State v. Simpson
| Citation | 446 P.3d 1160 |
| Decision Date | 22 January 2019 |
| Docket Number | NO. A-1-CA-35414,A-1-CA-35414 |
| Parties | STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jennifer SIMPSON, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of New Mexico |
Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General, Marko D. Hananel, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellee
Bennett J. Baur, Chief Public Defender, Tania Shahani, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellant
{1} Defendant Jennifer Simpson appeals from the district court's denial of her motion to suppress evidence that she contends was obtained as the result of an illegal seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution. Following a hearing resulting in the denial of her suppression motion, Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to driving while intoxicated (DWI) and driving on a revoked license, reserving her right to appeal the denial of her motion. Defendant contends that she was seized without reasonable suspicion when she stopped her moving vehicle in response to a police officer's tap on the vehicle's window and that the evidence discovered as a result of her illegal detention must be suppressed. We determine that the police officer's initial contact with Defendant was consensual. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's denial of Defendant's suppression motion.
{2} On June 17, 2015, in Farmington, New Mexico, Mark Kennedy, a park ranger and animal control officer, was going about his evening duties at a city park complex. At around 11:00 p.m., he noticed a car drive into a nearby parking lot. The parking lot was park property, partially paved, and poorly lit. The driver of the car—later identified as Defendant—parked and turned off her lights. Officer Kennedy found this suspicious because, while not posted as such, the park's official closing time was 10:00 p.m. He reported the suspicious vehicle to dispatch. Farmington Police Officer Nick Adegite arrived in uniform and in a marked patrol car at approximately 11:20 p.m. to investigate Officer Kennedy's suspicious vehicle report. He entered the parking lot and parked near Defendant's stationary vehicle. Officer Adegite at no time engaged his vehicle's emergency lights.
{3} As Officer Adegite approached Defendant's vehicle on foot, Defendant turned on her lights and started to drive away. Officer Adegite then reached out and tapped on the window of Defendant's moving vehicle. Defendant stopped and rolled down her window. Officer Adegite quickly detected the strong odor of alcohol, which led to a DWI investigation and Defendant's eventual arrest. Ultimately, Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea, reserving the right to appeal the district court's denial of her motion to suppress.
{4} On appeal, Defendant argues that she was illegally seized when she stopped her vehicle to comply with Officer Adegite's signal to stop because the police officer lacked sufficient reasonable suspicion to make an investigatory stop. For the reasons that follow, we hold that Officer Adegite's tap on Defendant's car window, without more, constituted only a consensual encounter between the officer and Defendant. Therefore, there was no seizure at the time Defendant rolled down her window and Officer Adegite observed a strong odor of alcohol emanating from inside the vehicle.
{5} In reviewing a district court's ruling denying a motion to suppress, this Court draws all reasonable inferences in favor of the ruling and defers to the district court's findings of fact as long as they are supported by substantial evidence. State v. Jason L. , 2000-NMSC-018, ¶¶ 10-11, 129 N.M. 119, 2 P.3d 856. If the district court does not state on the record a disbelief of uncontradicted testimony, we "presume the court believed all uncontradicted evidence." Id. ¶ 11. "When a seizure occurred and whether it was based on reasonable suspicion are mixed questions of fact and law because they involve the mixture of facts and evaluative judgments." State v. Eric K. , 2010-NMCA-040, ¶ 14, 148 N.M. 469, 237 P.3d 771. We evaluate mixed questions de novo. Id.
{6} Investigatory detentions and arrests are considered seizures for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Jason L ., 2000-NMSC-018, ¶ 14, 129 N.M. 119, 2 P.3d 856. While both the State and Defendant acknowledge that Defendant was seized by Officer Adegite at some point during the encounter, they disagree as to when exactly the seizure occurred. Defendant contends that she was seized when she stopped her vehicle in response to Officer Adegite's tap on her window. The State argues that Defendant was not seized until sometime after Officer Adegite observed signs of intoxication, with all prior events being consensual in nature. "The point at which the seizure occurs is pivotal because it determines the point in time the police must have reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop." State v. Harbison , 2007-NMSC-016, ¶ 10, 141 N.M. 392, 156 P.3d 30.
