People v. Ferris

• Decision Date: 21 April 2014
• Docket Number: No. 4–13–0657.,4–13–0657.
• Citation: 9 N.E.3d 1126,2014 IL App (4th) 130657,381 Ill.Dec. 7
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Dustin P. FERRIS, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2014 IL App (4th) 130657

9 N.E.3d 1126

381 Ill.Dec. 7

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.Dustin P. FERRIS, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 4–13–0657.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

April 21, 2014.

Jeremy Richey, State's Attorney, of Sullivan (Patrick Delfino, David J. Robinson, and David E. Mannchen(argued), all of State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.

Jude M. Redwood(argued), of Redwood Law Office, of St. Joseph, for appellee.

OPINION

Presiding Justice APPLETONdelivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1The State charged defendant, Dustin P. Ferris, with unlawful possession of methamphetamine (720 ILCS 646/60(b)(5)(West 2012)).He moved to suppress the evidence against him.After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court granted his motion.The State filed a certificate of impairment and a notice of appeal.

¶ 2We defer to the material findings of fact the trial court made in its written decision because those findings are not clearly erroneous.SeePeople v. Luedemann,222 Ill.2d 530, 542, 306 Ill.Dec. 94, 857 N.E.2d 187(2006)(describing the dual standard of review applicable to a ruling on a motion for suppression).Therefore, we affirm the trial court's judgment.Indeed, the material facts appear to be undisputed.Given the material facts, we conclude, de novo, that suppressing the evidence in question was the legally correct decision.Seeid.

¶ 3 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 4 A. The Hearing on the Motion for Suppression(July 25, 2013)

¶ 5 1.The Testimony of Defendant

¶ 6 On February 15, 2013, defendant was driving a 2001 Lincoln automobile belonging to Mindy Deweese.He had the car keys with her permission.Deweese and Gretchen Biddle were his passengers.The purpose of the trip was to give a friend of his a ride from Paris, Illinois, to Decatur, Illinois.They arrived in Decatur and dropped off the friend.While in Decatur, defendant drove the car on at least one occasion when Deweese was not riding along.Deweese knew that defendant's clothing and other personal belongings, including his book bag, were in the trunk of the car.After dropping off the friend, the three of them—defendant, Deweese, and Biddle—headed back to Paris that same day.

¶ 7 Initially, defendant was also the driver on the way back, but his eyes became dry and itchy.He requested Biddle to take over driving, even though he knew she lacked a valid driver's license.He sat in the front passenger seat as she drove.

¶ 8 It was about 11:30 p.m., and they were traveling east on Illinois Route 32, when a police officer pulled them over a couple of miles from Lovington.The area of the traffic stop was a blacktop road, to the right of which was a shoulder 10 or 15 feet wide and then a slightly sloping grassy ditch.The police officer claimed Biddle had been speeding.

¶ 9 Upon learning that Biddle's driver's license had been revoked, the police officer arrested her for driving with a revoked driver's license.He requested defendant's permission to search the car.Defendant said no.The police officer also requested Deweese's permission to search the car.She said no.

¶ 10 At the police officer's request, defendant underwent some field sobriety tests to determine if he was fit to drive.The police officer concluded that defendant was unfit to drive, and he warned defendanthe would arrest him if he tried to do so.

¶ 11 Next, the police officer said he was going to perform an inventory search of the car before it was towed.Biddle's purse was on the front passenger floorboard, and during the inventory search, the police officer removed the purse from the car and put it in the squad car, even though defendant told him to leave the purse in the car and even though Biddle told him several times she wanted her purse left in the car.

¶ 12 After the inventory search, the police officer told defendant and Deweese they would have to come to the sheriff's office and wait for someone to pick them up.Defense counsel asked defendant:

“Q.You testified you had to go to the Sheriff's Department.Why did you say you had to go there?

A.He said we had to go there and wait for our friends to come get us.

Q.Is that what you wanted to do?

A.No.We wanted to wait at the car for somebody to come get us so we could take the car.”

A tow truck arrived and took away the car.The police took defendant, Deweese, and Biddle to the sheriff's office in Sullivan.

¶ 13Defendant or Deweese called a friend, Michael Evard, who finally arrived at the sheriff's office around dawn on February 16, 2013.Defendant testified:

“A.We went to the tow truck company to see if we could get the car.It wasn't open yet, so we went to a gas station.Somebody stated she knew where the tow truck company driver lived.We went there.He wasn't there.His wife called him and asked him about the car, and he said the police officer put a hold on the car and they weren't going to release it to us.

