State v. Baxter

• Decision Date: 20 April 2007
• Docket Number: No. 32597.,32597.
• Citation: 144 Idaho 672,168 P.3d 1019
• Parties: STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Joseph Jackson BAXTER, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

168 P.3d 1019

144 Idaho 672

STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Joseph Jackson BAXTER, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 32597.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

April 20, 2007.

Rehearing Denied July 24, 2007.

Review Denied October 15, 2007.

Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender; Erik R. Lehtinen, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant.

Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Thomas Tharp, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent.

PERRY, Chief Judge.

Joseph Jackson Baxter appeals from his judgment of conviction for possession of a controlled substance and being a persistent violator. Specifically, Baxter challenges the district court's order denying his pre-trial motion to suppress evidence. For the reasons set forth below, we vacate his judgment of conviction.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE

Baxter was charged with possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine. I.C. § 37-2732(c). Baxter was also charged with being a persistent violator. I.C. § 19-2514. Baxter filed a motion to suppress the methamphetamine discovered in his wallet which led to his charge. The following facts were found pursuant to a hearing on the motion to suppress.

A bail recovery agent (the agent), was seeking J.H. because he forfeited a surety bond when failing to appear at a scheduled court date. As a result of J.H.'s failure to appear, a bench warrant had been issued for his arrest. The agent, believing she had seen J.H. in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, phoned the police and reported the vehicle's location so that J.H. could be arrested pursuant to the warrant. The agent was mistaken. The man she believed to be J.H. was actually Baxter. The agent was familiar with both J.H. and Baxter, and the men bore a close physical resemblance to one another.

Shortly thereafter, a police officer stopped the vehicle that Baxter was in based on the vehicle's description provided by the agent, as relayed to the officer from police dispatch. When the vehicle carrying Baxter came to a stop, the front passenger door opened. The officer, believing that the suspect would run, moved quickly to the door and asked Baxter to step out of the vehicle. Baxter complied, and the officer asked his name and whether he had any identification. In reply, Baxter gave the officer his correct name and stated he had no identification. The officer, still believing that Baxter was J.H. and lying to avoid arrest, informed Baxter he was not under arrest but that he would be detained until the officer could verify his identity.

The officer frisked Baxter for weapons. Shortly after beginning the frisk, the officer felt what he believed to be a wallet in Baxter's rear pocket. The officer asked Baxter if there was any identification in the wallet, and Baxter replied in the negative. The officer then asked if he could remove the wallet and check it for identification. The district court found that Baxter consented to the removal and search of the wallet. However, at the evidentiary hearing, Baxter denied having given such consent.

The officer handed the wallet to another officer who had just arrived to assist the detaining officer. The support officer discovered several baggies in the wallet that he suspected contained a controlled substance and were later confirmed to be methamphetamine. A social security card bearing Baxter's name was also found inside the wallet. Baxter was placed under arrest.

At some point, the agent, who had been nearby when Baxter was stopped, informed yet another officer at the scene, who was not involved with the stop and detention of Baxter, that she had misidentified Baxter as J.H. It was never established in the record whether this took place before or after the discovery of the methamphetamine and Baxter's consequent arrest. The detaining officer testified that he was unaware of Baxter's true identity until after Baxter was placed under arrest. The detaining officer also testified that no one spoke to him about Baxter's identity, other than Baxter himself, during the investigative detention. The district court made no finding of fact as to exactly when the agent informed the other officer of her mistake.

The district court found the testimony of the officers more credible than that of Baxter and the two witnesses who testified on his behalf. The district court noted that it reached this determination as a result of several assessments, among which were the perceived inconsistencies and exaggerations in the testimony of Baxter and his supporting witnesses, the appearance and demeanor of the witnesses, their prior felony convictions, and Baxter's motive to be untruthful. The district court concluded that the state had met its burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that both the detention and frisk of Baxter were based on reasonable suspicion. The district court went on to conclude the search of the wallet was reasonable due to Baxter's consent. The district court denied Baxter's motion to suppress.

After trial, Baxter was found guilty by a jury of possession of methamphetamine and being a persistent violator. The district court sentenced Baxter to a unified term of seven years, with a minimum period of incarceration of three years and six months. Baxter appeals.

