State v. Knight, 90,904.
| Decision Date | 17 September 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 90,904.,90,904. |
| Parties | STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. PATRICIA M. KNIGHT, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Court of Appeals |
Heather Cessna, assistant appellate defender, for appellant.
Charles L. Rutter and Matt J. Maloney, assistant district attorneys, Nola Foulston, district attorney, and Phill Kline, attorney general, for appellee.
Before MARQUARDT, P.J., HILL and McANANY, JJ.
Patricia M. Knight appeals her conviction of illegal possession of pseudoephedrine. The central and decisive issue of this appeal is the propriety of the stop that led to Knight's arrest and this conviction. Finding neither a traffic infraction nor other reasonable suspicion that justified the stop of the vehicle occupied by Knight, we reverse.
A Wichita grocery store security guard observed a man purchasing two boxes of cold pills, a six-pack of bottled water, and table salt. Suspecting that these items were for the manufacture of methamphetamine, the security guard called the police.
Officer Wannow responded and observed the suspect, later identified as Eric Brooker, get into the driver's seat of an automobile parked in the grocery store parking lot. A few minutes later, two individuals, later identified as David and Patricia Knight, approached from the direction of the grocery store and entered the vehicle. Officer Wannow did not observe the Knights carrying anything.
The Brooker vehicle drove across the parking lot to the exit where it entered the adjoining public street without the use of any turn signal. Officer Wannow stopped Brooker's vehicle for the purported traffic violation of exiting from a private drive onto a public street without signaling a turn. This traffic stop lead to the ultimate discovery in the vehicle of various ingredients and equipment used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and to Knight's incriminating statements to the police. Knight was charged with illegal possession of pseudoephedrine. She filed a motion to suppress the seized evidence and her statements. The parties agreed to a consolidated hearing on Knight's motion and a bench trial.
The trial court found the stop of the vehicle was valid, there was probable cause to arrest Knight, the search of the vehicle was a lawful search incident to the arrest, and Knight's post-Miranda statements were admissible. Following the bench trial Knight was found guilty and was placed on probation for 12 months with an underlying prison term of 12 months.
There is no dispute regarding the facts established at the suppression hearing. Thus, the question whether the evidence should have been suppressed is a question of law over which we have unlimited review. State v. Boyd, 275 Kan. 271, 273, 64 P.3d 419 (2003). The pretext for Officer Wannow's stop of the Brooker vehicle was the violation of the City of Wichita Code No. 11.28.040(a), which states:
"(a) No person shall turn a...
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