State v. Locurto

• Decision Date: 02 March 1999
• Citation: 724 A.2d 234,157 N.J. 463
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dominick J. LOCURTO, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

724 A.2d 234

157 N.J. 463

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dominick J. LOCURTO, Defendant-Respondent.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued October 14, 1998.

Decided March 2, 1999.

Glenn Berman, Middlesex County Prosecutor, for plaintiff-appellant (Mr. Berman, attorney; Simon Louis Rosenbach, Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).

Howard S. Teitelbaum, East Brunswick, for defendant-respondent (Lynch, Teitelbaum & Geldhauser, attorneys).

John F. O'Hern, Deputy Attorney General, for amicus curiae, Attorney General of New Jersey (Peter Verniero, Attorney General, attorney).

The opinion of the Court was delivered by COLEMAN, J.

This appeal involves a conviction for driving while intoxicated (DWI). Both the East Brunswick Township Municipal Court and the Law Division found the testimony of the arresting police officer to be more credible than the testimony of defendant. The Appellate Division in a published opinion reversed the conviction after rejecting the lower courts' credibility determinations. 304 N.J.Super. 514, 701 A.2d 702 (1997). The primary issue before us is whether the Appellate Division exceeded the scope of its appellate review. We granted the State's petition for certification, 152 N.J. 365, 704 A.2d 1300 (1998), and now reverse.

I

On December 8, 1996, at 1:40 a.m., East Brunswick Police Officer John Napoli was on a special roving DWI patrol. While driving eastbound on Main Street in East Brunswick, Officer Napoli observed defendant's 1988 Toyota pick-up truck proceeding westbound on Main Street at "a high rate of speed." The posted speed limit was thirty-five miles per hour.

Officer Napoli made a U-turn and followed defendant on Main Street for about 100 yards attempting to catch defendant's vehicle. Defendant made a left turn on Emerson Street, and then a left turn on Matawan Road, causing the officer to momentarily lose sight of defendant's vehicle. Defendant was eventually stopped by Officer Napoli in Old Bridge Township. Officer Napoli issued defendant a summons for driving while intoxicated, in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, careless driving, in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-97, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle, in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-49.1. Officer Napoli did not issue defendant a summons for operating his vehicle in violation of any speeding laws, ostensibly because the careless driving charge was based on the alleged speeding.

On February 29, 1996, the East Brunswick Township Municipal Court denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence, such as his sobriety test results, obtained as the result of the vehicular stop. That decision was based on sworn testimony from both Officer Napoli and defendant. The officer testified that defendant was driving at a high rate of speed in excess of the posted speed limit; defendant testified that he was driving at the posted thirty-five miles per hour speed limit. The Municipal Court found the testimony of the police officer more credible than that of defendant for several reasons. It found that the absence of other traffic on the road at the time of the offense enhanced the officer's ability to make careful observations of defendant's vehicle. The court also found credible the officer's testimony that the short interval of time in which he lost sight of defendant's vehicle when defendant made the two left turns did not affect his certainty that the vehicle he stopped was the same one he initially observed speeding. The court also determined that the officer's observations of speeding provided him with a "reasonable, articulable rationale" for stopping defendant's vehicle, and thus, denied defendant's motion to suppress. Defendant was convicted on all the charges. For sentencing, the trial court merged the careless driving charge with the driving while intoxicated charge, suspended defendant's driver's license for two years, and imposed statutory penalties. The court granted defendant a conditional discharge on the drug conviction.

Defendant appealed to the Law Division where a trial de novo was conducted based on the record. The Law Division also denied defendant's suppression motion and found him guilty on all the charges. In arriving at its conclusions, the Law Division adopted the credibility findings made by the Municipal Court, stating:

The standard that applies in this case is whether or not Officer Napoli had an articulable reason, a reasonably articulable reason for stopping this vehicle.... Napoli concluded that ... based on his experience, which I believe he testified to be some ten years, that, in his opinion, the vehicle was traveling in excess of the speed limit, which he also testified was 35 miles per hour.

