Court Opinion

ID: 9602478
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:55:47.590964+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:04.014815
License: Public Domain

EUBANK, Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent from that portion of the majority Opinion which holds that the mere presence of a deputy sheriff at an A.R.S. § 44-3149 repossession constitutes a breach of the peace and invalidates the repossession. Under our scheme of state government, the sheriff or his deputy is the representative of the “peace.”
The sheriff is a county officer, A.R.S. § 11-401, authorized to appoint deputies with authority to act on the sheriff’s behalf. A.R.S. § 11-409. Cf. State v. Ovens, 4 Ariz.App. 591, 422 P.2d 719 (1967). Both the sheriff and his deputies are peace officers, as defined by the legislature in A.R.S. § 1-215(23). The duties of a sheriff are set forth in A.R.S. § 11-441. In part, § 11-441A(1)(3) provides that the sheriff shall “Preserve the peace,” “Arrest and take before the nearest magistrate for examination all persons who attempt to commit or who have committed a public offense,” and “Prevent and suppress all affrays, breaches of the peace, riots and insurrections which may come to the knowledge of the sheriff.” The latter duty is, in part, preventive — for it requires that the sheriff act when he has knowledge that a breach of the peace may occur. Finally, public officers are presumed to perform their duties. Udall, Arizona Law of Evidence, § 194 (1960).
Here it is uncontested that the deputy accompanied Walker because Walker anticipated a possible breach of the peace. The deputy took no part, whatsoever, in the discussions between Walker and Walthall but he was present and in uniform. Under the law, he did not represent either party— he represented the State of Arizona, Yavapai County and the sheriff as a peace officer. His duty under the law was to keep *125the peace, and the record shows that he was successful in performing his duty.
The subjective thoughts of Walthall regarding the presence of the deputy add nothing to the event, since, objectively, he voluntarily gave up possession of the automobile, without objection, in full compliance with the provisions of his contract with Walker. The distinguishing feature between this matter and Stone Machinery Company v. Kessler, 1 Wash.App. 750, 463 P.2d 651 (1970), relied on in the majority Opinion, is the type and amount of participation in the repossession event by the peace officer. In Stone Machinery the sheriff actually conducted the repossession act and personally took possession of the collateral without judicial process or other official standing. Further, the cases cited and relied on by the court in Stone Machinery were all cases of the same type: the sheriff or deputy was actively and personally involved in the repossession without judicial process. Such is not the case here. Here the deputy was present in his capacity as a peace officer, and he took no part, whatsoever, in the repossession negotiations between Walker and Walthall.
It is my opinion that the deputy sheriff was performing his peacekeeping duties, required by A.R.S. § 11-441, when he was present at the repossession, and his mere presence at the event is not, under our law, a breach of the peace negating an otherwise valid A.R.S. § 44-3149 repossession.