United States v. Sanders
| Decision Date | 08 February 2023 |
| Docket Number | 7:22-MJ-1086-RJ |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. ISAURA M. SANDERS, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of North Carolina |
This matter comes before the court on Defendant Isaura M Sanders' motion to dismiss the charges and to suppress evidence. [DE-18]. The Government responded in opposition to the motion, [DE-23], and the court held an evidentiary hearing on December 13, 2022, [DE-24, -25]. For the reasons that follow, the motion is denied.
I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On May 20, 2022, Sanders was charged by criminal information with operating a motor vehicle upon a street, highway or public vehicular area with an alcohol concentration of .08 or greater at a relevant time after driving, to wit: an alcohol concentration of. 12, in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-138.[1], as assimilated by 18 U.S.C. 13.' [DE-8], On October 18, 2022, Defendant timely filed the instant motion to suppress, [DE-18], and as a result, the court continued the previously scheduled arraignment and bench trial pending ruling on the motion. [DE-20], II. STATEMENT OF FACTS
At the December 13, 2022 evidentiary hearing, the Government presented one witness, Malcolm Yazzie, who testified as follows. At the time of the events at issue, Yazzie was a military police officer (“MP”) in the traffic unit of the Provost Marshal's Office (“PMO”) of the United States Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune. He left active service in August 2022. Yazzie spent four and a half years in the PMO. He initially completed a three-month Military Police Academy and received additional training in 2019 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) in standard field sobriety test (“SFST”) instruction, driving while impaired (“DWI”) detection, and radar courses. The radar course was five days and included training on the dual Stalker radar unit, an additional eight hours of in-the-field training with a certified radar operator, and testing was required for certification. The State of North Carolina calibrates the radar units once a year, Yazzie tested his radar unit before the start of and after every shift, and he never experienced issues with a radar unit. The DWI detection SFST course and instructor course required twenty-four hours of classroom work on how to administer field sobriety tests what to look for, the three phases of DWI detection, and all the clues and cues that are related to impaired driving. There was also a practical application portion of the training, and testing was required for certification. Yazzie was also trained as an instructor on SFSTs. A year later Yazzie took the NHTSA Advanced Road Side Impaired Driving Enforcement (“ARIDE”) course. Yazzie estimated he conducted approximately 2,000 or more traffic stops, utilized his radar unit approximately 1,600 to 1,700 or more times, investigated more than 100 suspected DWI cases, and made or was involved with more than eighty DWI arrests. Hr'g Tr. [DE-25] at 6:9-11:13.
On May 8, 2022, at approximately 2:00 a.m., Yazzie was patrolling in his vehicle on Camp Lejeune on Brewster Boulevard, which is marked and posted as a thirty-five mile per hour zone. There was no one on the roadway at that time, and a pair of headlights behind Yazzie caught his attention. As the headlights grew closer and brighter, Yazzie estimated the approaching vehicle's speed to be fifty miles per hour and activated his radar unit's back rear antenna. Yazzie maneuvered his vehicle into the left lane, and the radar unit measured the approaching vehicle's speed at fifty-four miles per hour. Yazzie let the vehicle pass him, switched his radar to the front antenna, checked the speed again, and it registered at forty-five miles per hour. Yazzie did not see any break lights activated as the vehicle passed him. Yazzie then pulled into the right lane behind the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop. Id. at 11:14-15:18.
Yazzie activated his blue lights, exited his patrol car, and made contact with Sanders on the driver's side. When Sanders rolled down the window, Yazzie detected the odor of alcohol emanating from the vehicle. Sanders was only person in the vehicle. Yazzie began to question Sanders about where she was coming from and going to, and he requested her driver's license, registration, proof of insurance, and base access card. Sanders was calm, but Yazzie noticed her eyes were blood shot and watery, and he detected the consumed odor of alcohol as she was facing and speaking to him. Yazzie also noticed that when he asked Sanders for her base access card she was fumbling trying to find it but the card was on her driver's side door in the door handle pocket. Sanders said she came from a friend's house and was returning to base housing, and she admitted to consuming two or three glasses of wine about an hour and a half prior to being stopped. Yazzie felt he needed to make sure Sanders was able to drive the vehicle, so he brought her out of the vehicle to perform SFSTs. Id. at 15:13-19:15.
