State v. Ramos
| Decision Date | 03 April 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 22105.,22105. |
| Citation | 93 Haw. 502,6 P.3d 374 |
| Parties | STATE of Hawai`i, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Saul N. RAMOS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Hawaii Court of Appeals |
Alexa D.M. Fujise, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu, on the briefs, for plaintiff-appellee.
Jacob M. Merrill, on the briefs, Honolulu, for defendant-appellant.
Defendant-Appellant Saul N. Ramos (Ramos) was convicted after a jury trial of violating Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 712-1243, promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree,1 and sentenced to a five-year indeterminate term of imprisonment with a mandatory minimum term of two-and-one-half years.
Ramos now appeals the first circuit court's November 9, 1998 judgment, conviction and sentence, asserting that the trial court should have granted his pretrial motion to suppress evidence. We agree.
On Saturday, July 19, 1997, at 4:16 p.m., Officer Raphael Aguilar Hood (Officer Hood) received a radio dispatch to investigate a report of a male with a knife chasing another male at a Chevron gas station on the corner of North King Street and Robello Lane.
The male with the knife was described as skinny, wearing black shorts and a blue shirt. The other male was described as Portuguese, in his late twenties, heavy-set and wearing a white tank top.2
When Officer Hood arrived on the scene at 4:23 p.m., he saw a male who closely fit the description of the male with the knife, as well as another male, a woman in a wheelchair and a silver car.
Officer Hood noticed that the male fitting the description of the man with the knife, Ramos, was "acting funny" and "sweating a lot." When Officer Hood got out of his vehicle, Ramos rapidly approached him with his hands in his pockets. Ramos was moving his hands in his pockets, which made Officer Hood nervous.
Officer Hood immediately informed Ramos that he was investigating a report of a man with a knife, and asked Ramos to take his hands out of his pockets. Ramos failed to comply, and continued to rapidly approach Officer Hood. Officer Hood then grabbed both of Ramos' wrists, turned him around and pinned him against the police vehicle.
At this time, Officer Hood noticed that Ramos smelled of alcohol and that his eyes were red. Officer Hood again explained what he was investigating and why he needed to see Ramos' hands. Ramos still refused to remove his hands from his pockets, so Officer Hood placed him on the ground, took Ramos' hands out of his pockets and handcuffed him behind his back.
Officer Hood then did a pat down of Ramos to check for a knife. The pat down lasted for about five to six seconds. Officer Hood did not feel anything in Ramos' pockets.
While handcuffed, Ramos continued to argue and struggle.
Sergeant Costa (Sgt.Costa) arrived on the scene shortly after Officer Hood. Sgt. Costa saw Officer Hood with a male loosely fitting the dispatch description of the knife-wielding suspect. Sgt. Costa testified that the male was thin, wearing dark shorts and a black shirt. Sgt. Costa also saw a heavy-set man standing near a silver car, who was later identified as Eric Kobayashi (Kobayashi).
Sgt. Costa watched Officer Hood take Ramos to the ground and handcuff him. Sgt. Costa also noticed that Ramos was argumentative and that his eyes were red, bloodshot and glassy.
Sgt. Costa asked Kobayashi if there was a knife involved. Kobayashi said no knife was involved. Kobayashi insisted that everything was all right.
Sgt. Costa ran the license plate of the silver car and found that Kobayashi was the registered owner. After obtaining Kobayashi's consent, Sgt. Costa searched the silver car for a knife but did not find one. Sgt. Costa also made a "cursory" search of the grounds of the Chevron station. He talked to the Chevron mini-mart clerk, who said she had seen nothing. Sgt. Costa testified that other officers who had arrived on the scene may have helped by searching the grounds and interviewing other possible witnesses.
By this time, Sgt. Costa had determined that Kobayashi and Ramos had had an argument, but that no knife was involved. Sgt. Costa testified, but was not certain, that Kobayashi may have identified Ramos as "Saul Ramos" during the investigation.
