People v. Grenier

Decision Date06 March 2008
Docket NumberNo. 00CA1992.,00CA1992.
Citation200 P.3d 1062
PartiesThe PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Albert Peter GRENIER, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtColorado Court of Appeals

John W. Suthers, Attorney General, Katherine A. Hansen, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Douglas K. Wilson, Colorado State Public Defender, Ellen K. Eggleston, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant.

Opinion by Judge ROY.

Defendant, Albert Peter Grenier, appeals the judgment of conviction entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of first degree murder after deliberation, section 18-3-102(1)(a), C.R.S.2007, and abuse of a corpse, section 18-13-101, C.R.S.2007. We affirm.

On July 3, 1998, the victim's body was discovered under a bridge in Aurora, Colorado. The victim had been strangled, stabbed in the chest, and then sodomized following her death. On July 9, 1998, defendant was arrested in Florida for a traffic violation, and, upon a subsequent inventory search, the arresting officers found bloodstains and a bloodstained knife in the trunk of his vehicle. The arresting officers contacted Colorado authorities and subsequently questioned defendant concerning the victim's death.

During questioning, defendant initially denied involvement in the victim's death but later told the Florida authorities that he had picked up the victim, brought her to a hotel room, and had sex with her. Defendant further stated that following the sexual encounter, the victim tried to steal his wallet and during the resulting confrontation, he pushed her into a brick wall. Then, because the victim would not stop screaming, he first grabbed her by the throat and then slammed her against the wall until she was unconscious. He indicated that after slamming the victim into the wall there was a lot of blood and that she was gasping for breath. Defendant said he then felt he should "finish her off" and stabbed her two to three times and, following her death, he had sex with her.

Defendant entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity pursuant to section 16-8-101, C.R.S.2007, and underwent court-ordered competency and sanity evaluations at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo. Defendant was convicted as previously described and was sentenced to life in the Department of Corrections. This appeal followed.

I.

Defendant asserts that a prospective juror should have been removed for cause. We disagree.

Appellate review of a trial court's ruling on a challenge for cause to a prospective juror applies an abuse of discretion standard. Carrillo v. People, 974 P.2d 478, 485 (Colo.1999). A trial court is not required to excuse a juror sua sponte. People v. Coney, 98 P.3d 930, 934 (Colo.App.2004).

Here, a prospective juror made statements indicating that he doubted his ability to be fair and impartial. Defendant challenged the juror for cause. The trial court declined to excuse him at that time and indicated that it would further question the juror along with several other jurors.

The next day, the court questioned the other challenged jurors on their ability to be fair and impartial. The court stated, "I'm satisfied that they can follow the Court's instructions, put aside preconceived ideas in regards to not pleading guilty by reason of insanity, and the Court is not going to excuse them for cause." The juror at issue here was not, however, further questioned. Defendant did not renew his challenge for cause but instead used a peremptory challenge to excuse the juror.

We conclude that defendant abandoned his challenge for cause by failing to request that the trial court grant or deny it before exercising a peremptory challenge to excuse the juror. See People v. Cevallos-Acosta, 140 P.3d 116, 122 (Colo.App.2005).

II.

Defendant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motions to suppress which challenged the legality of evidence obtained as a result of the traffic stop and his arrest, as well as statements he made to the police. We disagree.

When reviewing a trial court's denial of a motion to suppress, we defer to its findings of fact, but review its conclusions of law de novo. People v. Garcia, 11 P.3d 449, 453 (Colo.2000); People v. Romero, 953 P.2d 550, 555 (Colo.1998).

A.

First, with regard to the legality of physical evidence obtained from defendant's vehicle by the two arresting officers, the officers observed the vehicle parked in violation of local ordinances in an area known for drug trafficking. After observing the vehicle pull away with an inoperable headlight, the officers stopped it. While behind the vehicle, both officers observed defendant reach his right hand over the rear of the front seat and drop a small black object. One officer asked defendant for his license, car registration, and insurance.

