State v. Taber
| Decision Date | 13 February 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. WD 59304.,WD 59304. |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Melinda Lorene TABER, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Donald W. Petty, Liberty, for appellant.
Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Atty. Gen., Andrea Mazza Follett, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.
Before SPINDEN, C.J., EDWIN H. SMITH, J., and TURNAGE, Sr.J.
Melinda L. Taber appeals her conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, § 195.211,1 after a bench trial in the Circuit Court of Benton County. As a result of her conviction, she was sentenced to five years imprisonment in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
In the appellant's sole point on appeal, she claims that the trial court erred in overruling her pretrial motions to suppress and admitting at trial the marijuana seized during the search of her purse, after being stopped for a perceived traffic violation and being arrested on an outstanding warrant, which was unrelated to the stop, and any incriminating statements she made to law enforcement officials concerning the marijuana because the evidence sought to be suppressed was the fruit of an unlawful search and seizure.
We reverse and remand.
On June 5, 1999, Trooper Michael Bracker of the Missouri State Highway Patrol was on duty, traveling southbound on Highway 65 in Benton County, when he observed a northbound vehicle being driven by the appellant, which did not have a front license plate or a license plate on the trailer it was towing. Believing that the vehicle and trailer were not in compliance with the licensing and registration laws of Missouri, Trooper Bracker activated his emergency equipment and stopped the vehicle.
After exiting his patrol car, Trooper Bracker approached the stopped vehicle. As he did so, he noticed a Kansas license plate displayed on the rear of the vehicle, which he initially had been unable to see because of the trailer. As a result of his training, Trooper Bracker knew that Kansas's registration laws differed from Missouri's such that the vehicle was not in violation of Missouri's laws, as he originally believed. Nonetheless, Trooper Bracker continued toward the vehicle and initiated contact with the appellant, who was the sole occupant. He informed her, "I stopped you because there was no front plate on the vehicle or trailer plate on the trailer, but I observed a Kansas plate as I approached your vehicle." He never told her that she was free to leave. However, he did ask her if he could see her driver's license and registration. Because she did not have her driver's license with her at the time, she gave him a Kansas state identification card.
Armed with the appellant's identification, Trooper Bracker went back to his patrol car and radioed for a license and record check to determine whether the appellant possessed a valid driver's license and whether there were any outstanding warrants for her arrest. The license check disclosed that she had a valid Kansas operator's license. The record check disclosed that she was wanted on a misdemeanor warrant out of Pettis County, Missouri. The trooper immediately arrested the appellant on the warrant, handcuffing and placing her in the back of his patrol vehicle.
While under arrest, the appellant was questioned by Trooper Bracker as to whether there was anything in her vehicle or on her person about which he needed to know. She indicated that there was not. Then, "as a matter of courtesy," Trooper Bracker asked the appellant if she wanted him to retrieve her purse from her vehicle. She indicated that she did. Having retrieved the appellant's purse from her vehicle, the trooper searched it. Inside the purse, he found burnt marijuana cigarette butts, a small plastic bag and a large Ziploc bag of what appeared to be marijuana, a partially smoked marijuana cigarette, and approximately $5,800 in cash. Trooper Bracker seized the marijuana and cash, and then searched the appellant's vehicle for further contraband, but found none. The trooper then returned to his patrol car and informed the appellant that she was under arrest for possession of marijuana and advised her of her Miranda rights.
As Trooper Bracker was transporting the appellant to the Benton County Jail, she informed him, inter alia, that the marijuana found in her purse was hers. When they arrived at the jail, Trooper Bracker was joined by Benton County Deputy Sheriff David Fajen. They both questioned the appellant about the items seized from her purse. The appellant informed them that she was meeting a group of friends at Starrett Creek, and that in exchange for a room, food and gas for a boat, she would provide them with marijuana. The appellant also told them that she had purchased a quarter of a pound of marijuana for $300 in Kansas City. Trooper Bracker weighed the marijuana seized from the appellant's purse and determined the combined weight to be 139 grams.