Having found no weapon, and observing Ramos to be calm, Sgt. Costa ordered Officer Hood to remove the handcuffs. Ramos had apparently been sitting handcuffed while the investigation proceeded.
Sgt. Costa testified that although no weapon had been found, the police had not completely ruled out the possibility of a knife. He testified from past experience that sometimes a weapon not found during a preliminary search turns up later.
Sgt. Costa estimated that his investigation, up until removal of the handcuffs, lasted between ten and eighteen minutes.
Officer Hood removed the handcuffs and upon Sgt. Costa's instructions asked Ramos for some identification. Ramos then "put his hand in his right-front pocket and kept it there for a long time." Ramos asked Officer Hood why he was "messing" with him, and told him that he was a good guy and wasn't doing anything.
Officer Hood observed that Ramos was shaking, sweating profusely, stammering, and moving both of his hands inside his pockets. This alarmed Officer Hood, who felt that his pat down of Ramos may not have been thorough. Officer Hood felt that "there was something wrong with this guy."
When Ramos took his hand out of his right pocket, Officer Hood saw that he held a white envelope, folded in half and torn at the top. Through the torn opening, Officer Hood saw what appeared to be plastic ziploc bags of crystal methamphetamine. Officer Hood snatched the envelope from Ramos, who snatched it right back and threw it into the silver car.
The police officers asked Kobayashi if the envelope belonged to him. Kobayashi said no. With Kobayashi's permission, the envelope was recovered from where it landed between the two front seats of the car. The envelope contained seven packets of crystal methamphetamine, and eight other empty packets.
After establishing Ramos' identity, Sgt. Costa and Officer Hood ran a warrant check on him and then arrested him on two outstanding bench warrants.
On May 14, 1998, Ramos filed a motion to suppress the fifteen ziploc packets. Ramos argued that the warrantless seizure of the packets violated his rights under article I, section 7, of the Hawai`i State Constitution and the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
The trial court entered its findings of fact (FsOF) and conclusions of law (CsOL) denying Ramos' motion on July 14, 1998.
On July 31, 1998, a jury found Ramos guilty as charged. On November 9, 1998, the trial court entered its judgment, convicting Ramos of promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree and sentencing him to a five-year indeterminate term of imprisonment with a mandatory minimum term of two-and-one-half years.
On appeal, Ramos argues that the trial court should have granted his motion to suppress, claiming that reasonable suspicion of criminal activity dissipated when no knife and no complainant turned up. Ramos maintains that any subsequent detention was unlawful and any evidence uncovered as a result must be suppressed.
Specifically, Ramos contends the trial court made the following erroneous FsOF and CsOL:
With respect to FOF 4, Ramos challenges the trial court's characterization of the investigation as "quick."
We apply the following standard in reviewing a trial court's denial of a motion to suppress evidence:
Appellate review of factual determinations made by the trial court deciding pretrial motions in a criminal case is governed by the clearly erroneous standard. A finding of fact is clearly erroneous when (1) the record lacks substantial evidence to support the finding, or (2) despite substantial evidence in support of the finding, the appellate court is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. The circuit court's conclusions of law are reviewed under the right/wrong standard. Furthermore ... the proponent of a motion to suppress has the burden of establishing not only that the evidence sought to be excluded was unlawfully secured, but also, that his own Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the search and seizure sought to be challenged. The proponent of the motion to suppress must satisfy this burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence.
State v. Balberdi, 90 Hawai`i 16, 20-21, 975 P.2d 773, 777-78 (App.1999) (citing State v. Anderson, 84 Hawai`i 462, 466-67, 935 P.2d 1007, 1011-12 (1997)).
We review a ruling on a motion to suppress de novo in order to determine whether it was right or wrong as a matter of law. State v. Kauhi, 86 Hawai`i 195, 197, 948 P.2d 1036, 1038 (1997).
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and...
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