State v. Silva

• Decision Date: 08 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. 25217.,25217.
• Citation: 11 P.3d 44,134 Idaho 848
• Parties: STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Joseph O. SILVA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

11 P.3d 44

134 Idaho 848

STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Joseph O. SILVA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 25217.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

August 8, 2000.

Rehearing Denied September 25, 2000.

Michael J. Wood, Twin Falls, for appellant.

Hon. Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Kenneth K. Jorgensen, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Kenneth K. Jorgensen argued.

SCHWARTZMAN, Judge.

Joseph O. Silva appeals from his conviction for possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, challenging the district court's denial of his motion to suppress and refusal of his proposed jury instructions. We affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On February 26, 1998, shortly before 1:00 p.m., Twin Falls County Sheriff's Deputy Morgan Case observed a white Ford pickup truck traveling at seventy-five miles per hour in a fifty mile-per-hour zone. Case conducted a traffic stop and informed the driver, Joseph Silva, of the reason for the stop. Prior to approaching the truck, Case had not known that Silva was the driver. Case's view of the driver was hindered by the truck's tinted window glass and its height. After inquiring into whether Silva had any drugs or weapons in the truck, Case obtained Silva's driver's license, registration and proof of insurance and returned to his vehicle. There, he checked Silva's driver's status, inquired about outstanding warrants, and began writing out a citation for speeding.

Case had previously confronted Silva while investigating a domestic disturbance involving Silva. On that prior occasion, Case arrested Silva for obstructing and delaying an officer when Silva refused to speak to him about the domestic disturbance. After that incident, Case learned, through confidential informants, that Silva had made threats to kill him. As a result thereof, Case called for backup as a safety precaution.

Case then completed the citation for speeding. He next approached the rear of Silva's truck and asked Silva to step out and come to the rear of truck. Case, standing at the back of Silva's truck, took up a defensive posture but did not draw his service pistol or nightstick. Case spent about fifteen seconds explaining the citation to Silva, the amount of the fine, and how Silva could pay it. Then, without immediately serving the citation which was still in his hand, Case asked, in a conversational tone, "Do you mind if I take a look through your truck. Are you alright with that?" Silva immediately responded, "Yeah, go ahead."

At Case's direction, Silva walked over to another officer who patted Silva down for weapons. Case then placed the citation in his belt and looked inside the truck cab. Under the driver's side floor mat he found a broken plastic vial, parts of plastic bags and a powdery substance Case believed to be methamphetamine.

Case told Silva that he suspected the powder under the driver's side floor mat was methamphetamine. While awaiting the results of a field test conducted by another officer, Case engaged Silva in casual conversation, asking Silva if he was still running his auto body business in Buhl. Silva responded by stating that he had been having problems with his wife and that he had been using drugs.

The substance tested positive for methamphetamine. Silva was then arrested for, and charged with, possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine. Case recorded Silva's consent on his pocket microcassette recorder and recorded the complete traffic stop on video.

Silva filed a motion to suppress all the evidence, the drugs and his statements, on the ground that he was detained unlawfully and that the search was unreasonable under both the Idaho and federal constitutions. At the hearing on Silva's motion to suppress, Case testified to the above facts. Case also testified that, had Silva refused consent, he would not have detained him further.

Silva testified that he had previously been arrested by Case for obstructing an officer for refusing to talk with him during the investigation of a domestic disturbance. Silva stated that he consented to the search of his truck because he believed Case would arrest him for obstruction if he refused. Silva also said that Case had not told him he was free to go after discussing the traffic citation with him.

Counsel for Silva argued that Case's conduct in the past had made any future contacts with Silva inherently coercive, requiring an explanation that Silva was free to leave before asking for consent to search, and that Case's failure to do so required suppression of all the evidence and Silva's subsequent statements. Additionally, counsel argued that Silva's consent to Case's request to "look through" Silva's truck meant, literally, that Case had permission to look, not to search, inside the truck. The district court denied Silva's motion to suppress, ruling that Silva's consent was voluntary and his statements were not the product of custodial interrogation.

