State v. Lacasella, 02-225.

• Decision Date: 19 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. 02-225.,02-225.
• Citation: 60 P.3d 975,313 Mont. 185,2002 MT 326
• Court: Montana Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Gary LACASELLA, Defendant and Appellant.

60 P.3d 975

313 Mont. 185

2002 MT 326

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Gary LACASELLA, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 02-225.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs August 29, 2002.

Decided December 19, 2002.

For Appellant: Mark E. Jones, Attorney at Law, Missoula, Montana.

For Respondent: Hon. Mike McGrath, Attorney General; Pam Bucy, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, Fred Van Valkenburg, Missoula County Attorney, Missoula, Montana.

Justice TERRY N. TRIEWEILER delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 The Appellant, Gary Lacasella, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and driving with his license suspended in Missoula County Justice Court. He pled guilty to the charges and reserved the right to appeal the Justice Court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence, which he based on an allegation that the arresting officer had no particularized suspicion for stopping him. The District Court for the Fourth Judicial District in Missoula County denied his appeal and motion to suppress and returned his case to the Justice Court for sentencing. Lacasella appeals the District Court's ruling. We reverse the Order of the District Court.

¶ 2 The sole issue on appeal is whether the District Court erred when it denied Lacasella's motion to suppress evidence that he alleges was obtained following an illegal investigatory stop.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 3 At around 11:00 P.M., on February 18, 2001, Missoula County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Dominick was on routine patrol near Marvin's Bar when he observed a red Ford pick-up truck pull onto Highway 93. He noted that the vehicle appeared to have no front license plate and had a broken spare tire carrier. After following the vehicle onto westbound Interstate 90, he initiated an investigatory stop to determine if the vehicle was being driven on a state highway in violation of § 61-3-301, MCA, which requires that license plates be conspicuously displayed on both the front and rear of a vehicle.

¶ 4 The pick-up truck was being driven by Gary Lacasella. As Deputy Dominick approached the vehicle, Lacasella stepped out of the vehicle and appeared to be unsteady on his feet. Deputy Dominick informed Lacasella he had stopped him because he did not have a license plate on the front of his vehicle. At that time Lacasella showed Deputy Dominick his license plate, which was taped to the lower driver's side corner of his front windshield. Deputy Dominick explained that the license plate was required to be mounted on the front bumper of the vehicle. He observed that Lacasella smelled of alcohol, slurred his speech, appeared confused and had difficulty removing his driver's license from his wallet.

¶ 5 Deputy Dominick returned to his patrol car and performed a record check, which revealed that Lacasella's license had been revoked and he had two prior DUIs. Based upon his observations and the record check, he requested that Lacasella perform a field sobriety test. When Lacasella performed poorly, he was arrested for DUI and driving with a suspended or revoked license.

¶ 6 On February 20, 2001, Lacasella was charged with one count of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, third offense, in violation of § 61-8-401, MCA; and one count of driving while license suspended or revoked in violation of § 61-5-212, MCA. On June 29, 2001, Lacasella filed a motion to suppress all of the evidence that was gathered after the investigatory stop. He contended that the traffic stop was illegal because his license plate was properly displayed and that Deputy Dominick did not have particularized suspicion a crime had been or was being committed. The Justice of the Peace denied his motion and concluded that a plain reading of § 61-3-301, MCA, provided the necessary particularized suspicion because Lacasella's license plate was not attached to the front of his vehicle. On August 14, 2001, Lacasella pled guilty to the charges and he reserved the right to appeal the Justice Court's denial of his motion to suppress to the District Court.

¶ 7 Lacasella appealed to the Fourth Judicial District Court in Missoula County on October 22, 2001. He argued that § 61-3-301, MCA, does not mandate that a vehicle's front license plate be secured to the vehicle's front bumper. He maintained that the manner in which his license plate was displayed in the windshield of his truck satisfied the plain language of § 61-3-301, MCA. Therefore, he contended that Deputy Dominick's investigatory stop, which was based entirely on the lack of a license plate on the front bumper of his vehicle, was illegal.

