Buckles v. State

Citation998 P.2d 927
PartiesMichelle BUCKLES, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
Decision Date29 February 2000
CourtWyoming Supreme Court

Representing Appellant: Sylvia Lee Hackl, State Public Defender; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel; and Monique McBride, Assistant Appellate Counsel.

Representing Appellee: Gay Woodhouse, Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Kimberly A. Baker, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Theodore E. Lauer, Director of the Prosecution Assistance Program; and Christopher C. Voigt, Student Intern for the Prosecution Assistance Program. Before LEHMAN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN, and HILL, JJ.

LEHMAN, Chief Justice.

Appellant Michelle Buckles entered a conditional plea of guilty to conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, reserving the right to appeal from the denial of her motion to suppress. Buckles argues her constitutional rights were violated when the police officer stopped her vehicle and searched it in response to a be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) report. We disagree and affirm.

ISSUE

Buckles presents one issue for our review:

Whether the illegal stop of the appellant violated her constitutional rights as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Art. 1 § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution.

The state, as appellee, states the issue in this manner:

Did the investigatory stop, after corroboration of an informant's tip, and the ensuing consensual search violate Appellant's constitutional rights as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 4 of the Wyoming Constitution?
FACTS

The facts before us are identical to those in Frederick v. State, 981 P.2d 494 (Wyo.1999), a case that involved Buckles' co-defendant, Shane Frederick. For ease of the reader, we restate those facts below:

On December 16, 1997, Michael Mathews, a chief deputy sheriff with the Roosevelt County sheriff's office in Wolf Point, Montana, received a call from a confidential informant. Chief Deputy Mathews knew the informant and had received credible and reliable information from the informant on two prior occasions within a two-month period. The informant stated that Michelle Buckles and "Spook" Frederick were on their way to Denver, Colorado, in a red Dodge Daytona to purchase some marijuana and methamphetamine. The informant advised that the two people had left Poplar, Montana, on December 15th and were expected to return late on December 16th. The informant gained this knowledge from a conversation that he overheard between Buckles and a third party on December 15th. The next day, the informant spoke directly with the third party, and that party confirmed the information.
Using a motor vehicle division's computer ABC check, Chief Deputy Mathews determined the year and the license plate number of a red Dodge Daytona which was registered to Michelle Buckles. He knew that Buckles was an Indian female, so he examined the tribal enrollment book to ascertain her birth date. He also knew that "Spook" Frederick's real name was Shane Frederick.
Armed with this information, Chief Deputy Mathews transmitted a teletype, known as a BOLO, to other law enforcement agencies, including the Gillette police department, asking them to be on the lookout for these two individuals who were making a drug run. The teletype read in pertinent part:
"BOLO for a 1989 red Dodge Daytona MT lic/17-1464B driver reported to be Michele Buckles, Indian female DOB of 05-16-68 and a Shane Fredericks, white male, departed Poplar Montana on 12-15-97 to Denver CO to obtain illegal drugs due back late 12-16-97 if probable cause stop and attempt consent to search and notify this station of any contacts or sightings thank you for any and all assistance"
Greg Brothers, a police officer for the Gillette police department, was on duty on December 16, 1997. He read the teletype shortly after it arrived and committed its contents to memory. He began his patrol and watched for the 1989 red Dodge Daytona.
At approximately 1:51 a.m. on December 17, 1997, Officer Brothers was at a stoplight when he observed a red Dodge Daytona, which had been traveling in a northerly direction, pull into a convenience store parking lot. The officer drove into the parking lot to examine the car's license plate. The license plate number matched the number in the teletype. While he was surveying the car, Officer Brothers saw two individuals standing outside the car who matched the descriptions contained in the teletype. He proceeded to the rear of the store and watched to see whether the vehicle would continue in a northerly direction when it left the parking lot. He witnessed the vehicle depart the parking lot, and he followed it north onto Highway 14/16. As the vehicle was leaving the city limits, Officer Brothers requested assistance from the sheriff's office. He followed the car north on Highway 14/16 and then right on Broadus Y to Highway 59. At Highway 59, the vehicle turned and headed north. Officer Brothers did not follow the vehicle when it turned onto Highway 59 because he knew that Ed Mayer, a deputy sheriff with the Campbell County sheriff's office, was on his way. When Deputy Mayer arrived, Officer Brothers informed him that the vehicle was continuing in a northbound direction towards Montana.
Deputy Mayer proceeded north at a high rate of speed. He caught up to the car after traveling about six miles, and he activated his dash-mounted video camera. At this point, Deputy Mayer estimated that the vehicle was moving at 60-65 miles per hour. The posted speed limit on this stretch of road was 65 miles per hour. Over the next few miles, the vehicle slowed its speed to around 45 miles per hour. Deputy Mayer could see that the vehicle was red. He also used his field glasses to read the license plate number and confirmed that this was the vehicle identified in the teletype.
Deputy Mayer decided that he would stop the car somewhere around the Cow Creek turnoff. While he was following the vehicle, he witnessed the car drift over to the right side of the road and travel on the fog line for approximately one-eighth of a mile. The video camera, however, did not capture this activity. Deputy Mayer also witnessed the driver frequently looking in the rearview mirror and the passenger looking back at his car. As he was approaching the Cow Creek area, Deputy Mayer activated his overhead emergency red lights. He also turned on his takedown lights and one spotlight. After he had turned on all the lights, he saw a third person, who was in the back seat, sit up from a prone position and move something over the back seat which appeared to be a yellow bag and some clothes.
Deputy Mayer stopped the vehicle and determined that Frederick was in the passenger seat, Buckles was in the back seat, and Rose Mary Ferguson was driving the car. He requested that a drug canine be dispatched to the scene. While they were waiting for the drug canine, another deputy sheriff from the Campbell County sheriff's office arrived. This deputy explained the teletype to Buckles, and she gave her consent for the car to be searched. The drug canine subsequently arrived. It entered the car and indicated that a yellow bag, which was located in the back of the vehicle, contained drugs. A search of the bag revealed two large bags of marijuana, and all three individuals were arrested. Twenty-eight minutes elapsed from when the vehicle was stopped until the arrests were made.

