State v. Nelson

• Decision Date: 18 May 2004
• Docket Number: No. 1 CA-CR 03-0469.,1 CA-CR 03-0469.
• Citation: 90 P.3d 206,208 Ariz. 5
• Parties: STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Trisha D. NELSON, Appellant.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

90 P.3d 206

208 Ariz. 5

STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Trisha D. NELSON, Appellant.

No. -0469.

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1, Department A.

May 18, 2004.

Terry Goddard, Attorney General, By Randall M. Howe, Chief Counsel, Criminal Appeals Section and Cari McConeghy-Harris, Assistant Attorney General, Phoenix, Attorneys for Appellee.

Richard D. Coffinger, Glendale, Attorney for Appellant.

OPINION

PORTLEY, Judge.

¶ 1 Trisha D. Nelson challenges the lawfulness of the traffic stop that led to her conviction for aggravated driving while under the influence. Specifically, she questions the authority of the officer who made the stop and claims that the trial court committed reversible error by denying her motion to suppress. We conclude that the trial court properly denied the motion to suppress and hold that an officer, employed by the governing body of an Indian tribe and certified by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, may conduct a brief stop and detention of a vehicle off the reservation, while engaged in the scope of employment. See Ariz.Rev.Stat. ("A.R.S.") § 13-3874(A) (2001).

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 During the early morning of February 2, 2003, a police dispatcher alerted officers of a possible drunk driver traveling northbound on Horne Road in Mesa, Arizona. While outside the reservation, an officer employed by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community observed a vehicle fitting the description, activated his overhead lights and siren, and initiated a stop. When the vehicle stopped, the officer approached the driver, Nelson, and requested her driver's license and registration. Within minutes, officers from the Mesa Police Department arrived and took control of the investigation. Subsequent testing revealed that Nelson's blood alcohol content was 0.184.

DISCUSSION

¶ 3 Nelson filed a motion to suppress arguing that the evidence seized was the result of an unlawful investigatory stop. See Ariz. R.Crim. P. 16.2. She alleged that the stop was unlawful because the officer was neither in "fresh/hot" pursuit nor cross-deputized by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office or the Mesa Police Department. State v. Gonzalez-Gutierrez, 187 Ariz. 116, 118, 927 P.2d 776, 778 (1996) ("[The] investigatory stop of a motor vehicle constitutes a seizure under the Fourth Amendment[.]"); Rodriguez v. Arellano, 194 Ariz. 211, 215, ¶ 12, 979 P.2d 539, 543 (App.1999) ("[A] defendant who establishes that evidence was seized pursuant to a warrantless search has satisfied the burden of going forward under [Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 16.2] and has triggered the State's burden of proving the lawfulness of the acquisition of the challenged evidence."). The State requested that the motion be denied because the officer was certified by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board ("AZ POST"). After a suppression hearing, the trial court denied the motion, finding that the AZ POST certification gave the officer statutory authority to initiate the stop.

¶ 4 Nelson renews her arguments on appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Article 6, Section 9, of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. §§ 12-120.21(A)(1) (2003), 13-4031 and 13-4033(A) (2001). "We review the trial court's ruling [on a motion to suppress] for a clear abuse of discretion, considering only the evidence presented at the suppression hearing. While we view this evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the trial court's ruling, we review de novo the court's legal conclusions." State v. Schinzel, 202 Ariz. 375, 378, ¶ 12, 45 P.3d 1224, 1227 (App.2002) (citations omitted). Here, the relevant facts are undisputed. The parties agree that the stop occurred outside the reservation by a law enforcement officer employed by a tribal governing body and certified by the AZ POST.

¶ 5 Generally, officers acting outside the territorial limits of the jurisdiction under which they hold office cannot officially stop or apprehend an offender. Russell G. Donaldson, Annotation, Validity, in State Criminal Trial, of Arrest Without Warrant by Identified Peace Officer Outside of Jurisdiction, When Not in Fresh Pursuit, 34 A.L.R.4th 328 (1984 & Supp.2003). Officers, however, may be authorized by statute to act. Id. at 333. This appeal focuses on the scope of authority granted by A.R.S. § 13-3874(A).

¶ 6 Section 13-3874(A) provides that:

While engaged in the conduct of his employment any Indian police officer who is appointed by the bureau of Indian affairs or the governing body of an Indian tribe as a law enforcement officer and who meets the qualifications and training standards adopted pursuant to § 41-1822 shall possess and exercise all law enforcement powers of peace officers in this state.

