Hiibel v. SIXTH DIST. CT. EX REL. HUMBOLDT, 38876.

Decision Date20 December 2002
Docket NumberNo. 38876.,38876.
PartiesLarry D. HIIBEL, Petitioner, v. The SIXTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT of The State of Nevada, in and for the COUNTY OF HUMBOLDT, and the Honorable Richard A. Wagner, District Judge, Respondents, and The State of Nevada, Real Party in Interest.
CourtNevada Supreme Court

Steven G. McGuire, State Public Defender, and James P. Logan, Chief Deputy Public Defender, Carson City, for Petitioner.

Frankie Sue Del Papa, Attorney General, Carson City; David G. Allison, District Attorney, and Conrad Hafen, Chief Deputy District Attorney, Humboldt County, for Real Party in Interest.

Before the Court En Banc.

OPINION

YOUNG, C.J.

The pertinent issue before us is whether NRS 171.123(3), which requires a person stopped under reasonable suspicion by a police officer to identify himself or herself, violates the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. We conclude NRS 171.123(3) does not violate the Fourth Amendment because it strikes a balance between constitutional protections of privacy and the need to protect police officers and the public. Therefore, Hiibel's petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.

In pertinent part, NRS 171.123 provides:

1. Any peace officer may detain any person whom the officer encounters under circumstances which reasonably indicate that the person has committed, is committing or is about to commit a crime.
....
3. The officer may detain the person pursuant to this section only to ascertain his identity and the suspicious circumstances surrounding his presence abroad. Any person so detained shall identify himself, but may not be compelled to answer any other inquiry of any peace officer.
4. A person may not be detained longer than is reasonably necessary to effect the purposes of this section, and in no event longer than 60 minutes.

In response to a call from police dispatch, Humboldt County Sheriff's Deputy Lee Dove drove to the scene where a concerned citizen had observed someone striking a female passenger inside a truck. There, Dove spoke to the concerned citizen and was directed to a parked truck. When Dove approached the truck, he noticed skid marks in the gravel, suggesting the truck had been parked in a sudden and aggressive manner. Dove saw Larry D. Hiibel standing outside the truck and thought he was intoxicated based on his eyes, mannerisms, speech, and odor. Hiibel's minor daughter was in the passenger side of the truck. When Dove asked Hiibel to identify himself, Hiibel refused. Instead, Hiibel placed his hands behind his back and challenged the officer to take him to jail.

Hiibel said he would cooperate but was unwilling to provide identification, because he did not believe he had done anything wrong. After eleven requests for identification, to no avail, Dove arrested Hiibel. Dove described the situation as follows:

[D]uring my conversation with Mr. Hiibel, there was a point where he became somewhat agressive [sic].
I felt based on me not being able to find out who he was, to identify him, I didn't know if he was wanted or what is [sic] situation was, I [w]asn't able to determine what was going on crimewise in the vehicle, based on that I felt he was intoxicated, and how he was becoming aggressive and moody, I went ahead and put him in handcuffs so I could secure him for my safety, and put him in my patrol vehicle.

Hiibel was charged and found guilty of resisting a public officer, in violation of NRS 199.280.1 The justice of the peace in Humboldt County determined that "[Hiibel] was asked only for identification and failure to provide identification obstructed and delayed Dove as a public officer in attempting to discharge his duty."

On appeal, the district court held it was "reasonable and necessary" for Dove to request identification from Hiibel and affirmed Hiibel's conviction. Evidence "over and above simply failing to identify himself" was found to support Hiibel's arrest and conviction, which included Dove's suspicion that Hiibel engaged in driving under the influence. The district court balanced the public's interest in requiring Hiibel to identify himself against Hiibel's Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. The district court determined it was crucial for the safety of an officer and possible victims to know the identity of a person suspected of battery, domestic violence, and driving under the influence.

We conclude this case is properly before this court pursuant to NRS 34.020(3), because the constitutionality of NRS 171.123(3) presents an issue of first impression. Accordingly, we will address the merits of Hiibel's constitutional challenge to NRS 171.123(3).

Fundamental to a democratic society is the ability to wander freely2 and anonymously, if we so choose, without being compelled to divulge information to the government about who we are or what we are doing.3 This "right to be let alone"4—to simply live in privacy—is a right protected by the Fourth Amendment and undoubtedly sacred to us all.5

Yet, this right to privacy is not absolute.6 Like all freedoms we enjoy, it includes both limitations and responsibilities. One such limitation to the right of privacy is reasonableness. The Fourth Amendment only protects against "unreasonable" invasions of privacy, or searches and seizures, by the government.7

The United States Supreme Court has twice expressly refused to address whether a person reasonably suspected of engaging in criminal behavior may be required to identify himself or herself.8 Therefore, the issue is unresolved.9

There is a split of authority among the federal circuit courts of appeals on this issue.10 In Oliver v. Woods,11 the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Utah statute that requires individuals to produce identification to an officer during an investigatory stop. However, in Carey v. Nevada Gaming Control Board,12 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that NRS 171.123(3) violates the Fourth Amendment because "`the serious intrusion on personal security outweighs the mere possibility that identification [might] provide a link leading to arrest."'13 We find the reasoning in Carey to be unpersuasive. Given the conflicting authority, we believe an independent analysis of the constitutionality of NRS 171.123(3) is warranted.