981 P.2d at 495-96.

Buckles was charged with one count of conspiring to deliver a controlled substance. She filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the search, claiming the search was...

To continue reading

Request your trial
9 cases
  • Lancaster v. State, 00-235.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
    • 28 Marzo 2002
    ...of a totality of the circumstances test. Martindale v. State, 2001 WY 52, ¶ 11, 24 P.3d 1138, 1141 (Wyo.2001); Buckles v. State, 998 P.2d 927, 930 (Wyo. 2000). The same test must be used in cases such as Wilson and Morris and the instant case, where the initial contact with the defendant di......
  • Pier v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
    • 11 Enero 2019
    ...person’s affairs, and so long as the police can corroborate some portion of the tip. [ Orchard, ¶ 12, 262 P.3d at 201 ]; Buckles v. State, 998 P.2d 927, 930 (Wyo. 2000). A tip from an identified informant is generally regarded as more reliable than one from an anonymous informant because id......
  • Speten v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
    • 9 Junio 2008
    ...of a totality of the circumstances test. Martindale v. State, 2001 WY 52, ¶ 11, 24 P.3d 1138, 1141 (Wyo. 2001); Buckles v. State, 998 P.2d 927, 930 (Wyo.2000). The same test must be used in cases such as Wilson and Morris and the instant case, where the initial contact with the defendant di......
  • Robinson v. State, 01-61.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
    • 5 Marzo 2003
    ...specific findings of fact, its general ruling is upheld if it is supportable by any reasonable view of the evidence. Buckles v. State, 998 P.2d 927, 930 (Wyo. 2000) (quoting Frederick v. State, 981 P.2d 494, 497 7. A footnote at this point in the text of the decision letter reads as follows......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT