Court Opinion

ID: 9741560
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:58:04.088446+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:24.810781
License: Public Domain

PAGE, Justice
(concurring in part, dissenting in part).
The court is correct in its conclusion that special deputies are not peace officers. The court is also correct in concluding that Jung and Martin had probable cause to arrest Horner. I write separately for two reasons: first, to more completely set forth the proper probable cause analysis; and second, to express my disagreement with the court’s affirmance of the district court’s order suppressing evidence obtained from the field sobriety and preliminary breath tests conducted by Jung and Martin.
When reviewing a district court’s probable cause determination, we are to give *797“ ‘due weight to inferences drawn from [the historical] facts’ ” found by the district court, but we review de novo whether probable cause existed. State v. Lee, 585 N.W.2d 378, 382-83 (Minn.1998) (citation omitted); see also State v. Moorman, 505 N.W.2d 593, 599 (Minn.1993) (noting that this court independently reviews the facts to determine the reasonableness of police conduct because the issue of probable cause affects constitutional rights). We have stated that probable cause to arrest requires sufficient facts “such that under the circumstances ‘a person of ordinary care and prudence [would] entertain an honest and strong suspicion’ that a crime has been committed.” State v. Johnson, 314 N.W.2d 229, 230 (Minn.1982) (alteration in original) (citation omitted). The inquiry is objective, not subjective. See State v. Riley, 568 N.W.2d 518, 523 (Minn. 1997). When determining probable cause, we consider the totality of the circumstances. See generally State v. Carlson, 267 N.W.2d 170, 174 (Minn.1978). While probable cause to arrest requires something more than a mere suspicion, it requires less than the evidence necessary for conviction. See State v. Camp, 590 N.W.2d 115, 119 n. 9 (Minn.1999).
Applying these rules to this case can lead to only one conclusion — that Jung and Martin had probable cause to make a citizen’s arrest. Before ordering Horner to board the patrol boat, Jung observed that Horner had an unopened beer can between his legs, smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes, and that his speech seemed to be slurred. Before Horner boarded the patrol boat, Martin observed that Horner had a beer can between his legs, smelled strongly of alcohol, had “extremely bloodshot eyes,” and that Horner’s coordination “seemed to be off considerably.” Both Jung and Martin observed Horner violate the quiet waters ordinance. Each of these facts support probable cause. All of these facts are uncontroverted.1 While the district court’s characterization of these facts differed slightly from the actual testimony,2 the district court nonetheless relied on Jung’s and Martin’s testimony in determining that there was no probable cause to arrest Horner. The district court apparently believed that, because the indicia of intoxication testified to by Jung and Martin could have been caused by something other than intoxication, those indicia should be ignored or at least discounted in the probable cause analysis.
In concluding that probable cause did not exist, the district court makes much of the fact that Horner was not wearing eye protection while riding the personal watercraft, that the law does not forbid the consumption or possession of alcohol on watercraft, and that, in Jung’s opinion, there was no probable cause to arrest Hor-ner before Horner boarded the patrol boat. The district court’s reliance on these facts is misguided. The fact that there may be other reasons for Horner’s bloodshot eyes does not mean that his bloodshot eyes do not support probable cause. The question is not whether Hor-ner’s bloodshot eyes establish that he was boating while intoxicated; the question is whether his bloodshot eyes support objective probable cause to believe that he was boating while intoxicated. The fact that Horner’s bloodshot eyes may have been caused by something other than intoxication does not mean that probable cause did not exist. See generally State v. Johnson, 314 N.W.2d 229, 230 (Minn.1982) (“The fact that it later turns out that officers were wrong does not mean that they *798did not have probable cause at the time they made their assessment”).
Further, the fact that the law does not prohibit the consumption or possession of alcohol on watercraft does nothing to support the notion that Jung and Martin did not have probable cause to arrest Horner. When viewed in light of the totality of the circumstances, the fact that Horner had a can of beer in his possession, whether opened or not, whether legal or not, provides strong support for objective probable cause. Possession of the can of beer, by inference, provides a reasonable explanation for Horner’s slurred speech, lack of coordination, and the strong smell of alcohol on his breath, not to mention his bloodshot eyes.
