State v. Hankey
Decision Date | 08 September 2000 |
Docket Number | No. 25948.,25948. |
Citation | 134 Idaho 844,11 P.3d 40 |
Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Paul Albert HANKEY, Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Roger L. Williams, Sandpoint, for appellant.
Hon. Alan G. Lance, Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Rebekah A. Cude, Deputy Attorney General, argued.
Paul Albert Hankey (Hankey) appeals the judgment of conviction for a felony driving under the influence, Idaho Code §§ 18-8004 and 18-8005(7), arguing that the police obtained the evidence against him through an improper investigatory stop. The district court denied Hankey's motion to suppress the use of the evidence. Hankey entered a conditional plea of guilty, preserving the right to appeal the denial of the suppression motion. The Court of Appeals vacated the judgment of conviction, concluding that the State had not met its burden of establishing that the investigatory stop was based upon a reasonable articulable suspicion of criminal activity. This case is before the Court on the State's petition for review.
The background and prior proceedings were summarized in the Court of Appeals' decision:
The State filed a timely petition for review, which was granted by this Court.
THE OFFICER HAD A REASONABLE SUSPICION TO EFFECTUATE AN INVESTIGATORY STOP ON PAUL ALBERT HANKEY.
When reviewing a motion to suppress, this Court defers to the trial court's findings of fact unless the findings are clearly erroneous. State v. Reese, 132 Idaho 652, 653, 978 P.2d 212, 213 (1999) (citing State v. Medley, 127 Idaho 182, 185, 898 P.2d 1093, 1096 (1995)). But this Court may undertake a free review of the trial court's determination as to whether constitutional requirements have been satisfied in light of the facts found. State v. Harvill, 131 Idaho 720, 721, 963 P.2d 1157, 1158 (1998) (citing State v. Weber, 116 Idaho 449, 452, 776 P.2d 458, 461 (1989)). The facts of this case are undisputed. Therefore, this Court exercises free review of the legal effect of the facts.
The State argues that the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop the pickup based on his initial observations, together with the radio dispatch informing him that a "domestic" was in progress and his observations upon returning to the scene.
The Court explained the concept of an investigatory stop, also referred to as a Terry stop, in State v. Manthei, 130 Idaho 237, 239, 939 P.2d 556, 558 (1997)2:
[N]ot all seizures of the person need be justified by probable cause to arrest for a crime; a police officer may, in appropriate circumstances and in an appropriate manner, detain a person for purposes of investigating possible criminal behavior even though there is no probable cause to make an arrest. Terry, 392 U.S. at 22, 88 S.Ct. at 1880 . Such a seizure is justified under the Fourth Amendment if there is an articulable suspicion that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime .... Whether an officer had the requisite reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop is determined on the basis of the totality of the circumstances.
130 Idaho at 239, 939 P.2d at 558.
To justify an investigatory stop there must be "some objective manifestation that the person stopped is, or is about to be engaged in criminal activity." United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 417, 101 S.Ct. 690, 694, 66 L.Ed.2d 621, 628 (1981); Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); State v. DuValt, 131 Idaho 550, 552-53, 961 P.2d 641, 643-44 (1998). The officer's suspicion must be grounded on specific articulable facts and rational inferences that can be drawn therefrom. Terry, 392 U.S. at 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1879, 20 L.Ed.2d at 905; State v. Gallegos, 120 Idaho 894, 896-97, 821 P.2d 949, 951-52 (1991). An appellate court evaluates the validity of the stop by looking at the totality of the circumstances and then determines whether the detaining officer had a particularized objective basis for suspecting the particular person of criminal activity. Cortez, 449 U.S. at 417-18, 101 S.Ct. at 694-95, 66 L.Ed.2d at 628-293.
The threshold question in this case is the weight, if any, the anonymous information concerning a possible "domestic" should be given in evaluating the totality of the circumstances. In Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983), the Supreme Court considered the weight to be given an anonymous informant's tip and applied a totality of the circumstances analysis, requiring a balance assessment of the relative weight of all the "indicia of reliability." Gates, 462 U.S. at 235-36, 103 S.Ct. at 2330-31, 76 L.Ed.2d at 546. In Gates, the details of an anonymous informant's letter were corroborated by police observation. The Supreme Court reasoned that the inherently...
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