State v. Toevs
| Decision Date | 03 May 1996 |
| Citation | 327 Or. 525,964 P.2d 1007 |
| Parties | STATE of Oregon, Respondent on Review, v. Leslie Lee TOEVS, Petitioner on Review. CC 10-94-01400; CA A85708; SC S42836. |
| Court | Oregon Supreme Court |
Eric R. Johansen, Deputy Public Defender, Salem, argued the cause for Petitioner on review on May 3, 1996. Peter Gartlan, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause on March 3, 1997, and filed a consolidated brief. With them on the briefs was Sally L. Avera, Public Defender.
Robert M. Atkinson, Assistant Attorney General, Salem, argued the cause for Respondent on review on May 3, 1996. With him on the brief were Theodore R. Kulongoski, Attorney General, and Virginia L. Linder, Solicitor General. Timothy A. Sylwester, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause on March 3, 1997, and filed a consolidated brief. With him on the brief were Hardy Myers, Attorney General, Virginia L. Linder, Solicitor General, Michael D. Reynolds, Assistant Solicitor General, and Robert M. Atkinson, Rives Kistler, and Eleanor E. Wallace, Assistant Attorneys General.
Thomas M. Christ, Portland, filed a consolidated brief on behalf of Amicus curiae ACLU Foundation of Oregon, Inc.
David G. Terry and David E. Groom, Salem, filed a consolidated brief on behalf of Amicus curiae Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
Before CARSON, C.J., and GILLETTE, VAN HOOMISSEN and DURHAM, JJ. *
This criminal case involves the application of ORS 810.410(3)(b) (1993), 1 which sets forth the authority of a police officer during the course of investigating a traffic infraction. After denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence found during a traffic stop, the trial court convicted defendant of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Defendant appealed, and the Court of Appeals upheld the conviction. State v. Toevs, 137 Or.App. 529, 904 P.2d 658 (1995). Defendant now asks this court to reverse that conviction. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the officers' conduct in this case violated ORS 810.410(3)(b) (1993) and, consequently, that the evidence at issue must be suppressed. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals and the judgment of the trial court.
On December 8, 1993, at 12:40 a.m., Officer Smith of the Cottage Grove Police Department saw defendant operating a vehicle that did not have its headlights turned on, a Class B traffic infraction. ORS 811.515(1) and 811.520(3). Officer Solesbee, Smith's training officer, was with Smith. Smith stopped defendant's vehicle to investigate the traffic infraction, parking his patrol vehicle behind defendant's vehicle. Solesbee stepped out of the patrol vehicle and stood in front of it on the driver's side. Smith, meanwhile, approached the driver's side of defendant's vehicle and asked to see defendant's driver license, proof of insurance, and vehicle registration. Defendant produced them and explained to Smith that he thought that his headlights were on when, in fact, he had turned on only his parking lights.
Smith took defendant's documents and ran a check on them. Smith then learned from his dispatcher that defendant, who had a valid driver license, was on parole. Smith decided not to issue a traffic citation to defendant and switched off his overhead lights. Smith mentioned to Solesbee, however, that he wanted to search defendant's vehicle. Solesbee responded that he had had prior drug-related contact with defendant and thought that defendant was on parole for drug use. Solesbee further opined that, if Smith searched defendant's vehicle, he would find contraband of some sort.
Smith walked back to defendant's vehicle, returned defendant's documents, and told defendant that he was free to go. At that time, Smith had no reason to believe that defendant had engaged in criminal activity. Smith then asked defendant if he could search defendant's vehicle. Defendant asked Smith if Smith was accusing him of anything. Smith responded that he was not accusing defendant, but wondered why defendant would not consent to a search. Smith then asked if he could search both defendant and defendant's vehicle, and asked whether there were any drugs in defendant's vehicle. Defendant responded that he did not have any drugs and, again, did not consent to a search. That conversation, beginning from the time when Smith told defendant that he was free to go, lasted about 30 seconds.
