State v. Dawson
| Decision Date | 08 April 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 28406.,28406. |
| Citation | 205 P.3d 628 |
| Parties | STATE of Hawai`i, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Edward S. DAWSON, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Hawaii Court of Appeals |
Phyllis J. Hironaka, Deputy Public Defender, on the briefs, for Defendant-Appellant.
Brian R. Vincent, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu, on the briefs, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
A computer check for warrants revealed an outstanding warrant for Defendant-Appellant Edward S. Dawson (Dawson). Upon encountering Dawson, a police officer detained Dawson for a few minutes to confirm that the physical paper warrant was still in the files of law enforcement. During this detention, the officer observed Dawson remove a glass pipe, commonly used to smoke crystal methamphetamine, from Dawson's pocket and place it in a nearby package. Once the outstanding warrant was confirmed, Dawson was arrested on the outstanding warrant and for possession of the pipe. We hold that Dawson's detention was lawful and that the trial court properly denied Dawson's motion to suppress the pipe, which was found to contain methamphetamine.
Dawson appeals from the Judgment of Conviction and Sentence (Judgment) filed on January 17, 2007, in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (circuit court).1 Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawai`i (State) charged Dawson by complaint with 1) promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree, for possessing methamphetamine (Count I) and 2) possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia (Count II). The charges were based on the methamphetamine pipe observed by the officer while Dawson was detained and later recovered after Dawson's arrest. After a jury-waived trial based on stipulated evidence,2 the circuit court found Dawson guilty on both counts. The circuit court sentenced Dawson to five years of imprisonment on each count, to be served concurrently with each other and with a five-year term of imprisonment imposed in a separate case. The circuit court also imposed a one year mandatory minimum term on Count I based on Dawson's status as a repeat offender.
On appeal, Dawson argues that "[t]he existence of a `possible warrant' did not constitute reasonable suspicion enabling the police to detain Dawson, thus the lower court erred in denying Dawson's motion to suppress the pipe containing residue which the police observed during his illegal detention." For the reasons set forth below, we disagree with Dawson's argument and affirm the circuit court's Judgment.
Prior to trial, Dawson filed a motion to suppress evidence, seeking to suppress a three-inch glass pipe and .075 grams of white residue containing methamphetamine found within the pipe. Dawson alleged that this evidence was the fruit of a detention that was unlawful because it was not supported by reasonable suspicion. The following evidence is pertinent to our review of the circuit court's denial of Dawson's suppression motion.3
On October 14, 2005, around noon, Honolulu Police Department (HPD) dispatch directed officers to respond to 1421 Alapai Street to investigate the report of an outstanding stolen vehicle parked there. The address was that of an apartment complex referred to as Punchbowl Housing. Both HPD Officers Robyn Pacheco (Officer Pacheco) and Leo Kang (Officer Kang) responded to the call from dispatch.
While en route, Officer Kang asked dispatch to perform a warrant check on Edward Dawson. Officer Kang requested the warrant check because four or five months earlier, Officer Kang had participated in a car theft investigation in which Dawson was a suspect that involved the same 1421 Alapai Street address. Officer Kang knew that Dawson's girlfriend, Sandra Domingo (Domingo), lived in an apartment at that address. During the prior investigation, Officer Kang located a stolen truck in the parking lot at 1421 Alapai Street and then unsuccessfully chased after a man who ran from Domingo's apartment. When Officer Kang returned, the stolen truck was gone, and Domingo admitted that Dawson had taken the truck.
Officer Kang also recalled another incident in which he pulled over a van, apparently for expired registration and safety inspection certificates. Dawson, who had been driving the van, jumped out and ran away, and Domingo also emerged from the van.
After the stolen-truck incident, Officer Kang kept running Dawson's name in the HPD computers and frequently went back to the area in an attempt to find Dawson. Officer Kang noticed that there was a "possible warrant" for Dawson about two weeks before he requested that dispatch perform a warrant check in this case.4 Officer Kang testified that all his beat partners knew that Dawson was a car-theft suspect and that Officer Kang was looking for Dawson. Officer Kang acknowledged, however, that he did not state over the dispatch radio that Dawson was a car-theft suspect in connection with his request for the warrant check on October 14, 2005, while en route to 1421 Alapai Street.
