City of Devils Lake v. Lawrence
Decision Date | 20 February 2002 |
Docket Number | No. 20010063.,20010063. |
Citation | 2002 ND 31,639 N.W.2d 466 |
Parties | CITY OF DEVILS LAKE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Darrell LAWRENCE, Defendant and Appellee. |
Court | North Dakota Supreme Court |
Daniel Mack Traynor, City Prosecutor, Devils Lake, for plaintiff and appellant; submitted on brief.
Darrell Lawrence (no appearance), pro se, St. Michael.
[¶ 1] The City of Devils Lake appealed from orders granting a suppression motion and dismissing a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol against Darrell Lawrence. We conclude the district court erred in ruling police officers had no reasonable and articulable suspicion of criminal activity to stop Lawrence's vehicle, and we reverse and remand for further proceedings.
[¶ 2] At 7:13 p.m. on September 3, 2000, Police Officers John Rose and Jason Toso, who were patrolling in separate vehicles, received a dispatch from the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center that there was a "fight that was going to begin" at Pop's Bar in Devils Lake. Officer Rose was the first to arrive at the scene, and he observed a male standing by the door to the bar and two other males entering a vehicle in the parking lot. No one else was in the parking lot. The man standing by the door to the bar was Conrad Houle, a person Officer Rose recognized as having been involved in "[p]ast fight calls." Houle motioned for Officer Rose to "come over" to him, and then informed Officer Rose he had engaged in a "verbal altercation" with the two men entering the vehicle. Officer Rose observed nothing indicating a physical fight had taken place. Officer Rose radioed Officer Toso, who had just entered the parking lot, that the vehicle leaving the parking lot was "involved" and "[w]e need to check this one out." Officer Rose testified:
[¶ 3] Officer Toso activated his emergency lights and stopped the vehicle to investigate before it left the parking lot. Officer Toso noticed the driver of the vehicle, Lawrence, had an odor of alcohol and asked him to sit in the back of his patrol car while he questioned the passenger for his side of the story. Lawrence later failed field sobriety tests and was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in violation of Devils Lake Municipal Code § 10.46.030.
[¶ 4] Upon appeal of his municipal court conviction to district court under N.D.C.C. § 40-18-19, Lawrence moved to suppress evidence and dismiss the charge, arguing the officers had no reasonable suspicion that he was involved in any type of criminal activity when Officer Toso stopped Lawrence's vehicle in the bar's parking lot. The district court granted the suppression motion and dismissed the charge with prejudice, reasoning:
When Officer Rose arrived on scene an individual standing in the parking lot of the bar told him, that the defendant's vehicle, which was driving out of the lot, was involved. There was nothing that the police officer saw or heard that would infer or suggest that the defendant was involved in criminal activity. The only reasonable inference that could be drawn from what the police officer heard and observed from dispatch, and the man standing outside the bar, is that one or both of the individuals in the vehicle leaving the parking lot were involved in an argument. Arguing is not a crime. Based on the statement given by the individual in the parking lot, Officer Rose radioed Officer Toso who had just arrived on scene, to stop the defendant's vehicle. Police had no articulated suspicion that Mr. Lawrence or his passenger were involved in or were going to be participating in any criminal activity.
[¶ 5] The district court had jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 8, and N.D.C.C. § 27-05-06(4). The City's appeal is timely under N.D.R.App.P. 4(b). This Court has jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 6, and N.D.C.C. § 29-28-07(1).
[¶ 6] The City argues the district court erred in ruling the officers had no articulable and reasonable suspicion that Lawrence was involved in any criminal activity to justify the stop of his vehicle.
[¶ 7] When reviewing a district court's ruling on a motion to suppress, we defer to the district court's findings of fact and resolve conflicts in testimony in favor of affirmance. State v. Haverluk, 2000 ND 178, ¶ 7, 617 N.W.2d 652. We will affirm a trial court's decision on a motion to suppress if there is sufficient competent evidence capable of supporting the trial court's findings, and if its decision is not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. State v. Heitzmann, 2001 ND 136, ¶ 8, 632 N.W.2d 1. While we defer to the trial court's findings of fact, questions of law are fully reviewable. State v. Wanzek, 1999 ND 163, ¶ 5, 598 N.W.2d 811.
[¶ 8] To stop a moving vehicle for investigative purposes, an officer must have an articulable and reasonable suspicion that a law has been or is being violated. State v. Gregg, 2000 ND 154, ¶ 27, 615 N.W.2d 515. Reasonable suspicion for a stop exists when a reasonable person in the officer's position would be justified by some objective manifestation to suspect the defendant was, or was about to be, engaged in unlawful activity. State v. Kenner, 1997 ND 1, ¶ 8, 559 N.W.2d 538. Although the concept of reasonable suspicion is not readily reduced to a neat set of legal rules, we have held reasonable suspicion does require more than a "mere hunch." State v. Loh, 2000 ND 188, ¶ 5, 618 N.W.2d 477. In determining whether an investigative stop is valid, we use an objective standard and look to the totality of the circumstances. Id. at ¶¶ 9-13; City of Minot v. Johnson, 1999 ND 241, ¶ 5, 603 N.W.2d 485. In City of Fargo v. Ovind, 1998 ND 69, ¶ 9, 575 N.W.2d 901 (citations omitted), we explained:
We do not require an officer to isolate single factors which signal a potential violation of the law; but instead, "officers are to assess the situation as it unfolds and, based upon inferences and deductions drawn from their experience and training, make the determination whether all of the circumstances viewed together create a reasonable suspicion of potential criminal activity." When assessing reasonableness, we consider inferences and deductions an investigating officer would make which may elude a layperson.
[¶ 9] When, as here, one officer relays a directive or request for action to another officer without relaying the underlying facts and circumstances, the directing officer's knowledge is imputed to the acting officer. Kenner, 1997 ND 1, ¶ 11, 559 N.W.2d 538. The ultimate conclusion of whether the facts support a reasonable and articulable suspicion is fully reviewable on appeal. Gregg, 2000 ND 154, ¶ 20, 615 N.W.2d 515.
[¶ 10] This case is somewhat similar to Ovind, 1998 ND 69, 575 N.W.2d 901. In Ovind, police officers responded at 1:45 a.m. to a dispatch reporting a fight at a Taco Bell restaurant. The first officer arrived at the scene between forty-five seconds to one minute after the dispatch and observed two vehicles in the parking lot. One...
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