State v. Deherrera

• Decision Date: 02 July 1998
• Docket Number: No. 970229-CA,970229-CA
• Citation: 965 P.2d 501
• Parties: 346 Utah Adv. Rep. 36 STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Lisa DEHERRERA, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals

Page 501

965 P.2d 501

346 Utah Adv. Rep. 36

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Lisa DEHERRERA, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 970229-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

July 2, 1998.

Randall K. Spencer, Utah County Public Defender Ass'n, Provo, for Defendant-Appellant.

Jan Graham, Atty. Gen., and Kenneth A. Bronston, Asst. Atty. Gen., Criminal Appeals Div., Salt Lake City, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before WILKINS, Associate P.J., and BENCH and BILLINGS, JJ.

WILKINS, Associate Presiding Judge:

Defendant Lisa Deherrera appeals from a conviction for possession of methamphetamine, a third degree felony, in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 58-37-8(2)(a)(i) (Supp.1998). Defendant argues the trial court erred by concluding the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applied to admit evidence obtained in violation of the United States Constitution and a state statute during an administrative traffic checkpoint stop. We agree with defendant and conclude the good faith exception does not apply to the circumstances of this case. We therefore reverse the trial court's suppression ruling and remand for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

On June 15, 1992, the Utah County Attorney's Office submitted for approval to a Fourth Circuit Court judge a plan for conducting an administrative traffic checkpoint in Tibble Fork Canyon. That same day, the judge issued findings noting the conformity of the plan to the statutory requirements of section 77-23-104 of the Utah Code and an order authorizing the plan. See Utah Code Ann. § 77-23-104 (Supp.1992) (outlining statutory requirements for administrative traffic checkpoint).

Under the terms of the authorized plan, the traffic checkpoint was to run from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. from June 15, 1992, to September 30, 1992. All traffic running east and west would be stopped. The officers conducting the stop would inspect license plates, registration certificates, insurance cards, and compliance with seatbelt and child restraint requirements. They also would ask drivers if the drivers had been drinking or were impaired by controlled substances. In addition, the plan authorized officers to "visibly inspect the operation of required lights and other required exterior safety devices" and to "inspect for other apparent criminal On August 31, 1992, a Fourth Circuit Court judge authorized an amendment to the original Tibble Fork Canyon administrative traffic checkpoint plan. The amendment allowed the traffic checkpoint to continue running from September 1, 1992, to November 30, 1992, and added eight officers from the Department of Wildlife Resources to the previous roster of ninety-six officers. ¹

                activity."   Ninety-six law enforcement officers, listed by name and position in the authorized plan, could participate in the traffic checkpoint
                

Additional amendments expanded the Tibble Fork Canyon traffic checkpoint plan and authorized it to continue for almost four years. ² On December 2, 1992, another authorized amendment added seven Utah Highway Patrol officers to the checkpoint roster and allowed the checkpoint to continue running from December 1, 1992, to February 28, 1993. On May 26, 1993, a third amendment added three United States Forest Service Law Enforcement officers to the roster and allowed the checkpoint to run from June 1, 1993, to August 31, 1993. On July 7, 1994, a fourth amendment added seven new officers from various agencies to the roster and allowed the checkpoint to run from August 31, 1994, to August 31, 1995. The final amendment, authorized on May 26, 1995, again extended the checkpoint dates, allowing the checkpoint to run from May 26, 1995, to August 31, 1996. This final amendment also significantly increased the number of officers authorized to participate in the checkpoint. Rather than listing each officer by name, this final amendment simply allowed "[a]ll sworn and/or certified law enforcement officers" from the Utah County Sheriff's Office, the Utah Highway Patrol, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, the United States Forest Service, and the Utah State Parks and Recreation to participate in the checkpoint, stipulating only that the checkpoint supervisor be a sergeant, lieutenant, or captain of the Utah County Sheriff's Office.

On September 16, 1995, around 6:35 p.m., a deputy from the Utah County Sheriff's Office stopped defendant at the Tibble Fork Canyon traffic checkpoint. During the course of the stop, the deputy discovered that defendant did not have a valid driver's license and that she was driving an unregistered car. Because no one else in the car could legally drive the car, it was impounded.

