State v. Randolph

• Decision Date: 03 May 2002
• Docket Number: No. M2000-02293-SC-R11-CD.,M2000-02293-SC-R11-CD.
• Citation: 74 S.W.3d 330
• Parties: STATE of Tennessee v. Perry Thomas RANDOLPH.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

74 S.W.3d 330

STATE of Tennessee v. Perry Thomas RANDOLPH.

No. M2000-02293-SC-R11-CD.

Supreme Court of Tennessee, at Nashville.

May 3, 2002.

Charles L. Hardin, Cookeville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Perry Thomas Randolph.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General; William Edward Gibson, District Attorney General; and David Patterson, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION

E. RILEY ANDERSON, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which FRANK F. DROWOTA, III, C.J., and ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., JANICE M. HOLDER, and WILLIAM M. BARKER, JJ., joined.

We granted review to determine whether a "seizure" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, § 7 of the Tennessee Constitution occurs when a police officer activates the blue lights on his patrol car and orders a person to stop, but the person flees and does not submit to authority. The trial court suppressed evidence obtained from the defendant after determining that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion, supported by specific and articulable facts, that the defendant had committed a crime before seizing the defendant by activating his blue lights and ordering him to stop. The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that there was no seizure because the defendant fled and did not yield to the officer's show of authority and reversed the judgment.

After a thorough review of the record and the relevant authority, we hold that under the circumstances of this case, the defendant was seized when the officer activated the blue lights on his patrol car, ordered the defendant to stop, and pursued him for several blocks. Because the officer lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause to effect such a seizure, the evidence seized from the defendant was properly suppressed by the trial court. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals and reinstate the judgment of the trial court.

BACKGROUND

The defendant, Perry Thomas Randolph, was indicted on one count of theft, one count of burglary, one count of aggravated assault, and one count of resisting arrest. The defendant filed a motion to suppress the items seized from him at the time of his arrest. The evidence presented at the suppression hearing before the trial court is summarized below.

On April 27, 1998, at approximately 8:30 p.m., Officer Mitch Harrington of the Cookeville City Police Department, responded to a possible burglary in progress at Doc's Auto and Tire Store ("Doc's") located at the corner of First Street and Hickory Avenue in Cookeville, Tennessee.¹ Officer Harrington, who was positioned nine blocks away at 10th Street and Washington, drove to 7th Street and turned south onto Hickory Avenue. As Officer Harrington drove down Hickory past 6th Street, he noticed the defendant, Perry Thomas Randolph, about one and a half blocks away near 4th Street, riding a small, chrome-silver BMX-style bicycle north on Hickory toward him. The time was approximately 8:45 p.m. Officer Harrington stopped his car and radioed for a description of the suspect at Doc's, but he was told that a "white male" was the only description available.

Randolph reached 5th Street and rode through the intersection toward Officer Harrington, who activated the blue lights on his patrol car with the intent to stop and identify the defendant. As Randolph neared the patrol car, the officer rolled down the window and ordered him to stop. Officer Harrington testified that Randolph, who was within three feet of the officer's car, looked at him but kept riding. When Officer Harrington again asked Randolph to stop, he rode away faster.

Officer Harrington turned his car around, heading north on Hickory Avenue in pursuit of the defendant, who turned west onto 6th Street. As Officer Harrington turned onto 6th Street, he saw the defendant's bicycle in the middle of the road approximately 50 feet from the intersection and the defendant was standing in a ditch on the left side of the road. As Officer Harrington approached in his patrol car, Randolph began to pull up his shirt and eventually withdrew a shotgun from inside of his pants. Officer Harrington, who was approximately five feet away, stopped his car, withdrew his weapon, exited the car, and ordered Randolph to drop his weapon, which was pointed in an upward direction. Randolph tossed the shotgun and two boxes of ammunition into the grass and fled. Officer Harrington then went to his car to release the drug detection dog and when he turned around, Randolph was on the ground. After Randolph was arrested, it was discovered that the shotgun, the ammunition, and a phone found in his possession had been stolen from Doc's.

