State v. Chapman
| Decision Date | 16 June 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 19,525.,19,525. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of New Mexico |
| Parties | STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Skip T. CHAPMAN, Defendant-Appellant. |
Michael Kiernan, David G. Crum & Associates, Albuquerque, for Appellant.
Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, William McEuen, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, for Appellee.
Certiorari Denied, No. 25,832, June 16, 1999.
{1} Skip T. Chapman (Defendant) appeals the judgment and sentence entered after he pled guilty to one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In his conditional plea agreement, Defendant reserved the right to appeal the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence of methamphetamine obtained during the stop of an automobile in which he was a passenger. Defendant argues that the evidence was the tainted fruit of an earlier unlawful patdown search. In addition, Defendant argues that his consent to the search of his bag was not voluntary and that the deputy did not have the driver's consent to open the trunk of the car in order to search Defendant's bag. We affirm.
{2} This case involves two separate, but related searches. The first occurred on September 2, 1997. On that date, Deputy Greenlee observed Defendant driving without his seat belt fastened and pulled Defendant over. The deputy asked Defendant for his driver's license and registration. Defendant would not make eye contact with the deputy. When Defendant handed his driver's license to the deputy, Defendant's hand was shaking. The deputy then had Defendant exit his vehicle. Because the deputy noticed that Defendant was becoming increasingly nervous, he asked Defendant if he had any weapons. Defendant told the deputy that he did not have any weapons. Then, in a higher-pitched voice, and in a nervous and aggressive manner, Defendant asked "what this was all about." The deputy characterized Defendant's tone of voice and questioning at that point as hostile, nervous, and aggressive. The deputy then asked Defendant whether he had any drugs, drug paraphernalia, or needles on him. The deputy asked this because he was afraid of getting stuck with a dirty needle if he conducted a patdown search. With this question, Defendant's body began to shake. The deputy asked Defendant to place his hands on the car. Defendant complied, but his hands were shaking so furiously that he was unable to keep them steady. At this point, the deputy, who had no backup, became concerned about his own safety and decided to conduct a patdown search for weapons to protect himself. Although the deputy requested Defendant's consent for the patdown, Defendant never consented.
{3} During the patdown search for weapons, the deputy felt a small vial in one of Defendant's front pockets. The deputy recognized the shape of the vial immediately and without any manipulation. Based on his past experience and training, the deputy knew that this particular type of vial is commonly used to hold contraband, usually cocaine, methamphetamine, or heroin. The deputy then removed the vial from Defendant's pocket, identified the contents of the vial as methamphetamine, and arrested Defendant for possession of methamphetamine. As a consequence of this arrest, Defendant's car was impounded, pursuant to NMSA 1978, § 30-31-34(D) (1989).
{4} After being released on bond, Defendant and a friend, Ms. Morrison, drove to the car lot where Defendant's car was impounded. Defendant had received permission from the Chief Deputy to remove certain personal items from the vehicle, such as suitcases and clothing. The owner of the lot observed Defendant removing other items from the car, including the car's bra and dash mat. Believing that Defendant was not entitled to remove those other items, the lot owner called the Sheriff's Department and informed it that Defendant had taken the items from the car and that he was leaving the lot with Ms. Morrison in a bronze, older-model Oldsmobile.
{5} Deputy Elam had previously transported Defendant to the magistrate court for purposes of allowing Defendant to set bond on his charge of possession of methamphetamine incurred on September 2. After Deputy Elam received the lot owner's report, he testified that he did not seek a search warrant because he believed Defendant and his companion were headed back to Defendant's home state and would take the evidence outside the jurisdiction before he could obtain a search warrant. Deputy Elam and Chief Deputy Benavidez began to look for a car matching the description provided by the lot owner, and soon observed such a car with a female driver and male passenger. Neither the driver nor the passenger was wearing a seat belt, and Deputy Elam pulled them over to issue a citation for failure to wear a seat belt and, if appropriate, to investigate items removed from Defendant's vehicle. Once Deputy Elam approached the car, he recognized Defendant as someone he had transported one day earlier.
