State v. Covington

• Decision Date: 10 February 2011
• Docket Number: 28392-5-III
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. JOSEPH R. COVINGTON, Appellant.

STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. JOSEPH R. COVINGTON, Appellant.

No. 28392-5-III

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3

February 10, 2011

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Siddoway, Judge

Joseph R. Covington appeals his conviction of possession of a controlled substance following a stipulated facts bench trial. He argues that he should have been given Miranda^[1] warnings as soon as the arresting officer smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from his car following a stop for a traffic infraction, and that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress inculpatory statements he made before receiving those warnings. We agree with the trial court that the officer's limited communication with Mr. Covington prior to placing him under arrest was within the moderate scope of noncustodial pre-Miranda questioning permitted during an investigatory detention. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The facts leading to the drug charge against Mr. Covington are closely paraphrased from the court's unchallenged findings entered after a CrR 3.5/3.6 suppression hearing.^[2]

Deputy Jason Petrini was working patrol on April 9, 2008, in Spokane County when he clocked Mr. Covington's oncoming vehicle at 49 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone. The deputy made a U-turn, activated his overhead lights, and stopped Mr Covington on a side street. Mr. Covington was the sole occupant of the vehicle. Deputy Petrini asked for his license, registration, and proof of insurance. Mr. Covington admitted to speeding.

Deputy Petrini then smelled the odor of fresh unburned marijuana coming from the vehicle's interior. He has specific training and experience in detecting and distinguishing between the odor of fresh and burned marijuana, having smelled it between 500 and 600 times, and has made numerous arrests based upon his ability to detect the odor.

Upon sensing the marijuana odor, Deputy Petrini asked Mr Covington if he had any marijuana in his car and Mr Covington answered "no." Deputy Petrini said he could smell it. Report of Proceedings (Mar. 19, 2009) (RP) at 11. Mr. Covington then said he had recently smoked marijuana and that he had a bong under the driver's seat. At that point, Deputy Petrini arrested Mr. Covington for possession of a controlled substance and searched the vehicle incident to the arrest.

On the floorboard area of the driver's seat the deputy found a bong and packaged unburned marijuana. He then read Mr Covington his Miranda warnings. Mr. Covington admitted he intended to sell the marijuana. He was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

Prior to trial, Mr. Covington moved to suppress his inculpatory statements and the drug contraband seized in the search, arguing among other things that if the odor of marijuana was sufficient to detain him, then the deputy was required to give Mr. Covington Miranda warnings before asking him incriminating questions. He testified that after Deputy Petrini pulled him over, he did not feel free to leave and that he answered the deputy's questions because he felt obligated to do so. RP at 29.

The court concluded that the deputy's questions and search of Mr. Covington's vehicle were proper. It concluded that the initial traffic stop for speeding was valid, thus authorizing the deputy to detain Mr. Covington to ask for his license, registration, and proof of insurance, and to issue any infractions. It concluded that the traffic stop turned into an investigative detention under Terry^[3] when Deputy Petrini smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from the interior of Mr. Covington's vehicle, and the deputy was entitled to extend the detention to confirm or dispel reasonable suspicion of illegal activity. It concluded that Deputy Petrini's initial question whether Mr. Covington possessed marijuana was part of the Terry investigation for which Miranda warnings were not required.

The court concluded that there was probable cause for arrest in light of the deputy's smelling the odor of unburned marijuana, Mr. Covington's statements admitting recent marijuana use and possession of drug paraphernalia, and the fact that Mr. Covington was the vehicle's registered owner and sole occupant. The court denied Mr. Covington's motion to suppress.

Mr. Covington then stipulated to facts sufficient to support a conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. He admitted that three baggies containing what proved to be marijuana were seized from his vehicle, that the marijuana was his, and that "I was going to sell them to my friend." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 44-45 (Stipulated Facts 15, 16, and 22). He additionally stated that he is "just the middle man" and sells marijuana to his friends "to make a few dollars." CP at 44 (Stipulated Facts 18 and 19). He conceded that he was read his Miranda rights, that he understood those rights, and that he agreed to waive them and answer Deputy Petrini's questions. CP at 44 (Stipulated Fact 14).

The court found Mr. Covington guilty as charged based upon the stipulated facts. Mr. Covington appeals.

ANALYSIS

The sole issue on appeal is whether Deputy Petrini's questioning of Mr. Covington after smelling marijuana in a single-occupant car and having probable cause to arrest constituted custodial interrogation requiring Miranda warnings. Mr. Covington argues that it did and that it was legal error to deny his motion to suppress. The court's conclusions of law after a suppression hearing are reviewed de novo. See State v. Carter 151 Wn.2d 118, 125, 85 P.3d 887 (2004).