Citing numerous cases and legal treatises, Nelson contends that § 13-3874 does not "unambiguously grant an AZ POST certified Indian tribal police officer unlimited extra-territorial jurisdiction to make traffic stops of vehicles off the reservation when the officer is neither cross-deputized nor in `fresh' or `hot' pursuit." She further argues that the trial court "erroneously ruled that th[e] statute was unambiguous and therefore, ... refused to consider [her] arguments regarding the [statute's] legislative history[.]"

¶ 7 We review matters of statutory construction and interpretation, as questions of law, de novo. Ariz. Dep't of Revenue v. Dougherty, 200 Ariz. 515, 517, ¶ 7, 29 P.3d 862, 864 (2001). "[T]he best and most reliable index of a statute's meaning is its language and, when the language is clear and unequivocal, it is determinative of the statute's construction." Janson v. Christensen, 167 Ariz. 470, 471, 808 P.2d 1222, 1223 (1991). "Therefore, if we find no ambiguity in the statute's language, we must give effect to that language and we may not employ other rules of construction to interpret the provision." Id. "Only if the legislative intent is not clear from the statute do we consider other factors such as the statute's context, subject matter, historical context, effects and consequences, and spirit and purpose." Sanderson Lincoln Mercury, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 205 Ariz. 202, 205, ¶ 11, 68 P.3d 428, 431 (App.2003).

¶ 8 Without specifying the alleged ambiguity, Nelson baldly asserts that the statute is ambiguous. She writes, "Due to the ambiguity in A.R.S. § 13-3874, regarding the nature and extent of an Indian police officer's criminal jurisdiction off the reservation, courts may ascertain the legislative intent by looking to the statutory scheme as a whole, and the statute's context, subject matter, historical background, effects and consequences." She appears to argue that the phrase "shall possess and exercise all law enforcement powers of peace officers" is ambiguous.

¶ 9 "An ambiguity in a statute is `not simply that arising from the meaning of particular words, but includes such as may arise in respect to the general scope and meaning of a statute when all its provisions are examined.'" State v. Sweet, 143 Ariz. 266, 269, 693 P.2d 921, 924 (1985) (quoting 73 Am.Jur.2d Statutes § 195). "An ambiguity may also be found to exist where there is uncertainty as to the meaning of the terms of a statute." Sweet, 143 Ariz. at 269, 693 P.2d at 924. "Words and phrases in a statute are [ ] given their ordinary meaning unless it appears from the context of the statute or from that of the act of which the statute is a part that a different meaning is intended." State v. Takacs, 169 Ariz. 392, 397, 819 P.2d 978, 983 (App.1991).

¶ 10 Because well-informed individuals would not reasonably disagree as to the statute's meaning, Higginbottom v. State, 203 Ariz. 139, 142, ¶ 13, 51 P.3d 972, 975 (App.2002), we find no ambiguity. Under the express language of § 13-3874(A), an Indian police officer, while engaged in the conduct of his/her employment, "shall possess and exercise all law enforcement powers of peace officers in this state" if certain requirements are met. (Emphasis added.) The Indian police officer must be appointed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the governing body of an Indian tribe as a law enforcement officer and meet the qualifications and training standards adopted by the AZ POST. See A.R.S. §§ 13-3874(A), 41-1822 (2004) (authorizing the AZ POST to prescribe the minimum qualifications and training standards with respect to peace officer training and certification).

¶ 11 The AZ POST record accompanying the State's response indicates that the officer was, in fact, a sergeant employed by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community with active AZ POST certification. The record also states that the officer was in good standing and categorized as a full-authority peace officer. "`Full-authority peace officer' means a peace officer whose authority to enforce the laws of this state is not limited by [the AZ POST]." Ariz. Admin. Code ("A.A.C.") R13-4-101.¹

¶ 12 When "the legislature has clearly spoken on a matter within its domain, its word constitutes public policy on that subject and controls, assuming no constitutional impediments exist." Taylor v. Graham County Chamber of Commerce, 201 Ariz. 184, 191, ¶ 27, 33 P.3d 518, 525 (App.2001). Absent any ambiguity, we presume that the legislature has said what it means and apply the text of the statute as written. Hughes v. Jorgenson, 203 Ariz. 71, 73, ¶ 11, 50 P.3d 821, 823 (2002). In light of § 13-3874(A), we conclude that the trial court properly denied Nelson's motion to suppress. A law enforcement official employed by the governing body of an Indian tribe and certified by the AZ POST may conduct a brief stop and detention of a vehicle, in accordance with Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), outside the reservation, while engaged in the scope of employment.² See State v. Altieri, 191 Ariz. 1, 2,

¶ 8, 951 P.2d 866, 867 (1997) ("A law enforcement officer may stop a vehicle when there are objective facts...