On October 28, 1999, the appellant was charged by information in the Circuit Court of Benton County with the class B felony of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, § 195.211. On May 10, 2000, the appellant filed a motion to suppress the marijuana and cash seized from her purse and a motion to suppress any incriminating statements she made to law enforcement while under arrest. The trial court heard the appellant's motions on the same day that they were filed and took them under advisement. The trial court overruled both of the appellant's motions on May 18, 2000.
The appellant waived her right to a jury trial, and her case was tried to the court on June 28, 2000. During the one-day trial, the appellant objected to the admission of the marijuana and the incriminating statements she made to the officers, alleging that they were obtained as the direct result of Trooper Bracker's illegally detaining her. The appellant's objections were overruled, and the evidence admitted. The appellant made an oral motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of the State's evidence and all the evidence, both of which were overruled by the court.
The trial court found the appellant guilty as charged. The appellant filed a motion for a new trial on July 24, 2000, which alleged that the trial court erred in overruling her motions to suppress and admitting at trial the marijuana and her incriminating statements made concerning the same because they resulted from her being unlawfully detained by Trooper Bracker. The motion was never ruled upon by the trial court, but was deemed overruled, pursuant to Rule 29.11(g),2 ninety days later. On November 7, 2000, the trial court sentenced the appellant to a term of five years imprisonment in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
This appeal follows.
"At a suppression hearing, the State bears both the burden of producing evidence and the risk of nonpersuasion to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the motion to suppress should be overruled." State v. Weddle, 18 S.W.3d 389, 391 (Mo.App.2000) (citations omitted). Where a criminal defendant's pretrial motion to suppress evidence is denied, and the defendant objects to the admission of the evidence at trial, we will review the denial of the motion. State v. Williams, 9 S.W.3d 3, 11 (Mo.App.1999).
In reviewing a trial court's denial of a motion to suppress, we are limited to a determination of whether it is supported by substantial evidence. State v. Rousan, 961 S.W.2d 831, 845 (Mo. banc 1998). " " State v. Hunter, 43 S.W.3d 336, 340 (Mo.App.2001) (quoting State v. Leavitt, 993 S.W.2d 557, 560 (Mo.App.1999)). "In reviewing the trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress, the facts and any reasonable inferences arising therefrom are to be viewed in a light most favorable to the ruling of the trial court." State v. Carter, 955 S.W.2d 548, 560 (Mo. banc 1997) (citing State v. Blankenship, 830 S.W.2d 1, 14 (Mo. banc 1992)). A reviewing court will give deference to the trial court's factual findings and credibility determinations, but will review questions of law de novo. Weddle, 18 S.W.3d at 391-92.
I.
In the appellant's sole point on appeal, she claims that the trial court erred in overruling her pretrial motions to suppress and admitting at trial the marijuana seized during the search of her purse, after being stopped for a perceived traffic violation and being arrested on an outstanding warrant, which was unrelated to the stop, and any incriminating statements she made to law enforcement officials concerning the marijuana because the evidence sought to be suppressed was the fruit of an unlawful search and seizure. In claiming as she does, the appellant does not contend that Trooper Bracker's stop of her vehicle, based upon his belief that it was being operated without a license plate, was unlawful. Rather, she contends that after he stopped her vehicle and determined that it had a license plate, the purpose of the traffic stop was satisfied; and because he did not have a reasonable suspicion that she was guilty of any criminal wrongdoing to further detain her, his request for her to produce her license and vehicle registration thereafter was an unlawful seizure under the Fourth Amendment, rendering unlawful the resulting search of her purse and the seizure of the marijuana during the search, requiring the suppression of the marijuana and any incriminating statements she made to law enforcement concerning the marijuana.
For its part, the State concedes that when Trooper Bracker discovered that the appellant's vehicle had a valid Kansas license plate, the purpose...
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