People v. Litchfield, 95SC331
| Decision Date | 03 June 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 95SC331,95SC331 |
| Citation | 918 P.2d 1099 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Petitioner/Cross-Respondent, v. George R. LITCHFIELD and James L. Bracket, Respondents/Cross-Petitioners. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Gale A. Norton, Attorney General, Stephen K. ErkenBrack, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Timothy M. Tymkovich, Solicitor General, John Daniel Dailey, Deputy Attorney General, Robert Mark Russel, First Assistant Attorney General, Robert M. Petrusak, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Enforcement Section, Denver, for Petitioner/Cross-Respondent.
John J. Mitchel, Montrose, for Respondent/Cross-Petitioner George T. Litchfield.
John Turner, Colorado Springs, for Respondent/Cross-Petitioner James L. Bracket.
We granted certiorari to review the court of appeals decision in People v. Litchfield, 902 P.2d 921 (Colo.App.1995), reversing the district court's denial of the defendants' motion to suppress evidence seized during a search of their rental car. The court of appeals held that the search was justified neither as a protective search nor as an inventory search under section 42-5-107, 17 C.R.S. (1995 Supp.). Although we employ different reasoning, we agree with the court of appeals that the search of the trunk of the defendants' car was unlawful. We therefore affirm and return the case to the court of appeals with directions to remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The defendants, James L. Bracket and George R. Litchfield, were charged with possessing marijuana with intent to sell pursuant to section 18-18-106, 8B C.R.S. (1990 Supp.) (repealed 1992). 1 After entering a plea of not guilty to the charge, the defendants filed separate motions to suppress all evidence seized during a search of the automobile in which they were traveling at the time. The district court held a combined hearing to consider the motions at which the following pertinent facts were established.
On May 13, 1991, at approximately 12:45 in the afternoon, Trooper Robert Keith Hoey of the Colorado State Patrol observed a red Thunderbird weaving on Colorado Highway 50 north of Montrose, Colorado. Trooper Hoey also noticed that the car had Florida license plates with the word "lease" on them. Hoey stopped the vehicle and approached the driver's side of the car where he encountered Bracket at the wheel.
Hoey asked Bracket for his license and the car rental papers. Bracket gave Hoey his license and a car rental contract. After inspecting the contract, Hoey noticed that the agreement was unsigned and was for a Mustang convertible. Bracket produced a second rental contract which listed the Thunderbird as the rental car. The vehicle identification number on the contract matched the vehicle identification number on the Thunderbird; however, this contract was also unsigned. In addition, Hoey noticed that a clause in the Thunderbird rental contract stated that the car could not be taken outside of Arizona or Nevada. The rental agreement was not due to expire for four days.
Hoey asked Litchfield, a passenger in the car at the time, for his license. After obtaining Litchfield's license, Hoey went back to his car to check both licenses on the police radio system. This check indicated that Bracket had a criminal history and that Litchfield did not. However, there were no outstanding warrants for either of them. In addition, the police had no record that the Thunderbird was a stolen vehicle. While in his car, Hoey requested backup from his supervisor and Sergeant Mitchell reported to the scene.
When Mitchell arrived he reviewed the unsigned rental agreements. He testified that because of the lack of a signature on the rental agreements, he suspected that the Thunderbird had been stolen. In addition, Mitchell explained that the fact that the car rental contract specified that the car could not be driven outside of Arizona and Nevada gave him "good and sufficient reason to believe that the occupants weren't rightfully in possession of the vehicle." Based on this information, Mitchell decided to seize the rental car pursuant to section 42-5-107, 17 C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), and transport it to the state patrol office. Mitchell planned to contact the rental car company from the state patrol office to determine whether Bracket and Litchfield had rightful possession.
Mitchell then approached the car and asked Bracket what he was doing in Colorado. Bracket explained that he was a "bowling alley salesman" and that he and Litchfield were traveling from Tucson to Denver visiting bowling alleys on business. Mitchell asked Bracket if he had any materials to substantiate his claim. Bracket gave Mitchell a business card but could not produce any catalogs or pamphlets regarding his business. Bracket had previously told Hoey that he and Litchfield were bowling alley repairmen.