And he concluded that, based on his observations, after making the U-turn, he then continued to make observations of the vehicle. Granted, those observations were for a limited period of time. He did not pace the vehicle. He didn't have any type of radar apparatus. And he did not employ the use of any other electronic devices or assistance from other officers, in terms of determining what the speed of the vehicle was.

However, he had, in my mind, observed what he thought to be a violation of a motor vehicle ordinance or motor vehicle statute. And it was, on that basis, that he took actions that are set forth in his testimony, regarding the Lo[c]urto vehicle.

The Law Division also rejected defendant's contention that the officer's testimony that he was driving at a "high rate of speed" was insufficient to support a careless driving charge. The court found "the officer certainly could have issued a ticket for speeding,... [but] instead ... chose to issue a careless driving ticket." In making that determination, the Law Division emphasized the following findings made by the Municipal Court:

The way the [c]ourt proceeded was to listen to the testimony of Officer Napoli. Then the [c]ourt concluded that, although there was no testimony regarding the effects on other traffic, which is a viable and salient argument, the [c]ourt concluded that there was a potential danger, on the part of Mr. Lo[c]urto, based on what the [c]ourt found to be the credible testimony of Officer Napoli, regarding the speed with which the Lo[c]urto vehicle was traveling. Now [the municipal court] found that, as to the effects on the other traffic issue, that the lack of other traffic actually in the [c]ourt's mind, enhanced the credibility of the officer. Because Officer Napoli could not have stopped the wrong vehicle.

On defendant's appeal, the Appellate Division observed that the only issue before it was whether the officer had an articulable and reasonable suspicion that defendant was operating his automobile in violation of the speeding laws. 304 N.J.Super. at 517, 701 A.2d 702. The panel determined that the Municipal Court "made no factual findings" but simply "rejected defendant's assertion that an officer's testimony that a vehicle is traveling at a `high rate of speed' is too `vague, speculative, and arbitrary' to provide a reasonable and articulable suspicion that defendant was violating the law." Ibid. The court also found that "on the trial de novo to the Law Division, the judge made no findings," but simply "`accede[d] to' `the credibility findings of' the Municipal Court judge, which we find non-existent." Id. at 518, 701 A.2d 702. The court conducted a de novo review of the record and concluded that "the State did not carry its burden of proving that there was a reasonable basis for the stopping of defendant's vehicle" and reversed the decisions of the lower courts. Ibid.

In the process of reversing the lower courts, the Appellate Division substituted its own detailed analysis of Officer Napoli's testimony and made detailed mathematical calculations, describing the timing, distance, and investigation of his suspicion that defendant was speeding and operating his vehicle while intoxicated. Id. at 519-21, 701 A.2d 702. Based on that analysis, the court concluded that "a reasonable factfinder may only conclude that it is more likely that defendant's testimony is the more plausible explanation." Id. at 520, 701 A.2d 702. Consequently, the Appellate Division reversed the denial of defendant's suppression motion, and ordered the Law Division to enter an order suppressing the evidence and vacating defendant's convictions.

II

-A-

The State, through the Middlesex County Prosecutor, argues that the Appellate Division exceeded the scope of its appellate review when it failed to give deference to the factual findings made by the Municipal Court and the Law Division. The State also argues that the Appellate Division erred when it concluded that the Municipal Court was obligated to articulate for the record "the necessary observations of all the elements required for an assessment of credibility." Id. at 519, 701 A.2d 702. The Attorney General, as amicus curiae, joins in the issues and arguments advanced by the prosecutor. In addition, the Attorney General maintains that if a trial court fails either to make required detailed factual findings or provide a statement of reasons for its determinations, the appropriate procedure dictates that the matter be remanded to complete the record.

Defendant agrees with the disposition made by the Appellate Division and asks the Court to affirm.

-B-

The framework for defendant's challenge to the validity of the officer's stop of his motor vehicle is relevant to the disposition of this appeal. Defendant's challenge was in the form of a suppression motion, asserting that his vehicle was illegally stopped. Motions to suppress evidence seized without a warrant, such as the results of sobriety tests in DWI cases, are heard in the municipal courts. R. 7:5-2(a). Orders denying suppression are reviewable on appeal from an ensuing judgment of conviction. R. 7:5-2(c)(2). The rule is silent, however, concerning the standard judges must follow in making...