Another deputy asked defendant to exit the car. Defendant appeared to the deputy to be very angry and upset. Because the Tibble Fork Canyon area is remote and because the deputy realized defendant and her friends would be waiting unsupervised until a ride was available, the deputy asked defendant if she had any weapons. Defendant replied that she did not have a knife. Defendant's answer made the deputy even more concerned for his safety, so he conducted a Terry frisk, see Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), which led to his discovery of methamphetamine on defendant's person.

Defendant was charged with possession or use of methamphetamine (Count I), unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, driving on a revoked driver's license, driving without insurance, and driving with expired registration. Defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges and moved to suppress the evidence.

The trial court concluded that the Tibble Fork Canyon administrative traffic checkpoint plan violated Utah law and the United States Constitution because it was overly broad. The court specifically stated three ways in which the plan violated Utah law and the Constitution. First, the duration of the traffic checkpoint was "entirely too long" and did not meet the intent of Utah law. See generally Utah Code Ann. § 77-23-104 (1995). Second, the plan violated the statute by not specifically including the names of the officers authorized to conduct the search. See id. § 77-23-104(2)(a)(v). Third, the plan's purpose and the instructions given to the officers at the roadblock both went beyond the statute's scope, see id. § 77-23- Nevertheless, the trial court determined the evidence should not be suppressed because, it concluded, the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applied to defendant's stop. Therefore, the trial court denied defendant's motion to suppress.

104(2), and violated the third criterion of the Sitz test. See Michigan Dep't of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444, 455, 110 S.Ct. 2481, 2488, 110 L.Ed.2d 412 (1990) (stating that third criterion of balancing test is "the degree of intrusion upon individual motorists who are briefly stopped"); see also Utah Code Ann. § 77-23-104(2)(b)(i), (ii). Regarding its last point, the trial court explained that roadblocks are ideally set up to check for drunk drivers, and "[b]y broadening the search the officers violate the third criterion of the Sitz test and the search conducted at the roadblock becomes too intrusive upon an individual's rights." Sitz, 496 U.S. at 455, 110 S.Ct. at 2488 (holding that administrative traffic checkpoint does not violate Fourth Amendment because checkpoint's narrow purpose is preventing drunken driving and system used to carry out checkpoint reasonably advances State's interest to prevent drunken driving); see also id. at 455-56, 110 S.Ct. at 2488 (Blackmun, J., concurring) (stressing number of tragedies caused by drunken driving in United States).

After the trial court denied her motion to suppress, defendant conditionally pleaded no contest to Count I, preserving for appeal the issues raised in her motion to suppress. See State v. Sery, 758 P.2d 935 (Utah Ct.App.1988). Defendant now appeals the trial court's application of the good faith exception and the resulting denial of her motion to suppress.

ISSUE AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

The trial court determined that the administrative traffic checkpoint plan under which the officers who stopped defendant were operating violated Utah Code Ann. § 77-23-104 (1995) and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. On appeal, both the State and defendant agree with the trial court that the plan violated Utah law and the Constitution. We therefore need not review whether the plan violated Utah law or the Constitution. Instead, the only issue we address on appeal is whether the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies to this case. Specifically, we address whether the good faith exception applies to admit evidence obtained after making a warrantless administrative traffic checkpoint stop, which was conducted pursuant to a judicially approved administrative traffic checkpoint plan that violated both Utah law and the United States Constitution. ³

Whether the good faith exception applies to an administrative traffic checkpoint stop under these circumstances is an issue of first impression in Utah. Resolution of this issue requires us to examine and interpret United States Supreme Court cases discussing the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule. Because appellate courts are in as good a position as trial courts to interpret case law, we consider the issue before us as presenting a question of law and therefore review the trial court's decision for correctness. See State v. Richardson, 843 P.2d 517, 518 (Utah Ct.App.1992); cf. Stevensen v. Goodson, 924 P.2d 339, 346 (Utah 1996).

ANALYSIS

In Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 34 S.Ct. 341, 58 L.Ed. 652 (1914), overruled in part by Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961), overruled in part by Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465, 96 S.Ct. 3037, 49 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1976), the United States Supreme Court held, for the first time, that " 'in a federal prosecution the Fourth Amendment barred the use of evidence secured through an illegal...