{6} When Deputy Elam asked the driver for her license and registration, she was shaking uncontrollably. Because of the driver's nervousness, Deputy Elam questioned her about her travel plans, about who owned the car she was driving, about what items she was responsible for in that car, and about the items taken from the impounded car. Deputy Elam asked the driver if she would consent to a search of the car, but she said that she could not give consent because the car did not belong to her.
{7} Deputy Elam then began questioning Defendant about the items taken from the impounded car. Defendant admitted that he had taken the bra and the dash mat, but also stated that he believed he was allowed to take those items because they were his personal property. Defendant also admitted that he had removed a bag from the impounded car. Deputy Elam explained to Defendant that he had only been given permission to remove personal property from the vehicle and told Defendant that he needed to recover the bra and dash mat because they belonged to the State. He explained to Defendant that once he recovered those items. Defendant would be "free to go." The deputy then asked Defendant for consent to search the car and Defendant's bag for those items. Defendant said that he did not believe the deputy needed to search the car; however, Defendant agreed to allow the deputy to search his bag. After giving his consent, Defendant got out of the car. Deputy Elam then asked where the bag was, and Defendant motioned toward the trunk with his arm, indicating that the bag was in the trunk.
{8} The driver initially refused to open the trunk and would not give the car keys to the deputy, even though Defendant told the driver that he had given the deputy permission to search his bag. When the deputy informed the driver that he would arrest her for interfering with his investigation, she handed the keys to the deputy, and he opened the trunk.
{9} Deputy Elam saw a rolled-up dash mat in the trunk. As he picked the dash mat up, a blue nylon bag fell out. The zipper of the nylon bag was open slightly and the deputy observed a clear plastic bag containing a substance that looked like methamphetamine. The deputy then drew his weapon and had Chief Deputy Benavidez arrest Defendant and the driver for possession of methamphetamine.
{10} Defendant filed two suppression motions. The first motion sought to suppress the evidence of methamphetamine discovered in the search on September 5, 1997. The second motion sought to suppress the vial of methamphetamine uncovered during the search on September 2, 1997. During the suppression hearing, the trial court viewed a videotape of the September 5 stop. Defendant has not made the videotape part of the record on appeal. After hearing the testimony, viewing the tape, and listening to the arguments of counsel, the trial court denied both motions. Defendant then entered a conditional plea agreement that reserved the right to appeal the denial of his first suppression motion. Defendant now appeals.
{11} Defendant raises three arguments for reversing the trial court's denial of his first suppression motion: (1) the trial court erred in concluding that the evidence obtained in the September 5 search was not the tainted fruit of an unlawful earlier search; (2) the trial court erred by finding that Defendant voluntarily consented to opening the trunk or to searching his bag; and (3) the trial court erred by finding that the deputy could open the trunk to search Defendant's bag without the driver's consent.
{12} We review the denial of a motion to suppress to determine "whether the law was correctly applied to the facts, viewing them in a manner most favorable to the prevailing party; all reasonable inferences in support of the court's decision will be indulged in, and all inferences or evidence to the contrary will be disregarded." State v. Boeglin, 100 N.M. 127, 132, 666 P.2d 1274, 1279 (Ct.App.1983). Under this standard of review, we are not bound by the trial court's ruling if it is based on an error of law. See id. Here, the trial court denied the motion to suppress, concluding that Defendant's Fourth Amendment rights were not violated. Because the trial court correctly applied the law to the facts, we affirm.
{13} Defendant argues that the evidence discovered on September 5 is inadmissible as tainted fruit of the poisonous tree because the Sheriff's Department would never have been looking for Defendant on that date had he not been unlawfully searched and had his car not been impounded on September 2. According to Defendant, the September 2 search was unlawful because the deputy's question about drugs and guns and the patdown search were impermissible when the deputy stopped Defendant for failing to wear a seat belt....
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