Grantham v. City of Tuscaloosa
| Citation | 111 So.3d 174 |
| Decision Date | 02 November 2012 |
| Docket Number | CR–11–1093. |
| Parties | Matthew Daniel GRANTHAM v. CITY OF TUSCALOOSA. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Daniel F. Pruet, Tuscaloosa, for appellant.
Kristen L. Love, city atty., Tuscaloosa, for appellee.
Matthew Daniel Grantham appeals his guilty plea conviction of second-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation of § 13A–12–214, Ala.Code 1975, and his resulting sentence of 60 days in jail, which sentence was suspended. He was also ordered to pay a $250 fine, $25 to the Victims Compensation Assessment Fund, and court costs.
On February 27, 2010, Grantham was arrested and charged with second-degree possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. This case was originally prosecuted in the Tuscaloosa Municipal Court. Grantham filed a motion in the Tuscaloosa Municipal Court to suppress evidence, which was subsequently denied. On May 20, 2010, Grantham stipulated to the facts of the charges and pleaded guilty to both charges. Grantham appealed his conviction for second-degree possession of marijuana to the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court.
On October 5, 2010, Grantham filed a motion to suppress the evidence resulting from the search and seizure of the evidence in this case, alleging that the law-enforcement officers did not have probable cause for a search; that they did not have specific and articulable facts that were sufficiently corroborated and necessary to perform a stop and frisk under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); that the officers performed an unlawful warrantless search of the vehicle; and that the officers conducted a custodial interrogation without first informing him of his Miranda1 rights.
On February 4, 2011, the circuit court held a suppression hearing. At the beginning of the hearing, Grantham entered into evidence a video recording of the incident that was taken from the police vehicle during the incident. At the hearing, Sgt. Billy Gene Hallman, Jr., of the Tuscaloosa Police Department testified that, on February 27, 2010, he was driving on 35th Street and his attention was drawn to the vehicle in which Grantham was riding. When the vehicle passed Sgt. Hallman's vehicle, he noticed that the passenger, who was later identified as Grantham, was not wearing a seat belt. Sgt. Hallman then turned his vehicle around, caught up to the vehicle, initiated his emergency lights, and stopped the vehicle. As he made the traffic stop, he observed Grantham make what he considered to be a furtive movement by reaching over the middle console area with his right arm. However, Sgt. Hallman did not see anything that he could clearly determine to be a weapon or anything else in Grantham's hand. Sgt. Hallman testified that Grantham's actions made him suspect that he might be trying to hide something. Sgt. Hallman then approached the car, identified himself, and retrieved the driver's and the passenger's information. As he approached the driver's side of the vehicle, Sgt. Hallman noticed that the driver was wearing a dark brown nylon-type jacket with a furry collar, that he described as “typically used in law enforcement,” and “reminded [him] of the old Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office uniforms that they had before they changed.” (R. 10.) The jacket did not have any badges or insignia, but Sgt. Hallman stated that it had a place capable of holding a badge on the left front chest. Sgt. Hallman stated that the jacket raised a little suspicion because police officers deal with people who impersonate law enforcement and try to stop cars or approach people and fraudulently identify themselves as law enforcement. Sgt. Hallman questioned the driver concerning the jacket and then returned to his vehicle to run a computer check on the driver and the passenger.
At that time, another police unit responded to the location. The computer check revealed that the driver had a history—a second-degree-possession-of-marijuana charge. Sgt. Hallman approached the vehicle again, and asked the driver to get out of the vehicle, and the driver cooperated. Sgt. Hallman questioned the driver regarding the marijuana charge and testified that the driver was calm, cooperative, and answered every question he was asked. During this questioning, Grantham was still in the front passenger seat of the vehicle. The backup officer, Officer Hinton, was watching Grantham in the passenger seat. Sgt. Hallman asked the driver about the jacket, and the driver responded that the jacket belonged to his ex-girlfriend's father. He further replied that he liked to wear the jacket and that it kept him warm. Sgt. Hallman then asked the driver for permission to search his vehicle, and the driver gave his consent.
After Sgt. Hallman had secured the driver's consent to search the vehicle, Officer Hinton asked Grantham, who was still sitting in the front passenger seat, to get out of the vehicle. While Officer Hinton was talking to Grantham, Sgt. Hallman was finishing patting down the driver. When Officer Hinton initially asked Grantham to get out of the vehicle, Grantham refused. Sgt. Hallman then began to walk around the rear of the car toward the passenger side, and Grantham got out of the vehicle. After Grantham was outside the vehicle, Sgt. Hallman asked him to turn around and put his hands on the trunk so that he could be patted down for the officer's safety. Grantham was facing Sgt. Hallman and repeatedly asked Sgt. Hallman why he had to do that. Sgt. Hallman then physically turned Grantham around, placed his hands on the trunk of the car, and patted him down.
While patting Grantham down, Sgt. Hallman felt a rectangular shaped object in Grantham's left front pocket. The object had grooves on its side and two indentions on its top. Sgt. Hallman stated that, based on his training and experience, he thought the object felt like a “dug out” that was commonly used to store marijuana and a smoking pipe. (R. 14.) Sgt. Hallman then removed the object from Grantham's pocket and confirmed that it was a “dug out” containing marijuana and a pipe. Grantham then admitted that the dug out was his.
Grantham and the driver were then placed in handcuffs, and Sgt. Hallman searched the vehicle. Sgt. Hallman first searched the middle console area where he had earlier observed Grantham reach. He found additional marijuana and marijuana seeds in the console. Sgt. Hallman stated that both the driver and Grantham were then placed under arrest.
After Sgt. Hallman's testimony, the State rested its case, and the defense did not present any witnesses. The circuit court took the case under advisement. On February 25, 2011, the circuit court issued an order denying Grantham's motion to suppress. The circuit court's order stated:
(C. 30.)
On April 2, 2012, Grantham pleaded guilty to second-degree possession of marijuana. During his guilty-plea proceeding, Grantham gave the trial court oral notice of appeal, reserving the right to appeal the circuit court's denial of his motion to suppress. The City of Tuscaloosa also moved to dismiss the charge against Grantham for possession of drug paraphernalia and that charge was dismissed. On April 13, 2012, Grantham filed this appeal.
On appeal, Grantham argues that the circuit court erred in denying his motion to suppress because, although he concedes that the initial traffic stop was lawful and based on sufficient probable cause, the officer was constitutionally unjustified in performing a patdown of him because the officer failed to point to any articulable, reasonable suspicion that he was involved in criminal activity or that he was armed. Specifically, Grantham argues that the arresting officer could not point to any specific, articulable suspicion of criminal activity “other than vague hunches in regard to the jacket the driver was wearing and a slight reaching movement by [Grantham],” and, thus, the arresting officer was not constitutionally justified in patting him down. The State contends that Sgt. Hallman lawfully conducted a patdown of Grantham because, based on the totality of the circumstances, Sgt. Hallman could have formed a reasonable suspicion that Grantham was armed and dangerous.
In State v. Landrum, 18 So.3d 424 (Ala.Crim.App.2009), this Court explained:
“
State v. Landrum, 18 So.3d at 426. Because the evidence presented at the suppression hearing is not in dispute, the only issue before this Court is whether the circuit court correctly applied the law to the facts presented at the suppression hearing, and we afford no presumption in favor of the circuit court's ruling.
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