There is no dispute that the initial vehicle stop was a valid investigatory detention based upon Deputy Petrini's reasonable and articulable suspicion that Mr. Covington was committing a traffic infraction. Terry, 392 U.S. at 10 n.3; State v. Ladson, 138 Wn.2d 343, 349, 979 P.2d 833 (1999) (warrantless traffic stop justified if officer has reasonable and articulable suspicion that a traffic infraction is occurring). A person subject to a vehicular Terry stop "'is seized . . . "from the moment [a car stopped by the police comes] to a halt."'" State v. Marcum, 149 Wn.App. 894, 910, 205 P.3d 969 (2009) (alterations in original) (quoting Arizona v. Johnson, 555 U.S. __, 129 S.Ct. 781, 787, 172 L.Ed.2d 694 (2009) (quoting Brendlin v. California, 551 U.S. 249, 263, 127 S.Ct. 2400, 168 L.Ed.2d 132 (2007))). By definition, an individual subject to a Terry investigative detention is not "free to leave." State v. Kennedy, 107 Wn.2d 1, 4, 726 P.2d 445 (1986) (a stop, although less intrusive than an arrest, is nevertheless a seizure).

The unchallenged findings of fact further establish that the situation quickly ripened into probable cause for Deputy Petrini to arrest Mr. Covington for marijuana possession and search the vehicle incident to arrest. RCW 10.31.100(1) authorizes the police to arrest on probable cause to believe a person is possessing marijuana. Well settled case law also establishes that the police have probable cause to arrest the occupant of a vehicle for possession of a controlled substance when a trained officer detects the odor of a controlled substance emanating from the vehicle. State v. Wright, 155 Wn.App. 537, 553, 230 P.3d 1063 (citing, e.g., Marcum, 149 Wn.App. at 912; State v. Compton, 13 Wn.App. 863, 864-65, 538 P.2d 861 (1975)), review granted, 241 P.3d 413 (2010). The officer is then further authorized to conduct a warrantless search of the vehicle for the perceived drug evidence incident to the arrest. State v. Grande, 164 Wn.2d 135, 146, 187 P.3d 248 (2008); Wright, 155 Wn.App. at 553; Compton, 13 Wn.App. at 865-66.

But probable cause notwithstanding, state agents are not required to give Miranda warnings unless a suspect is subject to custodial interrogation. State v. Heritage, 152 Wn.2d 210, 214, 95 P.3d 345 (2004). We review whether a person was in custody for Miranda purposes de novo. State v. Lorenz, 152 Wn.2d 22, 36, 93 P.3d 133 (2004). The test is an objective one-whether a reasonable person in the suspect's position would have felt that his or her freedom was curtailed to the degree associated with a formal arrest. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 441-42, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984); see Heritage, 152 Wn.2d at 218. A routine Terry stop does not rise to the level of "custody" for purposes of Miranda. See Berkemer, 468 U.S. at 439-40; Heritage, 152 Wn.2d at 218. A "detaining officer may ask a moderate number of questions during a Terry stop to determine the identity of the suspect and to confirm or dispel the officer's suspicions without rendering the suspect 'in custody' for the purposes of Miranda." Heritage, 152 Wn.2d at 218. However, a suspect may be considered in custody for Miranda purposes if the officer engages in coercive or deceptive interrogation tactics. State v. Hensler, 109 Wn.2d 357, 362, 745 P.2d 34 (1987); see also State v. Walton, 67 Wn.App. 127, 130, 834 P.2d 624 (1992).

Here, the routine traffic stop extended to a marijuana investigation that quickly ripened into probable cause to arrest when the trained deputy smelled the odor of unburned marijuana emanating from the vehicle. Objectively viewed, the encounter was still a Terry stop that had not yet escalated to a custodial situation requiring Miranda warnings when the deputy's sensing of the marijuana odor was part and parcel of the initial contact.

Mr Covington argues otherwise, relying on State v. Bryan, 40 Wn.App. 366, 698 P.2d 1084 (1985) which in turn relied on State v. Dictato, 102 Wn.2d 277, 687 P.2d 172 (1984). Dictato held, and Bryan relied on its holding, that "[o]nce the police have probable cause to arrest a suspect, . . . delay in making the arrest cannot serve as an excuse for conducting interviews without Miranda warnings." D...