Layton City v. Oliver

• Decision Date: 15 June 2006
• Docket Number: No. 20050498-CA.,20050498-CA.
• Citation: 139 P.3d 281,2006 UT App 244
• Parties: LAYTON CITY, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Michael W. OLIVER, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals

139 P.3d 281

2006 UT App 244

LAYTON CITY, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Michael W. OLIVER, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 20050498-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

June 15, 2006.

D. Bruce Oliver, Salt Lake City, for Appellant.

Kristina M. Neal, Layton City Prosecutor, Layton, for Appellee.

Before GREENWOOD, Associate P.J., BILLINGS, and McHUGH, JJ.

OPINION

McHUGH, Judge:

¶ 1 Michael W. Oliver appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress. Because we conclude that the nearly three-and-a-half-hour detention of Oliver was unreasonable, we reverse.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 At approximately 4:15 a.m. on December 1, 2002, Officer Brent Erickson of the Layton City Police Department was on patrol in his vehicle. Erickson observed a vehicle parked in a remote, undeveloped area of a subdivision. It was a cold morning, approximately twenty degrees Fahrenheit, but Erickson observed that the vehicle's windows were not frosted over and found that the hood was warm to the touch. Erickson also observed a purse, a child's car seat, and a stroller in the vehicle. Because of these items, Erickson believed that the vehicle belonged to a woman and was concerned that she might be in trouble. Erickson spent the next few minutes driving around the area to see if he could find anyone.

¶ 3 After an unsuccessful search, Erickson returned to a location where he could still observe the car and turned off all of the lights on his vehicle. Approximately five minutes later, Erickson saw an individual emerge from the area of a nearby model home, approach the vehicle Erickson was observing, get inside, and drive away. After following the vehicle for a short distance, Erickson noticed that one of its brake lights was not working properly and, as a result, initiated a traffic stop.

¶ 4 After making the stop, Erickson asked the driver for his license, registration, and proof of insurance. From these documents, Erickson was able to determine that the driver was Oliver. Erickson asked Oliver what he was doing in such a remote location at such an early hour. In response, Oliver told Erickson that he had been visiting a friend, Brian Bird, and that he had just left Bird's house after being there for approximately an hour and a half. When Erickson asked Oliver for the address or phone number for Bird's residence, Oliver indicated that he did not have either, but did give Erickson the general location of Bird's house. Given the location of Bird's residence relative to where Oliver's car was previously parked, Erickson then asked Oliver why he had parked so far away from Bird's residence. Oliver told Erickson that he had walked through a field to get to the house because Bird's mother, who also lived in the house, did not like late-night visitors.

¶ 5 While talking to Oliver, Erickson noticed a clean, yet wet pair of latex gloves on the driver-side floorboard. When Erickson asked Oliver about the gloves, Oliver indicated that he used them to avoid getting his hands dirty when he worked on his car. At some point, Oliver caused his shoes, which were wet and muddy from walking across the field, to come in contact with the gloves. Because of Erickson's initial observation of the gloves, he asked Oliver why they had been clean if they were, as Oliver had indicated, used while Oliver worked on his car. In response, Oliver told Erickson that the gloves were wet and dirty because he had touched them with his shoes.

¶ 6 Erickson then returned to his patrol car to verify the validity of Oliver's license and vehicle registration, as well as to run a warrants check. While in his vehicle, Erickson obtained a phone number for Bird's residence. Erickson called that number and spoke with an individual who identified himself as Bird's father. Bird's father indicated that Bird had left the house at approximately 10:00 p.m. and that he had not seen Bird return.

¶ 7 Erickson returned to Oliver's vehicle and asked Oliver to step out of it. Erickson asked Oliver if he had any weapons on his person, to which Oliver replied that he did not. Erickson patted Oliver down, finding nothing. Erickson then asked Oliver whether there was anything in the vehicle that did not belong to him, and Oliver replied that his wife's purse was in the car. Erickson asked Oliver if he could search the car, and Oliver responded in the negative. At that point, Erickson detained Oliver and left him with another officer who had arrived on the scene, Officer Andy Fresh. At some point during Oliver's interaction with Erickson and Fresh, he indicated that he had four prior burglary convictions.