Finally, the fact that Jung testified that she did not believe that probable cause existed before Horner boarded the patrol boat is of no moment. The question is whether there was objective probable cause, not whether Jung subjectively thought there was probable cause.3 See State v. Beckman, 354 N.W.2d 432, 436 (Minn.1984) (officers’ subjective belief that they did not have probable cause does not mean that objective probable cause did not exist); see also Costillo v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 416 N.W.2d 730, 733 (Minn. 1987). Clearly on this record, there was objective probable cause.
It is inconceivable that a person of ordinary care and prudence observing the facts available to Jung and Martin at the time they ordered Horner to board the patrol boat would not entertain an honest and strong belief that a crime had been committed. If observing someone riding a jet ski in violation of a quiet waters ordinance who has the strong smell of alcohol on their breath, has extremely bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and whose coordination seems to be “off considerably,” all the while holding a can of beer, does not create objective probable cause, I am not sure what, if anything, would.
While I agree with the court’s conclusion that Jung and Martin had probable cause to arrest Horner, I disagree with that portion of the court’s opinion affirming the district court’s suppression of the field sobriety and preliminary breath tests they conducted. If Jung and Martin had probable cause to make a citizen’s arrest, it seems to me that they were not precluded from investigating further. Particularly disturbing is the court’s failure to provide any relevant authority for its conclusion that Jung and Martin were not authorized to investigate whether Horner was intoxicated. The sweeping breadth of the court’s decision is also disturbing, as it appears ■ to go so far as to preclude a person, who effects a lawful citizen’s arrest, from asking questions of the arrested person. This result is anomalous, to say the least, given that the law does not generally preclude citizens from posing questions to one another. The court notes, without explanation, that it has in the past emphasized the arresting person’s direct observations in establishing a basis for the arrest. The problem, of course, is that questions relating to the arresting person’s direct observations go to whether the citizen’s arrest was valid; they are not relevant and do not go to the question of whether the arresting person may investigate further. And, while I share the court’s concern that encouraging citizens to investigate the extent of the arrested person’s suspected intoxication could result in injury or other offense to the citizen, that concern does not justify the court’s failure to provide a doctrinal basis, constitutional or otherwise, for its decision. The question here is not whether it is wise for citizens to conduct such investigations, but whether there is some authority that precludes them from conducting such investigations.
In reaching its conclusion, .the court ignores a plethora of decisional law from other jurisdictions explaining why a person *799who makes a valid citizen’s arrest is authorized to investigate further. See Jack v. Rhay, 366 F.2d 191, 192 (9th Cir.1966) (upholding a search conducted by the owner of a grain elevator and the retired police officer he employed as a security guard as valid incident to their lawful citizen’s arrest; relying on the facts set out by the court in State v. Jack, 63 Wash.2d 632, 388 P.2d 566 (1964)); see also United States v. Rosse, 418 F.2d 38, 39 (2d Cir. 1969) (upholding search by postal inspectors as valid search incident to lawful citizen’s arrest) (citing United States v. Viale, 312 F.2d 595, 600 (2d Cir.1963)); Montgomery v. United States, 403 F.2d 605, 609 (8th Cir.1968) (same); Ward v. United States, 316 F.2d 113, 119 (9th Cir.1963) (same); United States v. Kriz, 301 F.Supp. 1329, 1331 (D.Minn.1969) (same).
Because Horner has failed to identify any aspect of the field sobriety and preliminary breath tests that would justify their exclusion had they been administered by a peace officer, the results of those tests are admissible. Therefore, I would reverse that part of the district court’s decision suppressing evidence of Horner’s intoxication gathered aboard the patrol boat.

. The court notes that a “fair reading” of the district court’s memorandum suggests that it credited the testimony of Special Deputies Jung and Martin, but found no probable cause because further indicia of intoxication were needed. I do not believe this is merely a "fair reading” of the district court’s memorandum. Given the absence of contravening evidence or any indication that the district court thought that Jung and Martin lacked credibility, any other conclusion would be inexplicable.

. For example, Martin testified that Homer’s eyes were "extremely bloodshot.” The district court indicated that "Martin testified that Horner’s eyes appeared red and bloodshot." (Emphasis added.)

. If the situation was reversed and objective probable cause was lacking, I would hope that the district court would not rely on the arresting officer's subjective belief that probable cause did exist to support the conclusion that probable cause in fact existed.