State v. Nelson, 25166.
Decision Date | 30 May 2000 |
Docket Number | No. 25166.,25166. |
Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Russell M. NELSON, Defendant-Respondent. |
Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Hon. Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Kenneth K. Jorgensen, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for appellant. Kenneth K. Jorgensen argued.
Fred R. Palmer, Sandpoint, for respondent.
The state appeals from the district court's order affirming the magistrate's granting of Russell M. Nelson's motion to suppress evidence. We reverse.
At just after midnight on July 6, 1997, three United States Forest Service officers were inspecting campgrounds in the Priest Lake Ranger District in Bonner County. The officers observed three vehicles drive up and stop in the middle of a single-lane road adjacent to the parking area where the officers had parked their two patrol vehicles.
The three vehicles had stopped in a single-file formation and had effectively blocked both the single-lane road and the entrance to the parking area. The occupants of the vehicles were "hollering and hooting." The officers walked from the parking area and contacted the drivers of the vehicles. Based upon their observations, the officers asked the drivers of the three vehicles to perform field sobriety tests. Because the parking area was too small to accommodate the three vehicles, they were not moved from the road. While in the process of conducting the field sobriety tests, a fourth vehicle approached on the road and the driver, on his own volition, stopped approximately thirty to forty yards behind the third vehicle. Because of the narrowness of the single-lane road, it was impossible for the fourth vehicle to pass the other three vehicles. The officers did not notice anything unusual about the fourth vehicle.
Approximately ten minutes after the fourth vehicle had arrived, one of the officers stepped behind the third vehicle and gestured for the fourth vehicle to pull forward. The gesture was accomplished by the wave of the officer's hand. The fourth vehicle complied by pulling to approximately fifteen to twenty yards behind the third vehicle. The officer then walked the remaining distance to meet the vehicle. The officer told the driver, through the vehicle's open window, that he and his fellow officers were investigating the group of three vehicles. The driver, who was later identified as Nelson, told the officer that he was enroute to a campground. The officer testified that he then noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. When asked whether he had been drinking, Nelson answered in the affirmative. Nelson also stated that he was coming from a nearby resort and that he had had three or four drinks. Based upon his observations, the officer then had Nelson exit his vehicle and perform field sobriety tests, which Nelson failed.
Nelson was charged with driving under the influence.1 Nelson filed a motion to suppress evidence. After a suppression hearing, the magistrate granted Nelson's motion on two alternative bases: (1) that the officer unlawfully seized Nelson within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment when the officer gestured for Nelson to pull his vehicle forward; and (2) that, based upon what the officer then discovered, the officer was unjustified in requiring Nelson to exit his vehicle and perform field sobriety tests. The state filed a motion for reconsideration, which was denied by the magistrate. The state then appealed to the district court, which affirmed the magistrate's granting of Nelson's motion to suppress. The state again appeals.
On review of a decision of the district court, rendered in its appellate capacity, we examine the record of the trial court independently of, but with due regard for, the district court's intermediate appellate decision. State v. Bowman, 124 Idaho 936, 939, 866 P.2d 193, 196 (Ct.App.1993). When a decision on a motion to suppress is challenged, we accept the trial court's findings of fact which were supported by substantial evidence, but we freely review the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found. State v. Atkinson, 128 Idaho 559, 561, 916 P.2d 1284, 1286 (Ct.App.1996).
The first issue presented for review on appeal is whether the magistrate erred in determining that the officer's gesture for Nelson to pull his car forward to talk to him constituted a seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.
115 L.Ed.2d at 398; State v. Zubizareta, 122 Idaho 823, 826, 839 P.2d 1237, 1240 (Ct.App.1992); State v. Osborne, 121 Idaho 520, 523, 826 P.2d 481, 484 (Ct.App.1991).
Because Nelson did not testify at the suppression hearing, the only evidence contained in the record regarding what Nelson may have seen after stopping on the single-lane road was elicited from the officer that ultimately motioned for Nelson to pull forward. According to the officer, Nelson would have observed three civilian vehicles parked in a single-file formation and three uniformed forest service officers administering field sobriety tests to two persons. The officer also testified that he gestured for Nelson to pull forward in order to inform him about what was going on in the road ahead of him. The officers did not yell out to Nelson, draw their...
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