Q.So then what did you do?

A.So, I went back to Paris.”

¶ 14 2.The Testimony of Gretchen Biddle

¶ 15 When the police officer arrested Biddle, her purse was on the front floorboard of the Lincoln.She never requested the police officer to get her purse.Rather, she told him several times she wanted her purse left in the Lincoln with defendant.

¶ 16 3.The Testimony of Michael Evard

¶ 17 Evard was a friend of defendant and Biddle.Defendant telephoned him in Paris at about 1 a.m. on February 16, 2013, and asked him to come to Sullivan and pick him up at the sheriff's office.Evard brought along another licensed driver.It took some time to round up this extra driver and $117.50 for the towing fee, so it was dawn, approximately 6 a.m., when Evard arrived in Sullivan.

¶ 18 The Lincoln was in a building at Sullivan's Auto Body, across the street from the sheriff's office.Evard could see the car through a window of the building.By inquiring at a gas station, they found out where the tow truck driver was.They went to him and told him they wanted to pick up the car.He replied that was impossible because “there was a hold put on the car” and they“could not pick up the vehicle until the hold was off.”Consequently, they returned to Paris without the Lincoln.

¶ 19 4.The Testimony of Caleb Smith

¶ 20Caleb Smith was the Moultrie County deputy sheriff who pulled Biddle over.During Smith's testimony, the trial court admitted, without objection by defense counsel, a digital video disc (DVD), on which the traffic stop was recorded, as well as some documents Smith had prepared, namely, an “MCSO [ (Moultrie County Sheriff's Office) ]—Vehicle Tow Record” and a search affidavit.For the sake of simplicity, we will combine what Smith said in his search affidavit and what he said in his testimony.

¶ 21 At 12:14 a.m. on February 16, 2013, Smith was out in the country, monitoring the speed of vehicles going by on Illinois Route 32.A car went by, heading east, and the radar said it was traveling 70 miles per hour.The speed limit was 55 miles per hour.

¶ 22He turned on the emergency lights of his squad car and pulled the car over.It was a 2001 four-door Lincoln.When the car came to a stop, it was not completely pulled over onto the shoulder, although the shoulder was wide enough to accommodate the car.The car straddled the fog line.Three-quarters of the car was in the eastbound lane, with the squad car behind.The trial court asked Smith:

“Q.Is there some reason for safety you just didn't have them pull off the road?

A.No. I did not have them pull off.There is no reason.I was behind it with my emergency red and blues.

Q.Excuse me.So you were in the complete lane of traffic then, I assume?

A.That's correct.”

¶ 23 The dispatcher informed Smith that Mindy Deweese was the registered owner of the car and that her driver's license was suspended.

¶ 24 Smith walked up to the driver's side window, and the driver identified herself as Gretchen Biddle.She could not produce a driver's license; she claimed she had left it at home.Smith saw she had two passengers, defendant and Deweese.Smith remarked to the three occupants of the car that although they all were exposed to the same light, the pupils of the passengers' eyes looked contracted, whereas the pupils of Biddle's eyes looked normal.He asked the three of them if they had consumed any narcotics lately.All three answered no.

¶ 25 Smith requested Deweese's permission to search the car.She denied him permission to do so.

¶ 26 The dispatcher informed Smith that Biddle's driver's license had been revoked.Smith had Biddle get out of the car and perform some field sobriety tests, after which he decided not to arrest her for driving under the influence (DUI).He arrested her, however, for driving while her driver's license was revoked.He handcuffed her, put her in the back of the squad car, and returned to the Lincoln to speak with the two passengers.

¶ 27Defendant was the only occupant of the car with a valid driver's license, but having seen his contracted pupils, Smith had reservations about his fitness to drive.Defendant told him he had been driving earlier but that he had requested Biddle to take over driving because his eyes had been bothering him.Smith administered to defendant a battery of field sobriety tests and determined he was unfit to drive.Smith explained this to defendant, who then admitted taking a couple of Vicodin pills that morning and smoking cannabis a few hours earlier.

¶ 28 In the DVD, after administering the field sobriety tests to defendant, Smith tells defendant that, in his opinion, defendant is under the influence and is unfit to drive.Smith assures defendant that because he was not driving at the time of the traffic stop, he is not in any trouble.But Smith tells him he may not drive in his present condition.“So, we need to decide what you guys are going to do with this car,” Smith tells defendant.“We're going to have it towed,”defendant...