¶ 8 After leaving Oliver with Fresh, Erickson searched the model home that Oliver had walked past to see if there were any signs of forced entry. When he discovered none, Erickson then drove to an area just west of a nearby church. Erickson later testified that there had been vehicle burglaries in that area in the past. When he found no signs of vehicle burglaries, Erickson began to drive back to the scene of the traffic stop. As he entered the parking lot of the nearby church, the lights of his vehicle passed across a fence that separated the church parking lot from a nearby subdivision, revealing a section of the fence that had been cut. The cut in the six-foot fence began at the bottom and spanned approximately three-fourths of the way up the fence.¹ Once he saw the cut in the fence, Erickson turned his attention toward the church. As Erickson inspected the church, he found an open window and a window screen removed from its proper location. Erickson then arranged for a caretaker of the church to open the building. Upon inspection, Erickson learned that nothing was missing from the church.

¶ 9 With the information he had gathered, Erickson decided to pursue a warrant to search Oliver's vehicle. Erickson prepared an affidavit in support of a warrant that contained the information about his initial observation of Oliver's vehicle, the traffic stop, his investigation of the area, and Oliver's prior burglary convictions. The affidavit was presented to a magistrate, who issued a warrant authorizing Erickson to search Oliver's vehicle. According to a facsimile machine time and date stamp on the search warrant, the warrant was transmitted at approximately 7:45 a.m. on December 1, 2002 nearly three hours and thirty minutes after the initial traffic stop of Oliver.

¶ 10 Based on the traffic stop and evidence seized in the search of Oliver's vehicle, he was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.² Oliver filed a motion to suppress, which the trial court denied. Thereafter, Oliver entered a conditional no contest plea, specifically reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. See State v. Sery, 758 P.2d 935, 937-40 (Utah Ct.App. 1988). Oliver appeals.

ISSUE AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 11 Oliver argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress. We review the trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress for correctness, without deference to the trial court's application of the law to the facts. See State v. Brake, 2004 UT 95, ¶ 15, 103 P.3d 699.

ANALYSIS

¶ 12 Oliver asserts that his detention violated the Fourth Amendment because Officer Erickson lacked reasonable, articulable suspicion to lawfully detain him for three and a half hours. Layton City responds that the lengthy detention was justified because the officers reasonably suspected that a crime had been or was about to be committed. We agree with Oliver that the three-and-a-half-hour detention was outside the bounds of constitutional reasonableness.³

¶ 13 The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." U.S. Const. amend. IV. "`[S]topping an automobile and detaining its occupants constitute a "seizure" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.'"⁴ State v. Lafond, 2003 UT App 101, ¶ 11, 68 P.3d 1043 (quoting Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 653, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979)). The Constitution does not forbid all searches and seizures, only unreasonable ones. See id. (citing Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 9, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968)).

¶ 14 The constitutionality of a search and seizure is determined by answering two questions: "(1) Was the police officer's action justified at its inception? and (2) Was the resulting detention reasonably related in scope to the circumstances that justified the interference in the first place?" State v. Lopez, 873 P.2d 1127, 1131-32 (Utah 1994) (quotations and citation omitted). Here, Oliver does not challenge the initial stop but rather the subsequent detention.⁵ We therefore move directly to examining the second prong.

¶ 15 It is well settled that "once a traffic stop is made, the detention must be temporary and last no longer than is necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop." Lafond, 2003 UT App 101 at ¶ 13, 68 P.3d 1043 (quotations and citations omitted). Moreover, the scope of the search must be "strictly tied to and justified by the circumstances which rendered its initiation permissible." Id. (quotations and citations omitted). Investigative detentions that detain the driver past a license and registration check must be supported by reasonable suspicion of more serious criminal activity. See id. "Reasonable suspicion means suspicion based on specific, articulable facts drawn from the totality of the circumstances facing the officer at the time of the stop." Id. Importantly, even if reasonable suspicion arises, the scope of the stop is still limited, see id., and officers must "diligently pursue[] a means of investigation that [is] likely to confirm or dispel their suspicions quickly, during which time it [is] necessary to detain the defendant," United States v. Sharpe, 470 U.S. 675, 686, 105 S.Ct. 1568, 84 L.Ed.2d 605 (1985).

¶ 16 This court, following the lead of the United States Supreme...