Solesbee, who had been watching Smith and defendant from his position behind defendant's vehicle, then approached the driver's side of defendant's vehicle and interrupted the conversation between Smith and defendant. Smith stepped back and stopped his questioning. Solesbee asked defendant, in a "low key" and "friendly" manner, "if he had any dope in the vehicle." Defendant shielded his eyes, lowered his face, and answered "[n]o." At that point, Solesbee observed that defendant In Solesbee's training and experience, he believed that defendant might have ingested methamphetamine.
Solesbee then stated to defendant that defendant would feel better about the situation if he were honest and told Solesbee that he had drugs in his vehicle, if indeed he did. Solesbee asked defendant again if he had any drugs in the vehicle. Defendant responded that "[t]here is a little in the truck." Solesbee then ordered defendant to get out of his vehicle. Smith searched the vehicle, following defendant's directions, and found a box under the driver's seat that contained a bindle of methamphetamine and several syringes.
Defendant was indicted for unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Before trial, he moved to suppress the evidence discovered during the search of his vehicle, contending, among other things, that the questioning by Smith and Solesbee, following the initial traffic stop, constituted either a continued detention or a separate stop, neither of which were permissible under ORS 810.410(3)(b) (1993). After hearing testimony from Smith, Solesbee, and defendant, the trial court denied defendant's motion. Based upon stipulated facts, the court then found defendant guilty, as charged.
Defendant appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed in a per curiam opinion, citing only State v. Bonham, 120 Or.App. 371 852 P.2d 905 (1993). Toevs, 137 Or.App. 529, 904 P.2d 658. We allowed defendant's petition for review and heard oral argument. 2
ORS 810.410(3) (1993) provided, in part:
That statute "defines the authority of the police to respond to a traffic infraction; by implication, the statute proscribes any further action by the police * * *, unless [that further action] has some basis other than the traffic infraction." State v. Porter, 312 Or. 112, 120, 817 P.2d 1306 (1991). That is, ORS 810.410(3)(b) prohibits an officer from continuing to detain a person stopped for a traffic infraction after completing the investigation reasonably related to the infraction, unless the officer has some other reason, separate from the traffic stop, for doing so. State v. Dominguez-Martinez, 321 Or. 206, 212, 895 P.2d 306 (1995). Further, the statute prohibits a search or investigation that explores for evidence of other crimes or infractions not reasonably related to the traffic infraction. Porter, 312 Or. at 120, 817 P.2d 1306.
Defendant contends that Smith and Solesbee exceeded the scope of their authority under ORS 810.410(3)(b) when they questioned him about possessing drugs and requested consent to search his vehicle. Defendant first argues that the officers' conduct constituted a continued detention that was not reasonably related to the traffic stop and, therefore, was unlawful under Dominguez-Martinez. Defendant also argues that, even if the traffic stop ended when Smith stated that he was free to go and the subsequent questioning constituted only a mere conversation or noncoercive encounter, such an encounter is not authorized in the context of a traffic stop, under ORS 810.410(3)(b). Alternatively, defendant argues that, if the traffic stop ended when Smith stated that he was free to go, then the subsequent questioning constituted a second stop under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution, 4 that was not supported by reasonable suspicion that defendant had engaged in any criminal activity.
The state responds that the traffic stop ended when Smith returned defendant's documents and told defendant that he was free to go. It follows, in the state's view, that the subsequent questioning constituted a mere conversation or noncoercive encounter that is not prohibited by ORS 810.410(3)(b). As we shall explain, we conclude that the traffic stop did not end when Smith returned defendant's documents and told defendant that he was free to go. Consequently, the subsequent questioning by Smith and Solesbee constituted a continued detention of defendant that violated ORS 810.410(3)(b), because it was neither reasonably related to the investigation of the traffic infraction, identification, or issuance of a citation, nor based upon some other reason, separate from the traffic stop. 5
As a preliminary matter, we must ascertain the proper methodology for determining whether a traffic stop either continued or ended under ORS 810.410(3)(b). That is, we must determine the legislature's intent when it provided that an officer "[m]ay stop and detain a person for a traffic infraction." (Emphasis added.) We first examine the text and context of the statute. PGE v....
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