According to the officers, defendant appeared nervous, was sweating heavily, had shaking hands, and was breathing hard. When defendant opened his glove box, both officers observed a box of ammunition. One officer also observed a handgun on the floorboard where defendant had earlier dropped the black object. The officers arrested defendant for carrying a concealed firearm, placed him in the rear of a patrol car, advised him of his Miranda rights, and searched the passenger compartment of the vehicle incident to the arrest.

In their search, the officers initially smelled marijuana in the car and found a green pipe, which smelled like burnt marijuana. Based on the vehicle's location, and because there was no one to retrieve the car, the officers impounded the car and inventoried its contents, including the trunk, where one officer observed a knife with blood on it lying along the fender well. The other officer uncovered a gym bag containing ski masks, Mace, handcuffs, a baton, and other items. Both officers observed what appeared to be bloodstains inside the trunk.

1.

Defendant asserts that the initial stop was based on pretext because the officers saw him in front of a house known for drug-related activity, and, before stopping him, followed him for a number of blocks and ran a warrant check. At trial, an arresting officer testified that one of the reasons he stopped the car was to see if there was drug-related activity. These facts, without more, do not invalidate the initial stop.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article II, section 7 of the Colorado Constitution hold that the people shall be secure in their persons from unreasonable searches and seizures. A brief, investigatory stop does not violate this "reasonableness" standard where the stop is justified by a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the individual has or is engaged in criminal activity, and where the scope and character of the detention are reasonably related to its purpose. People v. Johnson, 865 P.2d 836, 838-39 (Colo.1994). Subjective intentions of an officer are irrelevant to a determination that he or she has reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop. Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 812-13, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 1774, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996); People v. Cherry, 119 P.3d 1081, 1083 (Colo.2005). Instead, specific, articulable facts and the rational inferences drawn from them are relevant to a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. Cherry, 119 P.3d at 1083.

Here, in evaluating defendant's challenge to the reasonableness of the initial stop, the court found that both officers had seen defendant's car parked in violation of a local ordinance and then observed the car drive away with only one operating headlight. The court concluded that this "is a circumstance under which an officer is entitled to stop and investigate as to whether a driver is violating the law by operating a vehicle without the appropriate number of headlights or having parked in an illegal fashion, and the stop was therefore properly made."

We agree with the trial court and conclude that the arresting officers had a reasonable suspicion sufficient to support an investigatory traffic stop.

2.

Defendant next asserts that the arresting officers conducted an unconstitutional warrantless search of his car's trunk. We disagree.

An inventory search of a vehicle lawfully impounded by law enforcement officials is a recognized exception to the warrant requirement if the search is conducted pursuant to routine procedures. People v. Gee, 33 P.3d 1252, 1254 (Colo.App.2001). An inventory search of the contents of the vehicle may be made by an officer who has validly taken a vehicle into custody. People v. Litchfield, 918 P.2d 1099, 1105 (Colo.1996). A decision to impound a motor vehicle will be upheld as long as that decision has been made according to standard criteria in a department's regulations. People v. Milligan, 77 P.3d 771, 776 (Colo.App.2003).

The department's regulations state:

Deputies are authorized by Florida law to tow and impound vehicles and/or equipment and property when necessary to provide for the safety and/or security of such vehicles and/or equipment and property as follows:

....

When the driver of a vehicle is taken into custody all reasonable efforts will be made to provide the vehicle driver with an alternative to towing the vehicle. The vehicle may be left unattended upon a public roadway, public parking lot, shopping center, etc., or upon the private property of a person other than the owner/operator of the vehicle, providing permission to leave [the] vehicle is signed.

(Emphasis added.)

Here, an arresting officer testified that it was routine procedure that every time the sole occupant of a car is arrested, and there is no alternative person to take the car, the car is impounded. Both arresting officers testified that at the time defendant was taken into custody, there was no one else available to take the car. In addition, a supervisor testified that the car could not be left unattended because, considering the...

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