Thereafter the court orally amended its findings of fact to conform to the videotape which showed that Case had not served the traffic citation before asking Silva for consent to search his truck. The district court again ruled that Silva's consent was voluntary and Case's failure to serve the citation and return Silva's documents did not, alone, constitute an unlawful detention. Counsel for Silva asked the court to suppress Silva's statement about having problems with his wife and getting into drugs. The court took the matter under advisement.

Counsel for Silva filed a motion in limine seeking to have Silva's statement about using drugs declared irrelevant and inadmissible under I.R.E. 402 and 403. The trial court denied the motion, again ruling that the statements were admissible and not the result of custodial interrogation.

A jury trial was held. Silva submitted a proposed set of jury instructions, including a Holder, 100 Idaho 129, 594 P.2d 639 (1979) instruction and a constructive possession instruction. The district court rejected the Holder instruction as unnecessary and ruled that the question of constructive possession was covered by instructions # 17 and # 18. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine. At sentencing, the district court imposed a term of six years imprisonment with three years fixed. Sentence was suspended and Silva was placed on three years probation. Silva appeals.

II. THE DISTRICT COURT'S DENIAL OF SILVA'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS

A. Standard Of Review

In reviewing a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress, we employ a bifurcated standard. State v. Abeyta, 131 Idaho 704, 708, 963 P.2d 387, 391 (Ct.App.1998). We accept the trial court's findings of fact that are supported by substantial evidence and freely review the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found. Id. The determination of whether a search is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment is a question of law over which we exercise free review. State v. McIntee, 124 Idaho 803, 804, 864 P.2d 641, 642 (Ct.App.1993).

The lawfulness of a search is to be determined by the court, based upon an objective assessment of the circumstances which confronted the officer at the time of the search. See State v. Murphy, 129 Idaho 861, 863, 934 P.2d 34, 36 (Ct.App.1997)

; State v. Shepherd, 118 Idaho 121, 124, 795 P.2d 15, 18 (Ct.App. 1990.)

B. Analysis

Both Article 1, § 17 of the Idaho Constitution and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. Stopping an automobile and detaining its occupants constitutes a "seizure" even if the purpose of the stop is limited and the detention quite brief. Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 653-54, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 1395-96, 59 L.Ed.2d 660, 667-68 (1979); State v. Luna, 126 Idaho 235, 237, 880 P.2d 265, 267 (Ct.App.1994). An investigative stop must be justified by a reasonable suspicion, derived from specific articulable facts, that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime. Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 498, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1324, 75 L.Ed.2d 229, 236-37 (1983); United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 884, 95 S.Ct. 2574, 2581-82, 45 L.Ed.2d 607, 618 (1975); State v. Rawlings, 121 Idaho 930, 932, 829 P.2d 520, 522 (1992); State v. Fry, 122 Idaho 100, 103, 831 P.2d 942, 945 (Ct. App.1991). The investigative stop must be temporary and any "inquir[ies] must be `reasonably related in scope to the justification for their initiation.'" Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. at 881,95 S.Ct. 2574 at 2580,45 L.Ed.2d 607 at 616-617 (quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 29, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1884, 20 L.Ed.2d 889, 910-11 (1968); State v. Martinez, 129 Idaho 426, 430, 925 P.2d 1125, 1129 (Ct.App. 1996). Similarly, the investigative methods employed should be the least intrusive means reasonably available to verify or dispel the officer's suspicion in a short period of time. Id. It is the state's burden to demonstrate that the seizure it seeks to justify on the basis of reasonable suspicion was sufficiently limited in scope and duration to satisfy the conditions of an investigative seizure. Id.

The initial traffic stop in this case was for speeding. Case asked Silva to exit his vehicle in preparation for handing and explaining the ticket to him. This procedure is within the police officer's discretion and is not otherwise unlawful. Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 111 n. 6, 98 S.Ct. 330, 333-34, n. 6, 54 L.Ed.2d 331, 337, n. 6 (1977). Case spent approximately fifteen seconds explaining the citation to Silva and how to pay it. Case's inquiry—"Do you mind if I take a look through your truck. Are you alright with that?"—followed immediately after the brief explanation of the ticket procedure. At the moment he asked for consent, Case was holding the completed citation and Silva's driver's documents in his hand. While the initial purpose of the traffic stop—to issue a citation—perhaps could have been completed at the time Case...