Traditionally, in resolving issues implicating the Fourth Amendment right to privacy, the following touchstone question has been asked: Is the invasion of privacy reasonable?14 Reasonableness is determined by balancing "`the public interest and the individual's right to personal security free from arbitrary interference by law officers."'15 Considerations involve the "weighing of 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."16 A primary concern is "to assure that an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy is not subject to arbitrary invasions solely at the unfettered discretion of officers in the field."17

Balancing these interests, we conclude that any intrusion on privacy caused by NRS 171.123(3) is outweighed by the benefits to officers and community safety. The public interest in requiring individuals to identify themselves to officers when a reasonable suspicion exists is overwhelming. The United States Supreme Court has recognized that "American criminals have a long tradition of armed violence, and every year in this country many law enforcement officers are killed in the line of duty, and thousands more are wounded."18 The most dangerous time for an officer may be during an investigative stop—when a suspect is approached and questioned.

Judicial notice is taken that in the year 2000, fifty-one officers were murdered in the line of duty.19 These homicides occurred as follows: thirteen during traffic stops/pursuits, twelve during arrest situations, ten during ambushes, eight during responses to disturbance calls, six during investigations of suspicious persons, and two during prisoner transport.20 Of the suspects who committed these killings, twenty had been previously arrested for crimes of violence, nine had previously assaulted a police officer, and twelve were on probation or parole.21 Moreover, 15,915 officers were assaulted that year.22 If the officers referenced in these statistics had known the identity and history of their attackers prior to being assaulted or killed, perhaps some of these incidents could have been prevented.

Knowing the identity of a suspect allows officers to more accurately evaluate and predict potential dangers that may arise during an investigative stop. It follows that an officer "making a reasonable investigatory stop should not be denied the opportunity to protect himself from attack by a hostile suspect."23 For example, the suspect may be a former felon or wanted for an outstanding arrest warrant. Such persons pose a heightened risk of danger to officers and the public during investigatory encounters.

Additionally, if suspects are not legally required to identify themselves, what could an officer do if a suspicious person were loitering outside a daycare center or school? Perhaps that person is a sex offender. How are officers to enforce restraining orders? Or, how are officers to enforce curfew laws for minors without a requirement to produce identification? In these situations, it is the observable conduct that creates a reasonable suspicion, but it is the requirement to produce identification that enables an officer to determine whether the suspect is breaking the law.

Most importantly, we are at war against enemies who operate with concealed identities and the dangers we face as a nation are unparalleled. Terrorism is "changing the way we live and the way we act and the way we think."24 During the recent past, this country suffered the tragic deaths of more than 3,000 unsuspecting men, women, and children at the hands of terrorists; seventeen innocent...

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9 cases
  • Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., Humboldt Cty.
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • June 21, 2004
    ...applies, whether it has been violated, and what remedy must follow. Those questions need not be resolved here. Pp. 189-191. 118 Nev. 868, 59 P. 3d 1201, KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which REHNQUIST, C. J., and O'CONNOR, SCALIA, and THOMAS, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., fi......
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    • United States
    • Nevada Supreme Court
    • July 3, 2008
    ...83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). 17. Grev v. State, 124 Nev. ___, ___, 178 P.3d 154, 161 (2008). 18. Hiibel v. Dist. Ct., 118 Nev. 868, 871-72, 59 P.3d 1201, 1204 (2002), affirmed by Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., Humboldt Cty., 542 U.S. 177, 191, 124 S.Ct. 2451, 159 L.Ed.......
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    • Ohio Supreme Court
    • June 21, 2004
    ...and Fifth Amendments. On review the Supreme Court of Nevada rejected the Fourth Amendment challenge in a divided opinion. 118 Nev. 868, 59 P.3d 1201 (2002). Hiibel petitioned for rehearing, seeking explicit resolution of his Fifth Amendment challenge. The petition was denied without opinion......
  • State v. Smith, 03-1062.
    • United States
    • Iowa Supreme Court
    • June 16, 2004
    ...for refusing to identify himself absent reasonable suspicion he was engaged in criminal conduct), with Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist.Court, 118 Nev. 868, 59 P.3d 1201 (2002), aff'd., ___ U.S. ___, 124 S.Ct. 2451, 159 L.Ed.2d 292 (2004) (state may do so upon a showing of a reasonable suspici......
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