Court Opinion

ID: 9784919
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 20:57:33.814289+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:35:47.833843
License: Public Domain

Skoglund, J.,
¶ 11. dissenting. The credibility of the officer’s testimony lay at the heart of the trial court’s decision to suppress evidence from the traffic stop. That much is clear. The majority mischaracterizes the trial court’s ruling as an incorrectly applied legal standard instead of recognizing and deferring to the court’s necessary assessment of evidentiary credibility and the resulting findings of fact. Our mandate when reviewing such a question of fact is as clear as Vermont’s requirement that motorists remain to the right on the road: we apply the highest level of deference to the trier of fact, recognizing that the lower court is uniquely qualified to determine the credibility of witnesses. State v. Williams, 2007 VT 85, ¶ 2, 182 Vt. 578, 933 A.2d 239 (mem.). Because the factual findings logically inferred from the trial court’s ruling support its decision to suppress and dismiss, I respectfully dissent.
1112. As we have held:
When evidence conflicts, the credibility of witnesses, the weight and sufficiency of evidence, and its persuasive effect are matters accorded to the exclusive determination of the trier of fact. If the record contains any credible evidence that fairly and reasonably supports the findings, the trial court’s ruling must stand even though inconsistencies or substantial evidence to the contrary may exist.
MacDonough-Webster Lodge No. 26 v. Wells, 2003 VT 70, ¶ 22, 175 Vt. 382, 834 A.2d 25 (quotation omitted); see also State v. Nault, 2006 VT 42, ¶ 7, 180 Vt. 567, 908 A.2d 408 (mem.) (outlining deferential review of trial court fact-finding in driving-under-the-influence case).
¶ 13. Here, the arresting officer testified he stopped defendant after observing him cross the double yellow lines at the center of the highway. As the court noted, “the officer’s testimony as to the distance, as well as the time, the vehicle traveled in this manner varied greatly.” According to the officer’s testimony, the vehicle traveled while across the center line “as little as five feet and as much as 200 feet.” This went on “from as little as a ‘few seconds’ ... up to two minutes, without any *644explanation [from the officer] as to the reason for such variation.” The court specifically noted that “the officer testified that either he did not make a video of the operation or made one and it could not be located.” Based on that “greatly” contradictory testimony — the only evidence in the suppression hearing offered by the State — the trial court determined that the State failed to meet its burden to prove the legality of the stop.
¶ 14. The majority correctly notes that even a “technical” traffic violation is legally sufficient to justify an investigatory stop. See State v. Theetge, 171 Vt. 167, 170, 759 A.2d 496, 498 (2000) (“[W]hen an officer has a reasonable and articulable suspicion that a traffic violation has occurred, he or she may stop a vehicle to investigate.”). The majority then concludes that, as a matter of law, the trial court erred in its determination that the facts did not support the traffic stop. Ante, ¶ 10. To do so, however, the majority relies on findings of fact that the trial court did not make. The majority holds that the court found “that the officer ‘observed the car cross over the center line of the highway.’ ” Ante, 11 3. No, the court did not. The court was relating the testimony it heal’d from the arresting officer. It did not adopt that testimony as a “finding of fact.”
¶ 15. With no video of the traffic stop, the State relied entirely on the officer’s conflicting testimony to establish the facts justifying the stop. The trial court indicated that the State’s evidence
lends itself to two disparate conclusions: one, a stop based on an observation of a center line, perhaps partially obscured by sand or snow, being crossed a distance of five feet on a curve, with no oncoming traffic for 3 seconds; or two, a crossing that continued for a distance of 200 feet for as long as two minutes.
However, by merely pondering the two versions of the State’s evidence, the trial court did not adopt either, as the majority contends. In fact, the trial court went on to conclude that the State had failed to meet its burden of proof to establish that the traffic stop was justified.
1116. I concede that if the trial court had found that a technical violation occurred, then its decision to suppress the evidence would necessarily amount to the application of an incorrect legal standard, as a technical violation is sufficient for a traffic stop.2 The question here is whether the State adduced evidence sufficient to demonstrate that a technical violation occurred at all, a finding of fact which lies within the purview of the trial court. Admittedly, the trial court’s use of the language “articulable suspicion of criminal activity,” and not of a “technical violation,” might be interpreted to suggest that the court erroneously required a showing that the officer suspected defendant was intoxicated while driving to justify the stop.3 But the trial court’s ultimate decision to suppress the evi*645dence leads to the obvious conclusion that the officer’s testimony was not credible and thus failed to satisfy the State’s burden to show that such a violation took place.
¶ 17. The majority misapprehends the issue and gives undue credence to conflicting testimony that the trial court itself considered varying and uncertain and chose to ignore. While the court’s decision is confusing in terms of what is properly labeled as a finding of fact, it can only reasonably be understood as a whole and as discrediting the officer’s testimony. What is clear is that the trial court found any technical violation that may have occurred so inconsequential and of such insufficient magnitude to warrant a stop that it ultimately reflected poorly on the officer’s credibility. By construing the trial judge’s recitation of the officer’s testimony — and possible conclusions to be drawn from it — as fact, the majority veers uncomfortably outside our established path of review for factual findings. I would affirm the trial court’s determination to suppress the evidence from the traffic stop and dismiss the DUI charge flowing from it.
¶ 18. I am authorized to state that Justice Johnson joins in this dissent.

I would note that driving to the left of center is not, per se, a moving violation. See 23 V.S.A. § 1033(1) (permitting driver to pass another vehicle by driving “left of the center of the highway” when the oncoming lane is clear, and prohibiting a return “to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle”); see also id. § 1031(a)(l)-(4) (providing exceptions to Driving to Right law including passing another vehicle or avoiding obstructions in the roadway).

 At most, this ambiguity in the trial court’s order calls for a remand for clarification or articulation, not a reversal. Cf. State v. Bertrand, 2008 VT 127, ¶ 5, 185 Vt. 574, 967 A.2d 1137 (mem.) (holding remand for findings was appropriate remedy when trial court failed to make any factual findings to support bail denial); see also City of Burlington v. Davis, 160