People v. Weeams

• Decision Date: 27 June 1983
• Docket Number: No. 83SA58,83SA58
• Citation: 665 P.2d 619
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Charles WEEAMS, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 619

665 P.2d 619

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Charles WEEAMS, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 83SA58.

Supreme Court of Colorado En Banc.

June 27, 1983.

Robert R. Gallagher, Jr., Dist. Atty., Eighteenth Judicial Dist., Catherine DiSante, Deputy Dist. Atty., Littleton, for plaintiff-appellant.

David F. Vela, State Public Defender, Michael J. Heher, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, for defendant-appellee.

ERICKSON, Chief Justice.

In this interlocutory appeal, taken pursuant to C.A.R. 4.1, the prosecution seeks reversal of an order suppressing evidence seized at the time of the defendant's arrest, as well as a confession obtained when the defendant was questioned at the police station. We reverse the order suppressing the physical evidence and decline to consider the issue relating to the suppression of the defendant's confession.

I.

On August 23, 1982, Charles Weeams, the defendant, and Willie Frank Guffie were arrested for murder, attempted murder, and for two counts of armed robbery. At approximately 1:15 on the morning of August 23, 1982, the Aurora police received a call reporting an armed robbery at 1135 Florence Street. The report described the suspects as two black males, twenty-five to thirty years of age, approximately 5' 9"' tall, dressed in dark clothing, and wearing white tennis shoes. According to the radio report, the suspects were armed with a pistol, a sawed-off shotgun, and a .38 caliber revolver taken from one of the robbery victims.

At approximately 1:38 a.m., the Aurora police were notified of a second armed robbery at 1245 Emporia Street, two and one-half blocks from the first robbery. In the second criminal episode, one person was killed and another wounded. The suspects were again described in the police report as two black males.

At 1:46 a.m., Lieutenant Sloan entered the vicinity. While driving into the area where the crimes were committed, he observed only two other vehicles, each occupied by a single white male. After arriving at the crime scene, he saw a vehicle occupied by two black males in their twenties, wearing dark clothing. He followed their vehicle for several blocks without seeing any other vehicles. Sloan and Officer Huffman used their public address system and directed the vehicle to stop. The officers then called for backup assistance, a spotlight was put on the car, and the occupants were ordered to get out with their hands up. Guffie, the driver of the vehicle, got out and Lieutenant Sloan made a weapons search, requested identification, and asked for an explanation of his presence in the area. The responses to the questions were inconsistent and suspicious.

Upon the arrival of backup officers, the defendant, Charles Weeams, was ordered to get out of the vehicle, frisked for weapons, and handcuffed. Officer Huffman then checked the vehicle for further suspects and observed a sawed-off shotgun and a pistol in plain view on the back seat of the vehicle. The defendant was taken back to the patrol car and asked for identification. He replied that he had none. Officer Huffman inquired about a wallet in Weeams' back pocket. Weeams said that it did not belong to him. Officer Huffman removed the wallet and found a driver's license belonging to Nathan Nigon, a white male who was a victim of the second robbery.

Weeams and Guffie were then placed under arrest, informed of their Miranda rights, and taken to the Aurora jail for further questioning. During the interrogation of the suspects at the jail, Weeams waived his right to have counsel present and confessed to both crimes. While his confession was being taped, a public defender asked to see Weeams but his request was denied.

The defendant filed motions to suppress both the evidence seized at the scene of the arrest and the taped confession obtained during the interrogation. The trial court granted the defendant's motions on the ground that the evidence seized at the scene was the product of an arrest which was not supported by probable cause. The taped confession was also suppressed on the ground that it was the product of a denial of the defendant's right to counsel under section 16-3-402(3)(a), C.R.S.1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8 and 1982 Supp.).

Although the trial court recognized that the officers had a reasonable and articulable suspicion which justified the investigatory stop, the court concluded that Officer Huffman exceeded the permissible scope of the stop when he handcuffed the defendant. Accordingly, the court declared that an arrest occurred before the police had probable cause. In our view, the trial court erred in ruling that Huffman's actions at the time of the investigatory stop constituted an arrest.

II.

An investigatory stop is proper when (1) the officers conducting the stop have a reasonable suspicion that the individual has committed a crime; (2) the purpose of the detention is reasonable; and (3) the scope and character of the intrusion are reasonably related to its purpose. Stone v. People, 174 Colo. 504, 485 P.2d 495 (1971). The question presented here is whether Officers Sloan and Huffman conducted the investigatory stop in a manner reasonably related to its purpose.

Officers conducting an investigatory stop may use that amount of force which is reasonably related in scope and character to ensuring their safety during the period of detention. People v. Lewis, 659 P.2d 676 (Colo.1983). Although the precautionary measures taken in a particular case may lead a detainee to believe that he is not free to leave, this does not necessarily transform a stop into an arrest. People v. Lewis, supra; People v. Tate, 657 P.2d 955 (Colo.1983).

The critical inquiry is whether the officers' actions were reasonable under the circumstances. People v. Sherman, 197 Colo. 442, 593 P.2d 971 (1979). As the court stated in United States v. Merritt, 695 F.2d 1263, 1274 (10th Cir.1982):

"We should not ask whether the force used was so great as to render it an arrest but, instead, whether the force used was reasonable. Whenever the police confront an individual reasonably believed to present a serious and imminent danger to the safety of the police and public, they are justified in taking reasonable steps to reduce the risk that anyone will get hurt. They should not be constrained in their effort to reduce the risk of injury or death simply because the facts known to them create a reasonable suspicion, but do not rise to the level of probable cause."

The factual background in this case is more egregious than People v. Tooker, 198 Colo. 496, 601 P.2d 1388 (1979). In Tooker, we refused to approve an extended intrusion pursuant to an investigatory stop since no actual crime had been reported and no weapons were used or...