Doolittle v. State

• Decision Date: 23 March 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-86.,No. 05-177.,05-177.,06-86.
• Citation: 2007 WY 52,154 P.3d 350
• Parties: Christopher A. DOOLITTLE, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

154 P.3d 350

2007 WY 52

Christopher A. DOOLITTLE, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

No. 05-177.

No. 06-86.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

March 23, 2007.

Representing Appellant (05-177): Ken Koski, State Public Defender; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel. Argument by Ms. Domonkos.

Representing Appellee (05-177): Patrick J. Crank, Attorney General; Paul Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; David J. Willms, Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Mr. Willms.

Representing Appellant (06-86): Christopher A. Doolittle, pro se.

Representing Appellee (06-86): Patrick J. Crank, Attorney General; Paul Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Leda M. Pojman, Assistant Attorney General.

Before VOIGT, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL^*, KITE, and BURKE, JJ.

BURKE, Justice.

[¶1] Mr. Doolittle was suspected of dealing methamphetamine in the Cheyenne area. Pursuant to a sting operation, an informant asked Mr. Doolittle to meet at a nightclub near the Wyoming/Colorado border. When Mr. Doolittle arrived, he crossed into Wyoming, but parked his vehicle on the Colorado side of the border. Wyoming law enforcement officers immediately arrested him for conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine. A search of his vehicle led to the discovery of drugs, drug dealing paraphernalia, and several weapons. Mr. Doolittle filed a motion to suppress evidence obtained during the search, claiming the officers were outside of their jurisdiction to arrest him, or alternatively, that they lacked probable cause. The district court denied the motion. Subsequently, Mr. Doolittle entered a conditional guilty plea to one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and one count of felony possession of a controlled substance. In these two consolidated appeals, he contends the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress and by failing to award him credit for time served. We affirm the district court's decision to deny the motion to suppress. We remand the case to the district court for entry of a corrected judgment and sentence.

ISSUES

[¶2] The issues for review on appeal are:

I. Whether the district court erred when it denied Mr. Doolittle's motion to suppress.

II. Whether the district court erred because it did not award credit for time served.

FACTS

[¶3] In the morning hours of April 16, 2004, detectives from the Cheyenne Police Department and special agents of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (collectively "detectives") arrested Michael Collins, who admitted to dealing methamphetamine in the Cheyenne area. Mr. Collins advised the detectives that Mr. Doolittle was his supplier. He explained to the detectives that Mr. Doolittle would front the drugs without requiring prepayment. After the drugs were sold, they would meet to exchange money and more drugs. At the detectives' request, Mr. Collins agreed to cooperate in a sting operation for the apprehension of Mr. Doolittle.

[¶4] At approximately 1:30 p.m. that same day, Mr. Collins made a series of recorded phone calls to Mr. Doolittle in an attempt to set up a meeting to pay Mr. Doolittle for drugs he previously advanced to Mr. Collins and to replenish Mr. Collins' supply of methamphetamine. The phone calls were made in the presence of the detectives and the detectives recorded, and listened to, the phone calls as they occurred. Mr. Doolittle stated he was in Colorado but would drive to Wyoming within a matter of hours to make the exchange. Mr. Doolittle agreed to meet in the parking lot of a nightclub near the Wyoming/Colorado border. Mr. Collins informed the police that Mr. Doolittle would be driving a two-door Oldsmobile Achieva and that he would be carrying a handgun in his waistband or in his vehicle. The detectives intended to arrest Mr. Doolittle for the ongoing drug distribution conspiracy upon his arrival.

[¶5] At approximately 3:00 p.m., the Oldsmobile Achieva arrived near the meeting place. After crossing into Wyoming, the vehicle continued up a driveway that curved back into the parking lot of the Colorado Lottery Outlet located behind the nightclub. The vehicle stopped on the Colorado side of the Wyoming/Colorado border. As Mr. Doolittle stepped out of the vehicle, detectives arrested him for conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine.

[¶6] Detectives searched Mr. Doolittle and his vehicle incident to the arrest. The search uncovered pipes used for smoking methamphetamine, approximately one-half ounce of methamphetamine (a street value of $1,400.00), a digital scale commonly used to weigh illicit drugs, packing material consistent with illicit drug sales, a handgun under the front seat, and other items related to drug sales.¹ After being advised of his Miranda rights, Mr. Doolittle admitted he had been dealing methamphetamine to Mr. Collins for re-sale in Wyoming and admitted ownership of the weapons. A later search of his Wyoming residence, pursuant to his consent, uncovered more drug dealing paraphernalia, methamphetamine, and ammunition.

