’s lie? The trial court specifically addressed this question, concluding that the lie added “only a little” to the circumstances. The court concluded that probable cause required “some additional link tying the defendant to the attempted theft.”
The trial court’s analysis is not clearly wrong. Suspicion needed for probable cause must be supported by “circumstances sufficiently strong” to warrant “believing the accused to be guilty.” Fish, 280 *11Minn. at 169, 159 N.W.2d at 790. Moreover, the assessment of these circumstances must be viewed through the eyes of one who is “cautious.” Id. The trial court’s search for circumstances linking respondent to a crime was appropriate. Its conclusion that the link was missing cannot be regarded as clear error.