Officer Harrington testified at the suppression hearing that he was not looking for anyone while driving towards Doc's and that there was nothing to alert him that the defendant was involved in a crime. Officer Harrington testified that he stopped the defendant based on a hunch because the defendant was riding a bicycle around 8:45 p.m. away from the location where a possible burglary was reported, and because he also thought it was unusual for the defendant to ride a bicycle standing up. Officer Harrington stated that he activated his blue lights to identify himself as an officer and that he asked the defendant to stop so that he could identify him.

Following the suppression hearing, the trial court suppressed the evidence because Officer Harrington did not have reasonable suspicion, supported by specific and articulable facts, that a crime had been committed by Randolph when he activated the blue lights on his patrol car and ordered Randolph to stop. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the trial court's decision, finding that there was no seizure because the defendant did not stop or submit to the officer's show of authority.

We granted the defendant's application for permission to appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When evaluating the correctness of a trial court's ruling on a pretrial motion to suppress, an appellate court must uphold the trial court's findings of fact unless the evidence preponderates otherwise. State v. Odom, 928 S.W.2d 18, 23 (Tenn.1996); see also State v. Munn, 56 S.W.3d 486, 493 (Tenn.2001). Issues of credibility of witnesses, the weight and value of the evidence, and the resolution of conflicts in the evidence are matters entrusted to the trial judge. State v. Odom, 928 S.W.2d at 23. The prevailing party "is entitled to the strongest legitimate view of the evidence adduced at the suppression hearing as well as all reasonable and legitimate inferences that may be drawn from that evidence." Id.; see also State v. Binette, 33 S.W.3d 215, 217 (Tenn.2000). This Court, however, is not bound by the trial court's conclusions of law. State v Simpson, 968 S.W.2d 776, 779 (Tenn.1998). Where the issue before this Court is the application of law to undisputed facts, then review is de novo. State v. Daniel, 12 S.W.3d 420, 423 (Tenn.2000).

ANALYSIS

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides for "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures...." Similarly, article I, § 7 of the Tennessee Constitution states, "That the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions, from unreasonable searches and seizures...." The essence of the prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment is to "safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions of government officials." Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523, 528, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 1730, 18 L.Ed.2d 930 (1967); see also State v. Daniel, 12 S.W.3d at 424. Article I, § 7 is "identical in intent and purpose with the Fourth Amendment." Sneed v. State, 221 Tenn. 6, 423 S.W.2d 857, 860 (Tenn.1968); see also State v. Downey, 945 S.W.2d 102 (Tenn.1997).

According to both the Fourth Amendment and article I, § 7 of the Tennessee Constitution, "a warrantless search or seizure is presumed unreasonable, and evidence discovered as a result thereof is subject to suppression unless the State demonstrates that the search or seizure was conducted pursuant to one of the narrowly defined exceptions to the warrant requirement." State v. Yeargan, 958 S.W.2d 626, 629 (Tenn.1997) (citation omitted); see also State v. Binette, 33 S.W.3d at 218. One exception to the warrant requirement arises "when a police officer makes an investigatory stop based upon reasonable suspicion, supported by specific and articulable facts, that a criminal offense has been or is about to be committed." State v. Binette, 33 S.W.3d at 218; see also Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20-21, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1879, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).

In the present case, the defendant argues that he was illegally seized because Officer Harrington did not have reasonable suspicion, supported by specific and articulable facts, that he had committed a crime when the officer activated the blue lights on his patrol car and ordered him to stop. The State responds that the defendant was not "seized" upon the officer's activation of the patrol car's blue lights and order to stop, because the defendant did not stop or yield to the officer's show of authority as the United States Supreme Court has required in California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991). In reply, the defendant argues that this Court has never adopted and should reject the requirement of actual physical restraint or submission to a show of authority as a condition for a "seizure."

We initially note in this regard that when interpreting article I, § 7 of the Tennessee Constitution, this Court will generally depart from federal precedent only when "(1) adopting federal Fourth Amendment standards would require overruling ...