Officer Pacheco was the first officer to arrive at 1421 Alapai Street. Officer Pacheco testified at the suppression hearing that prior to her arrival, she heard Officer Kang request a warrant check for "a previous UCPV[5] suspect" named Edward Dawson and heard dispatch state that Dawson had a "possible warrant."6 Officer Pacheco did not know what the "possible warrant" that dispatch had reported was for. Officer Pacheco had heard Dawson's name mentioned before that afternoon but had never seen Dawson before.
Upon arriving at 1421 Alapai Street, Officer Pacheco saw a vehicle matching the description of the stolen vehicle provided by dispatch parked in one of the stalls fronting the apartment complex. Officer Pacheco checked the vehicle's license plate and vehicle identification numbers and confirmed that the vehicle was the one reported stolen. Officer Pacheco then approached a man she saw standing outside one of the apartment units to see if he had any information that would aid her investigation. Officer Pacheco testified that when she approached the man, she did not know he was Dawson, she had no basis to suspect that the man was engaged in any criminal activity, and she did not consider the man to be a suspect in her investigation. She stated that the man could have been a witness or an innocent bystander.
Officer Pacheco asked the man for his name and he responded, "Eddie Dawson." Officer Pacheco immediately recognized that name from Officer Kang's warrant check request for Edward Dawson. Officer Pacheco asked dispatch to confirm the warrant for Dawson and told Dawson to sit down. According to Officer Pacheco, at that point, she detained Dawson to confirm the warrant and he was not free to leave. Officer Pacheco agreed with defense counsel's assertion that "by detaining Mr. Dawson, [she] suspended [her] investigation into the auto theft recovery case."
Officer Pacheco explained her understanding of the difference between a "possible warrant" and a "confirmed warrant." She testified that a possible warrant means that a computer search by HPD dispatch shows an outstanding warrant for the person. A warrant is confirmed when someone personally verifies that the physical paper warrant is still in the files located at HPD or the Sheriff's Department. Officer Pacheco testified in relevant part as follows:
Q. [Defense counsel] Now, what does it mean for someone to have a possible warrant?
A. [Officer Pacheco] That means that the dispatch shows the person has a warrant, but it needs to be confirmed.
Q. It means the person may or may not have a warrant?
A. No, it means that the person—it shows that the person has a warrant in their records, but we don't arrest until it's confirmed.
Q. And—
A. They need to make sure it's actually there.
Q. So let me understand. It means— your testimony says that it means they had a warrant at one time or another?
A. No, that means that right now there's a warrant for the arrest of the suspect.
....
Q. ... [I]n order to confirm the warrant, somebody actually has to go in and pull the piece of paper, pull a physical piece of paper?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And is it correct the physical warrant may be either with HPD or with the sheriff's department?
A. Yes, sir.
Q..... When an officer calls dispatch for a warrant check, the first thing that happens is dispatch pulls up potentially a possible warrant on the dispatcher's computer?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And then—I don't know, does the officer have to request a confirmation?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. All right. So the dispatch does not automatically ask for the confirmation?
A. Yes, sir.
....
Q..... When you call for the confirmation, dispatch has to have somebody go look for the paper warrant[?]
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And this person either finds it or they don't find it, and they relay that back to the dispatch?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And then dispatch comes back to you and says yes or no?
A. Yes, sir.
Officer Pacheco stated that she will detain persons for whom dispatch reports a possible warrant, but she will not handcuff them. She testified that it was HPD's standard procedure not to arrest someone based on the possible warrant revealed through the computer check, but only to arrest after the existence of the physical warrant was confirmed. Officer Pacheco had experienced the situation in which a possible warrant was not confirmed because the "hard copy" could not be found. Officer Pacheco acknowledged that possible reasons why a warrant would not be confirmed included the cancellation of the warrant and time lags between when a warrant is served and when it is removed from the computer system. Officer Pacheco stated that the time necessary to confirm a warrant varies—it could be fast or could take 15, 20, or 25 minutes. An officer requesting a warrant confirmation does not know in advance how long it will take.
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