II. ANALYSIS

On appeal, Baxter asserts the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress on three grounds. Baxter initially argues the investigative detention, while initially reasonable, was impermissibly long. Baxter next contends that the officer lacked the specific and articulable facts necessary to justify a frisk of his person for weapons. The state contends the frisk was justified as a search incident to arrest based on probable cause to arrest Baxter pursuant to the warrant. Baxter also argues that the district court erred in concluding that his testimony, and that of his witnesses, that he did not give consent for the search of his wallet was not as credible as the testimony of the officers.

The standard of review of a suppression motion is bifurcated. When a decision on a motion to suppress is challenged, we accept the trial court's findings of fact which are supported by substantial evidence, but we freely review the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found. State v. Atkinson, 128 Idaho 559, 561, 916 P.2d 1284, 1286 (Ct.App.1996). At a suppression hearing, the power to assess the credibility of witnesses, resolve factual conflicts, weigh evidence, and draw factual inferences is vested in the trial court. State v. Valdez-Molina, 127 Idaho 102, 106, 897 P.2d 993, 997 (1995); State v. Schevers, 132 Idaho 786, 789, 979 P.2d 659, 662 (Ct.App.1999).

A. Length of Initial Detention

The determination of whether an investigative detention is reasonable requires a dual inquiry — whether the officer's action was justified at its inception and whether it was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place. State v. Roe, 140 Idaho 176, 181, 90 P.3d 926, 931 (Ct.App.2004); State v. Parkinson, 135 Idaho 357, 361, 17 P.3d 301, 305 (Ct.App.2000). An investigative detention is permissible if it is based upon specific articulable facts which justify suspicion that the detained person is, has been, or is about to be engaged in criminal activity. State v. Sheldon, 139 Idaho 980, 983, 88 P.3d 1220, 1223 (Ct.App.2003). Such a detention must be temporary and last no longer than necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop. Roe, 140 Idaho at 181, 90 P.3d at 931; State v. Gutierrez, 137 Idaho 647, 651, 51 P.3d 461, 465 (Ct.App.2002). Where a person is detained, the scope of detention must be carefully tailored to its underlying justification. Roe, 140 Idaho at 181, 90 P.3d at 931; Parkinson, 135 Idaho at 361, 17 P.3d at 305. In this regard, a lawful detention can become unlawful if it is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete the mission which justified the initial detention. Muehler v. Mena, 544 U.S. 93, 101, 125 S.Ct. 1465, 1471, 161 L.Ed.2d 299, 308 (2005); Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405, 407, 125 S.Ct. 834, 836, 160 L.Ed.2d 842, 846 (2005). Furthermore, a detention that is lawful at its inception can violate the Fourth Amendment if its manner of execution unreasonably infringes on the detainee's constitutional rights. Caballes, 543 U.S. at 407, 125 S.Ct. at 836, 160 L.Ed.2d at 846.

Information from a citizen, relayed to officers via radio by a police dispatcher, may provide sufficient grounds for an officer to initiate an investigative detention. See State v. Etherington, 129 Idaho 463, 466-67, 926 P.2d 1310, 1313-14 (Ct.App. 1996). Where the information comes from a known citizen informant rather than an anonymous tipster, the citizen's disclosure of his or her identity, which carries the risk of accountability if the allegations turn out to be fabricated, is generally deemed adequate to show veracity and reliability. State v. Alexander, 138 Idaho 18, 24, 56 P.3d 780, 786 (Ct.App.2002). Officers may stop a person whom they reasonably believe to be the subject of an arrest warrant and may detain that person for the limited purpose of confirming his or her identity. See State v. Bromgard, 139 Idaho 375, 379, 79 P.3d 734, 738 (Ct.App. 2003).

Here, the officer was informed via dispatch that the agent, a known citizen, had alerted the police to the location of a man, J.H., who had a valid arrest warrant issued for him. Although the informant had misidentified Baxter as J.H., Baxter does not dispute that his stop and detention were valid at inception. Baxter concedes then, implicitly, that the officer was justified in detaining him for the purpose of establishing his identity. Baxter asserts, however, that the reasonable suspicion to detain him ceased to exist when the agent told the police that she had misidentified Baxter, mistaking him for J.H. Baxter argues that, once this information came to light, under the collective knowledge...