State v. Jackson, No. A05-2404 (Minn. App. 10/31/2006)
| Decision Date | 31 October 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. A05-2404.,A05-2404. |
| Parties | State of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Brian K. Jackson, Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Minnesota |
Appeal from the District Court, Becker County, File No. K2-04-941.
Mike Hatch, Attorney General, Thomas R. Ragatz, Assistant Attorney General, and Joseph Evans, Becker County Attorney, (for respondent).
John M. Stuart, State Public Defender, Jodie L. Carlson, Assistant Public Defender, (for appellant).
Considered and decided by Worke, Presiding Judge; Shumaker, Judge; and Stoneburner, Judge.
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
On appeal from conviction of first-degree DWI, appellant argues that the police officer who saw appellant's vehicle proceed through an intersection with its turn signal on without turning, and then followed the car and found it parked with two of its tires up on the curb did not have articulable suspicion to stop him. We affirm.
Appellant Brian Keith Jackson argues that the evidence against him should have been suppressed because the officer who stopped him did not have a reasonable articulable suspicion. When reviewing a pretrial order on a motion to suppress evidence, this court reviews the facts independently to determine whether, as a matter of law, the district court erred by suppressing or not suppressing the evidence. State v. Harris, 590 N.W.2d 90, 98 (Minn. 1999). In the absence of a factual dispute, whether the officer articulated an adequate basis for the stop is a question of law subject to de novo review. State v. Waddell, 655 N.W.2d 803, 809 (Minn. 2003).
An officer may conduct an investigatory stop and temporarily seize a person if the officer has a "particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity." State v. Pike, 551 N.W.2d 919, 921 (Minn. 1996) (quotation omitted). The officer's suspicion must be based on "specific and articulable facts that, along with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant the intrusion of a stop." State v. Richardson, 622 N.W.2d 823, 825 (Minn. 2001). Specific, articulable facts are those "that, by their nature, quality, repetition, or pattern become so unusual and suspicious that they support at least one inference of the possibility of criminal activity." State v. Schrupp, 625 N.W.2d 844, 847-48 (Minn. App. 2001), review denied (Minn. July 24, 2001).
Here, the officer had a reasonable articulable suspicion to stop appellant. The officer observed a vehicle traveling through an intersection with its turn signal on without turning. It was approximately 11:15 p.m. and the vehicle was traveling from the area where a bar is located. The officer followed the vehicle and found it parked with its right-side tires up on the curb. As appellant exited the vehicle, the officer pulled up, rolled down his window, and asked appellant to stop. Appellant stopped momentarily, but then fled on foot. After appellant was apprehended, the officer noticed an odor of an alcoholic beverage and marijuana coming from appellant, and observed that appellant's eyes were bloodshot and watery.
The fact that appellant was driving from the direction of a bar is relevant in establishing a reasonable suspicion. See Paulson v. Comm'r of Pub. Safety, 384 N.W.2d 244, 246 (Minn. App. 1986) (...
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