{7} Under United States v. Mendenhall , 446 U.S. 544, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980), "a person is seized within the meaning of the [F]ourth [A]mendment when, in view of all the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed he was not free to leave." State v. Lopez , 1989-NMCA-030, ¶ 4, 109 N.M. 169, 783 P.2d 479. Whether a defendant has been seized "is a case-by-case determination balancing the intrusion into individual privacy against the [s]tate's interest in crime prevention, looking at the totality of the circumstances." State v. Murry , 2014-NMCA-021, ¶ 12, 318 P.3d 180.
{8} The police do not need justification to approach a person and ask that person questions, so long as the actions of the officers do not "convey a message that compliance with their requests is required." Jason L ., 2000-NMSC-018, ¶ 14, 129 N.M. 119, 2 P.3d 856 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Police contact is consensual so long "as a reasonable person would feel free to disregard the police and go about his business[ ] or to decline the officers' requests or otherwise terminate the encounter." State v. Scott , 2006-NMCA-003, ¶ 18, 138 N.M. 751, 126 P.3d 567 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). "However, if an officer conveys a message that an individual is not free to walk away, by either physical force or a showing of authority, the encounter becomes a seizure under the Fourth Amendment." State v. Gutierrez , 2008-NMCA-015, ¶ 9, 143 N.M. 522, 177 P.3d 1096 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Additionally, for purposes of the Fourth Amendment, "a seizure based on a show of authority, as opposed to physical force, requires ‘submission to the assertion of authority.’ " Harbison , 2007-NMSC-016, ¶ 13, 141 N.M. 392, 156 P.3d 30 (quoting California v. Hodari D. , 499 U.S. 621, 626, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991) ). However, in State v. Garcia , 2009-NMSC-046, ¶ 35, 147 N.M. 134, 217 P.3d 1032, our Supreme Court held that our State Constitution does not require submission to authority, and instead, the "free-to-leave" test articulated in Mendenhall provides the standard for determining whether a person is seized for purposes of Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution. We decide this appeal on state constitutional grounds, applying the Mendenhall "free-to-leave" test.
{9} In determining whether a person was seized, "we evaluate (1) the circumstances surrounding the contact, including whether police used a show of authority; and (2) whether the circumstances of the contact reached such a level of accosting and restraint that a reasonable person would have believed he or she was not free to leave." Scott , 2006-NMCA-003, ¶ 17, 138 N.M. 751, 126 P.3d 567 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The first of these determinations is a fact-based inquiry, which we review for substantial evidence. Jason L. , 2000-NMSC-018, ¶ 19, 129 N.M. 119, 2 P.3d 856. The second is a legal inquiry wherein we apply those facts to the law de novo. Id.
{10} Evaluating the circumstances surrounding the police-citizen contact in this case, we initially observe that the district court did not make any factual findings, save for noting that Officer Adegite did not employ lights or sirens or otherwise make a show of force. A lack of factual findings "is a regular occurrence when we review decisions on motions to suppress evidence in criminal cases." State v. Gonzales , 1999-NMCA-027, ¶ 11, 126 N.M. 742, 975 P.2d 355. In these circumstances, we presume that the district court believed the uncontradicted testimony of the two witnesses, Officer Kennedy and Officer Adegite. See Murry , 2014-NMCA-021, ¶ 10, 318 P.3d 180 ("If the district court does not state on the record a disbelief of uncontradicted testimony, we presume the court believed all uncontradicted evidence."
(internal quotation marks and citation omitted) ).
{11} As indicated, Officer Adegite arrived after 11:00 p.m. at a poorly lit and partially paved parking lot behind a municipal public park to investigate a report of a suspicious vehicle. He was in uniform and entered the parking lot in a marked patrol vehicle without his emergency equipment activated. Other than Defendant's vehicle, the parking lot was empty and there were no other vehicles or members of the public in the vicinity.
{12} Officer Adegite parked his patrol vehicle in the parking lot. It is unclear from the record how close Officer Adegite parked to Defendant's car or whether Defendant saw the police vehicle as it entered the parking lot. Upon exiting his patrol car, Officer Adegite approached Defendant's vehicle on foot. As he neared the vehicle, Defendant...
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...based on a show of authority, as opposed to physical force, requires submission to the assertion of authority." 2019-NMCA-029, ¶ 8, 446 P.3d 1160 (emphasis, internal quotation marks, and citation omitted); see State v. Morales, 2005-NMCA-027, ¶ 13, 137 N.M. 73, 107 P.3d 513 (stating that un......