[¶7] A criminal Information was filed on April 29, 2004, charging Mr. Doolittle with one count of felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and one count of felony possession of a controlled substance in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 35-7-1031(a)(i) and 35-7-1031(c)(ii). The Information further alleged that these charges were subject to sentencing enhancement due to the use of a firearm. Mr. Doolittle pled not guilty to the charges. He filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained during his arrest. He claimed the arrest was unlawful because the detectives did not have jurisdiction to arrest him in Colorado. The motion to suppress was denied. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Mr. Doolittle changed his plea to no contest on both counts. He reserved his right to appeal the district court's ruling on the motion to suppress. The State consented to the conditional plea and agreed to recommend a sentence of ten to twelve years.

[¶8] Mr. Doolittle was sentenced on April 22, 2005, to the Wyoming State Penitentiary for a single term of not less than seven years nor more than twelve years. Mr. Doolittle appealed from the judgment and sentence. Thereafter, Mr. Doolittle, acting pro se, petitioned the district court seeking a corrected sentence. Mr. Doolittle claimed the district court failed to award him credit for his presentence incarceration. The motion was denied resulting in another appeal. We subsequently entered an order consolidating both appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶9] Our review of a district court's ruling on a motion to suppress is guided by the following:

[W]e do not interfere with the [district court's] findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. When the district court has not made specific findings of fact, we will uphold its general ruling if the ruling is supportable by any reasonable view of the evidence. We consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the district court's ruling because of the district court's ability to assess the credibility of the witnesses, weigh the evidence, and make the necessary inferences, deductions, and conclusions at the hearing on the motion.

Gunn v. State, 2003 WY 24, ¶ 5, 64 P.3d 716, 719 (Wyo.2003) (quoting Meek v. State, 2002 WY 1, ¶ 8, 37 P.3d 1279, 1282 (Wyo.2002) (quotation marks omitted)). "The determination of whether a sentence is illegal is a question of law, which we review de novo." Manes v. State, 2007 WY 6, ¶ 7, 150 P.3d 179, 181 (Wyo.2007).

DISCUSSION

[¶10] Mr. Doolittle asserts two errors for our review pursuant to his appeals. First, he claims the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress because the evidence was obtained pursuant to a search incident to an unlawful arrest. If we disagree with Mr. Doolittle's first assignment of error, he contends that the district court erred by denying his motion to correct an illegal sentence.

Extraterritorial Arrest

[¶11] Mr. Doolittle contends that his arrest was unlawful because Wyoming law enforcement officers were not legally authorized to arrest him in Colorado. He claims that the detectives were not in fresh pursuit. Mr. Doolittle also argues that the detectives lacked probable cause to arrest him because they did not make any personal observations of the conspiracy other than seeing Mr. Doolittle's vehicle cross the Wyoming state line. As a result of the unlawful arrest, Mr. Doolittle asserts that all items obtained from the search should have been excluded from evidence.

[¶12] The validity of a warrantless arrest is determined by applying the law of the state in which the arrest occurred. Six Feathers v. State, 611 P.2d 857, 861 (Wyo.1980) (citing United States v. Morris, 445 F.2d 1233 (8th Cir.1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 957, 92 S.Ct. 322, 30 L.Ed.2d 273 (1971); State v. Coleman, 177 Mont. 1, 579 P.2d 732 (1978)). It is undisputed that the arrest occurred in Colorado. Colorado's statute on the subject provides that an officer may cross boundary lines "when the offense was committed in the officer's presence or the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged offender has committed a criminal offense." Colo.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 16-3-106 (West 2005). Colorado has interpreted "reasonable grounds" to mean probable cause. People v. McKay, 10 P.3d 704, 706 (Colo.Ct.App.2000). "Probable cause to arrest exists when, under the totality of the circumstances, the objective facts and circumstances warrant the belief by a reasonable and prudent person, in light of that person's training and experience, that an offense has been committed and that the defendant committed it." Id. See also Mascarenas v. State, 2003 WY 124, ¶ 10, 76 P.3d 1258, 1261 (Wyo.2003) (defining probable cause as "the facts and circumstances within the peace officer's knowledge and of which he had reasonably trustworthy information . . ....