State v. Foster
| Decision Date | 21 February 1996 |
| Citation | 139 Or.App. 303,912 P.2d 377 |
| Parties | STATE of Oregon, Respondent, v. Robert Steven FOSTER, Appellant. CM94-20807; CA A86963. |
| Court | Oregon Court of Appeals |
David E. Groom, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant. With him on the brief was Sally L. Avera, Public Defender.
Paula Johnson Lawrence, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent. With her on the brief were Theodore R. Kulongoski, Attorney General, and Virginia L. Linder, Solicitor General.
Before RIGGS, P.J., and LANDAU and LEESON, JJ.
Defendant appeals from his conviction for possession of a controlled substance. ORS 475.992(4)(d). He assigns error to the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence discovered following a routine traffic stop. We reverse.
On June 4, 1994, at approximately 1:55 a.m., defendant was a passenger in a car driven by Thompson. Officer Skinner stopped the car because it did not have a rear license plate light. Thompson did not have a driver's license and told Skinner that defendant owned the car. Skinner subsequently learned from the police dispatcher that Thompson's driver's license was suspended and that there was a warrant out for her arrest for a parole or probation violation on an underlying conviction of possession of controlled substances. Based on that information, Skinner arrested Thompson and placed her in the back seat of his patrol car.
Skinner then went to the passenger side of the car and asked defendant to get out; defendant complied. Skinner asked defendant if there were any drugs in the car and defendant replied that there were not. Skinner asked for permission to search the car and defendant "just kinda nodded" and said "yes, go ahead." Skinner placed defendant in handcuffs, assuring him that he was not under arrest and that the handcuffs were merely for officer safety. Skinner searched the rear seat of the car. There he found and opened the duffel bag and inside found a coffee pot that had some "white stuff" in the bottom. He then found a cloth bag that contained several hypodermic needles, a spoon and cotton swabs, and plastic baggies that contained a white powdery substance. Skinner arrested defendant for possession of controlled substances.
Before trial, defendant moved to suppress the evidence discovered during the search of the car. The trial court found that Skinner asked for defendant's consent to search the car because he was aware of Thompson's drug conviction and, relying on our opinion in State v. Aguilar, 126 Or.App. 22, 867 P.2d 520 (1994), 1 denied defendant's motion to suppress. Following a trial on stipulated facts, defendant was found guilty of possessing a controlled substance.
On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred by not suppressing the evidence found during the search of his car, because once the traffic stop and the arrest of Thompson were complete, Skinner lacked authority to detain and question him further. The state agrees that the traffic stop ended with Thompson's arrest, but argues that "once an officer develops probable cause to arrest a suspect[,] ORS 810.410(3) no longer limits the officer's actions" and that defendant's consent was valid because Skinner's knowledge of Thompson's drug conviction gave him an independent basis for requesting the search. The state's argument is undermined by the Supreme Court's decision in State v. Dominguez-Martinez, 321 Or. 206, 895 P.2d 306 (1995). 2
The court held that an officer may investigate only the infraction that gave rise to the stop, unless the state can identify some independent basis to enlarge the scope of the investigation. Dominguez-Martinez, 321 Or. at 212, 895 P.2d 306. In the absence of an independent basis, once the investigation for the traffic infraction has ended an officer lacks authority under ORS 810.410...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Lantzsch
...his investigation and arrest of the driver, he contacted defendant and requested that he get out of the car. In State v. Foster, 139 Or.App. 303, 305, 912 P.2d 377, rev. den., 323 Or. 691, 920 P.2d 550 (1996), the defendant was a passenger a car that was lawfully stopped for driving without......
-
State v. Hadley
...that function. See State v. Aguilar, 139 Or.App. 175, 912 P.2d 379, rev. den. 323 Or. 265, 918 P.2d 846 (1996); State v. Foster, 139 Or.App. 303, 912 P.2d 377, rev. den. 323 Or. 691, 920 P.2d 550 (1996). 2 In Aguilar, the officer stopped the defendant for a traffic infraction and, thereafte......
-
State v. Herrera-Sorrosa
...in a vehicle whose driver was being questioned on a traffic offense, Dominguez-Martinez, 321 Or. 206, 895 P.2d 306, and State v. Foster, 139 Or.App. 303, 912 P.2d 377, rev. den. 323 Or. 691, 920 P.2d 550 (1996), precluded the officers from questioning or investigating defendant on any matte......
-
State v. Taylor
...when it discussed the statute, and our cases have applied the statute to drivers and passengers alike. See, e.g., State v. Foster, 139 Or.App. 303, 912 P.2d 377, rev. den. 323 Or. 691, 920 P.2d 550 (1996); State v. Bucholz, 114 Or.App. 624, 836 P.2d 180 We conclude that a police officer has......