The field sobriety tests were conducted on the side of the roadway on level blacktop, free from debris, and well-illuminated. Yazzie administered three tests: the horizontal gaze nystagmus (“HGN”), the walk-and-tum, and the one-leg stand. Id. at 19:16-20:17.
Yazzie first administered the HGN test, which measures involuntary jerking of the eye, consists of three clues in each eye for a total of six clues, and four clues indicate impairment. Sanders was instructed on how the test would be administered, indicated she understood, and affirmed she had no medical conditions that would prevent her from performing the test. Sanders demonstrated lack of smooth pursuit, distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation, and onset nystagmus prior to forty-five degrees, all in each eye for a total of six clues. Yazzie determined Sanders' performance on the HGN test was unsatisfactory and indicated impairment. Id. at 20:21-23:18.
Yazzie next administered the walk-and-tum test, which requires the individual to walk a real or imagined straight line taking nine steps heel to toe with hands to their sides, to turn around, and then to walk in the same manner nine steps down the same line. There are eight clues and a minimum of two indicate impairment. Yazzie instructed Sanders, she indicated she understood, and she denied having a medical condition that would prevent her from performing the test. Yazzie described Sanders as “thirty-ish” years old and wearing comfortable clothing and shoes. They agreed on a straight imaginary line on the right shoulder of the road. Yazzie observed six of eight clues, including off balance, starting too soon, missed heel-to-toe steps, incorrect number of steps, improper turn, and using arms for balance. Yazzie determined Sanders' performance was unsatisfactory and indicated impairment. Id. at 23:19-26:23.
The last test administered by Yazzie was the one-leg stand, which requires the individual to stand with one leg approximately six inches off the ground, hands to sides, and count until directed to stop. There are four clues, and two clues indicate impairment. Yazzie instructed Sanders, she indicated she understood, and she denied having a medical condition that would prevent her from performing the test. Sanders demonstrated two clues, putting her foot down and using her arms for balance. Yazzie determined Sanders' performance was unsatisfactory and indicated impairment. Id. at 26:24-29:2.
Yazzie concluded based on his training, experience, and observations, as well as Sanders' performance on the SFSTs, that Sanders had “consumed an appreciable amount of impairing substance so as to appreciably impair her mental and physical faculties to operate that motor vehicle.” Id. at 29:3-16.
On cross-examination, Yazzie testified that he had been living at home since receiving an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps in August 2022, he had been working at a grocery store for about a month, and there was nothing preventing him from working in law enforcement. Yazzie confirmed that the certifications he received when he completed his training to investigate impaired drivers comported with North Carolina law, he had quarterly SFST refresher training in 2022, prior to the May 8 encounter with Sanders, and the State of North Carolina had calibrated his radar unit in February 2022. Yazzie affirmed that, pursuant to his procedure, he tested both antennas the night of May 8, and was assured from his training that they were functioning properly. Yazzie also indicated that of the roughly eighty DWI arrests he had made, there were no cases where probable cause was found to be lacking when the individual was taken to the station and administered a breathalyzer. Id. at 29:25-36:23.
Yazzie confirmed his prior testimony on direct regarding how he first noticed a vehicle approaching him from behind, estimated its speed, activated the radar, and recorded the speed before and after it passed Yazzie's patrol car. Yazzie indicated the vehicle was not weaving or crossing lines but was travelling too fast. He confirmed there was a nine mile per hour difference in the vehicle's speed before and after it passed and he saw no brake light activated, but he had no concern that the radar was not functioning properly. Id. at 36:24-39:20.
The vehicle pulled over on the side of the road when Yazzie activated his blue lights, and there were no issues with how Sanders pulled over. Yazzie initially noticed that Sanders wore contact lenses and had blood shot, watery eyes, but these facts, coupled with the early hour, did not give Yazzie any concerns about administering the HGN test. Yazzie turned off his blue lights before administering the test but the white...
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