¶ 8 On December 6, 2001, the parties stipulated that three pictures taken of the front of Lacasella's vehicle accurately reflected the manner in which the license plate had been located and taped to the window on the night Lacasella was stopped. Those pictures show that the license plate was secured with duct tape to the lower driver's side corner of the front windshield of Lacasella's truck. ¶ 9 On February 28, 2002, the District Court held that the inside of the front windshield of a pick-up truck did not constitute the "front" of the vehicle, and that the license plate was not "unobstructed from plain view" when displayed in the window of a vehicle because glare could prevent the license plate from being viewed at night. Furthermore, the court stated that even if Deputy Dominick had seen the plate in the window, he was permitted to make an investigatory stop to ensure the plate was "securely fastened" to the vehicle as required by the law. Consequently, the District Court denied Lacasella's motion to suppress and returned the case to the Justice Court for sentencing.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 10 Our standard of review of a district court's denial of a motion to suppress is whether the court's findings of fact are clearly erroneous and whether those facts were correctly applied as a matter of law. State v. Williams (1995), 273 Mont. 459, 462, 904 P.2d 1019, 1021. A court's findings are clearly erroneous if they are not supported by substantial evidence, the court has misapprehended the effect of the evidence, or our review of the record convinces us that a mistake has been committed. State v. Henderson, 1998 MT 233, ¶ 9, 291 Mont. 77, ¶ 9, 966 P.2d 137, ¶ 9. Interpretation and construction of a statute is a matter of law which we review to determine whether the district court's conclusions are correct. State v. Price, 2002 MT 150, ¶ 15, 310 Mont. 320, ¶ 15, 50 P.3d 530, ¶ 15 (citation omitted).

DISCUSSION

¶ 11 Did the District Court err when it denied Lacasella's motion to suppress evidence that he alleges was obtained following an illegal investigatory stop?

¶ 12 Lacasella contends that the District Court erred when it held that his license plate was not conspicuously displayed on the front of his vehicle pursuant to § 61-3-301, MCA, and concluded that Deputy Dominick had particularized suspicion that Lacasella was engaged in criminal conduct. He maintains that the manner in which his license plate was displayed complies with § 61-3-301, MCA; therefore, the stop was unlawful and all evidence gathered after the stop must be suppressed. He also challenges the District Court's conclusion that even if the plate was visible, Deputy Dominick could lawfully make an investigatory stop to determine whether the plate was securely fastened to the vehicle.

¶ 13 The State argues that Lacasella's license plate was not conspicuously displayed on the "front" of the vehicle because the inside of the windshield is in the center of the vehicle. Furthermore, the State argues that Deputy Dominick's inability to see the license plate is proof that the license plate was not in plain view at night. Therefore, Lacasella was in violation of the law and the stop was warranted. Alternatively, the State contends that Deputy Dominick had particularized suspicion to initiate a stop because he could not see the license plate displayed in Lacasella's window when he observed his vehicle pull onto Highway 93. Because the information relevant to determination of particularized suspicion is that information which is known to the officer at the time the stop is initiated, the State argues that Deputy Dominick lawfully stopped Lacasella to determine whether his vehicle was properly registered, and that the observations made while Deputy Dominick approached Lacasella broadened the scope of the stop to include particularized suspicion that Lacasella was driving under the influence of alcohol.

A. Section 61-3-301, MCA.

¶ 14 Whether particularized suspicion existed in this case first requires us to determine whether Deputy Dominick and the District Court correctly interpreted § 61-3-301, MCA. When interpreting statutes, this Court's only function is to give effect to the intent of the legislature. State v. McNally, 2002 MT 160, ¶ 19, 310 Mont. 396, ¶ 19, 50 P.3d 1080, ¶ 19 (citations omitted). Construction of a statute requires this Court "simply to ascertain and declare what is in terms or in substance contained therein, not to insert what has been omitted or omit what has been inserted." Section 1-2-101, MCA.

¶ 15 Section 61-3-301, MCA, provides:

a person may not operate a motor vehicle upon the public highways of Montana unless the vehicle is properly registered and has the proper number of plates conspicuously displayed, one on the front and one on the rear of the vehicle, each securely fastened to prevent it from swinging and unobstructed from plain view....

¶ 16 The purpose of requiring a license plate to be conspicuously displayed on the front and rear of a vehicle is to enable law enforcement officers to ascertain whether a vehicle that is approaching or being followed is properly registered. The State asks this Court to conclude that the "front" of a vehicle, as used in § 61-3-301, MCA, is limited to the front bumper and grill of a vehicle. However,...