Vasquez v. State
| Decision Date | 16 November 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-140.,97-140. |
| Citation | 990 P.2d 476 |
| Parties | Mario VASQUEZ, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Representing Appellant: Sylvia Lee Hackl, State Public Defender; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel; Walter Eggers, Assistant Public Defender. Argument by Mr. Eggers.
Representing Appellee: William U. Hill, Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Georgia L. Tibbetts, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Ms. Tibbetts.
Before LEHMAN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN, and TAYLOR,1 JJ.
An officer of the Wyoming Highway Patrol arrested Mario Vasquez for driving while under the influence. The officer handcuffed Vasquez and placed him in the officer's patrol car. After the arrest was completed, another officer saw spent handgun shells in the bed of Vasquez's truck, searched the passenger compartment and discovered cocaine inside the fuse box. Vasquez entered a conditional guilty plea to felony possession of cocaine after the district court denied various motions to suppress an inculpatory statement and evidence discovered during the search of his vehicle. The district court relied on New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 2860, 69 L.Ed.2d 768 (1981), which held that the passenger compartment of a vehicle may be searched as a contemporaneous incident to lawful arrest. Today, we must decide whether this motor vehicle search was permissible under the search and seizure provisions of the Wyoming and Federal Constitutions.
We hold that the motor vehicle search was incident to a lawful arrest and, therefore, permitted under the Fourth Amendment of the Federal Constitution, as held in Belton. Under an independent analysis of the search and seizure provision, Article 1, Section 4, of our state constitution, we hold that the officer lawfully searched the passenger compartment of Vasquez's vehicle because that search and seizure provision permits a vehicle search for weapons incident to an arrest when reasonable suspicion exists that a vehicle occupant is armed. We hold that the district court correctly denied Vasquez's various motions to suppress and affirm his conviction.
Vasquez presents these issues for our review:
The State rephrases the issues as:
On June 16, 1996, at about 7:45 a.m., the Wyoming Highway Patrol received an anonymous REDDI (report every drunk driver immediately) report complaining that a newer model green Chevrolet pickup truck with Colorado plates was weaving all over the road and had almost hit the reporting person's car as it attempted to pass. It was reported that the truck carried three Hispanic males and was traveling northbound on Interstate 25 from the Colorado-Wyoming state line. The highway patrol officer headed in the reported direction and soon spotted a truck matching the description. He followed it and noticed that it was weaving only within its own lane; however, it veered towards another vehicle attempting to pass it. That vehicle swerved to avoid the green truck and, at that point, the officer initiated a stop of the green truck. Vasquez was driving that vehicle and was accompanied by two passengers. He smelled strongly of alcohol; after conducting field sobriety tests on Vasquez, the officer placed Vasquez under arrest for driving while under the influence. Vasquez was handcuffed and placed in the officer's patrol car.
Other officers arrived at the scene and noticed empty cartridges or casings for bullets in the bed and passenger compartment of the pickup truck. The officers removed the passengers from the truck and searched them and the truck for weapons. In a fuse box located on the left side of the steering wheel in front of the driver, the officers found a plastic bag containing a white substance. The officer who opened the fuse box testified he believed it was an ashtray large enough to contain a pistol. Vasquez was taken to jail and processed without having his rights read to him; however, he was not interrogated at the scene.
During the booking process, the arresting officer asked Vasquez questions about his name, social security number and birthdate in order to fill out a book-in sheet. Vasquez asked a deputy what the charge was against him. The arresting officer told the deputy that Vasquez was charged with driving while under the influence and could later be charged with possession of methamphetamine. Vasquez then stated that it was cocaine, not methamphetamine, and he was responsible for its presence in the truck. The arresting officer then advised Vasquez not to give any more information until he had been read his rights. The arresting officer and the deputy testified that Vasquez was obviously intoxicated and agitated. Upon being informed that Vasquez was under arrest for driving while under the influence, the deputy serving as jail custodian asked Vasquez how much he had to drink. The deputy also asked whether Vasquez had any drugs on his person. Vasquez was never read his Miranda rights by the arresting officer.
Later that day, agents from the Division of Criminal Investigation attempted to interview Vasquez but also gave up because he was intoxicated and agitated. Vasquez appeared in court that day on the driving while under the influence charge and plead guilty. He contends he completed documents requesting that counsel be appointed for him; however, the documents were dated the next day, June 17, 1996. Although defense counsel disputed the accuracy of this date at the suppression hearing, that factual issue was not resolved.
The next morning, June 17, 1996, the DCI agents advised Vasquez of his Miranda rights and conducted an interview during which Vasquez made inculpatory statements. Vasquez testified that he requested counsel at the beginning of the interview; however, the DCI agents stated that Vasquez did not make this request until late in the interview. On June 17, Vasquez again appeared in court on a possession of cocaine charge. Vasquez moved to suppress his statements and the evidence seized during the warrantless search of his truck. After a hearing, the motion was denied and he entered a conditional guilty plea to the possession charge and filed an appeal. Vasquez served a sentence at the Wyoming Boot Camp in Newcastle. The remainder of his sentence was suspended in favor of two years supervised probation.
Vehicle Search
When reviewing an order denying a motion to suppress evidence, the findings of the trial court regarding the motion to suppress are binding on this Court unless clearly erroneous. Neilson v. State, 599 P.2d 1326, 1330 (Wyo.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1079, 100 S.Ct. 1031, 62 L.Ed.2d 763 (1980). Whether an unreasonable search or seizure occurred in violation of constitutional rights presents a question of law and is reviewed de novo. Gronski v. State, 910 P.2d 561, 563 (Wyo.1996).
Vasquez contends that the warrantless search of his truck was not conducted within the specific boundaries of any exception to the warrant requirement of the state and federal constitutions. The State contends that the district court correctly concluded that the search of the truck and the removal of the fuse box cover were justifiable as a search incident to a lawful arrest. In Lopez v. State, 643 P.2d 682 (Wyo.1982), this Court recognized and applied the rule from New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 2860, 69 L.Ed.2d 768 (1981), stating that when a police officer has made a lawful custodial arrest of the occupant of an automobile, he may, as a contemporaneous incident of that arrest, search the passenger compartment of that automobile. Lopez, 643 P.2d at 685. Vasquez contends this search does not meet the requirements of Belton, and a state constitutional analysis does not permit this Court to extend Belton to these particular facts.
In this case, it was established that after performing field tests upon Vasquez, the arresting officer handcuffed him and placed him in the front passenger's seat of the officer's vehicle. A second officer arrived while the field tests were being performed and stood by the arresting officer's car and later a third officer arrived. Vasquez's two passengers remained seated in the truck, and the second and third officers approached the truck from the rear. Both officers testified they saw two empty gun cartridges or casings in the bed of the truck. Each officer asked the two passengers to step out of the truck, handcuffed them and led them away from the truck and had them kneel on the ground some distance from the truck. The officers then searched the vehicle and discovered the cocaine inside the fuse box.
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