Mitchell also asked Bracket about the two rental contracts. Bracket explained that he originally rented a red Mustang. Because the Mustang had a defective tire, Bracket returned it to the rental company and procured the Thunderbird in its place.
Mitchell informed Bracket and Litchfield of his decision to seize the car; however, he explained that they were not under arrest and were free to leave at any time. He told them that he would inventory the car and that if no guns were found, the two could drive the car to the police station. Litchfield and Bracket stepped out of the car while Mitchell conducted the search. Mitchell searched the passenger compartment and then opened the trunk of the car where he smelled and observed a bale of marijuana. Mitchell arrested Bracket and Litchfield.
In denying the defendants' motion to suppress, the district court ruled that the officers had good and sufficient reason to question rightful ownership of the car. Thus, the court found that section 42-5-107, 17 C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), authorized the seizure of the car. The court further found that the search of the vehicle was appropriate either as an inventory search or as a protective search for weapons.
After a trial to the bench, both Litchfield and Bracket were found guilty of possessing marijuana with intent to sell pursuant to section 18-18-106, 8B C.R.S. (1990 Supp.). Each was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in the department of corrections. Both defendants appealed their convictions to the Colorado Court of Appeals claiming that the district court erred in denying their motions to suppress. 2
The court of appeals reversed the district court's denial of the defendants' motions to suppress. 3 See People v. Litchfield, 902 P.2d 921, 924 (Colo.App.1995). The court of appeals held that the officers did not have a reasonable suspicion that the defendants had committed theft of rental property. Id. at 923. Therefore, the officers' investigatory stop of the defendants was unlawful and a protective search of the car pursuant to this stop was unwarranted. Id. at 924. In addition, the court of appeals held that the seizure of the car was not authorized under section 42-5-107, 17 C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), and the search was not an authorized inventory search under the regulations governing inventory searches in the Colorado State Patrol Manual of Policy, Rule and Procedure, Chapter 302.3(III). Litchfield, 902 P.2d at 924.
The prosecution petitioned this court for certiorari review of the court of appeals ruling. We granted certiorari to determine:
Whether the court of appeals erred in holding that state patrol officers lacked "good and sufficient" cause pursuant to section 42-5-107, 17 C.R.S. (1994 Supp.) [ 4] to temporarily seize and inventory defendants' rental car.
We hold that under the circumstances of this case in order to establish good and sufficient cause for the seizure pursuant to section 42-5-107, 17 C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), the prosecution must prove that at the time of the seizure, the officers had a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity had occurred or was about to take place. We further hold that the prosecution did prove such reasonable suspicion. However, the minimally intrusive search permissible under a reasonable suspicion standard would only have encompassed a protective weapons search of the passenger compartment of the vehicle and would not have extended such search to the vehicle's trunk. Therefore, we affirm the court of appeals and reverse the district court's denial of the defendants' motions to suppress. We return the case to the court of appeals with directions to remand the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Because the stop of a car implicates constitutional concerns regarding an individual's right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, we begin our analysis of the questions at issue in this case with an overview of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. See U.S. Const. Amends. IV, XIV; Colo. Const. Art. II, § 7. Generally, in order to make a formal arrest or to conduct a full-scale search of an individual, an officer must have a warrant or probable cause to believe that a crime has been or is being committed. People v. Melgosa, 753 P.2d 221, 225 (Colo.1988). The probable cause standard is designed to protect citizens from rash and unreasonable interferences with privacy while allowing officers flexibility in enforcing the law. Id.
Although probable cause is generally required, we have recognized that in certain circumstances involving limited intrusions into an individual's personal privacy or security, a diminished standard of "reasonable suspicion" may suffice. E.g., People v. Tate, 657 P.2d 955, 958 (Colo.1983); Stone v. People 174 Colo. 504, 509, 485 P.2d 495, 497 (1971). We have applied this reasonable suspicion standard in cases involving investigatory stops of automobiles. E.g., People v. George, 914 P.2d 367 (Colo. 1996); People v. Weston, ...
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