State v. Tyson Michael Pieper
State v. Tyson Michael Pieper
Opinion
Tyson Michael Pieper appeals from his conviction for possession of a controlled substance,
I.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
While on patrol, two Coeur d'Alene police officers noticed two vehicles in a parking lot around 10:30 p.m. The officers observed a blue light inside one of the cars. After parking the patrol car, the officers approached the vehicle with the blue light, one officer on the driver's side and the other officer on the passenger's side. Both officers used flashlights to illuminate the interior of the vehicle.
The first officer addressed Pieper, who was sitting in the driver's seat, and asked "Can I talk to you guys?" Pieper responded in the affirmative. Within seconds of making contact, the second officer saw a jar appearing to contain marijuana sitting in plain view in the back seat of the car. After being informed about the jar, the first officer instructed Pieper to step out of the vehicle and he was placed in handcuffs. A subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in the officers finding a gun, paraphernalia, methamphetamine, morphine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone.
Pieper subsequently moved to suppress the evidence found during the course of his arrest on the basis that the initial encounter with the officers was not consensual and constituted a warrantless seizure. The district court denied the motion. Thereafter, pursuant to a plea agreement, Pieper pled guilty to possession of methamphetamine and reserved his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. The district court imposed a unified sentence of five years, with one year determinate. Pieper timely appeals.
*1243 II.
ANALYSIS
Pieper asserts he was seized without reasonable suspicion in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and art. I, § 17 of the Idaho Constitution.
1
He seeks to suppress all evidence resulting from the alleged illegal seizure. The standard of review of a suppression motion is bifurcated. When a decision on a motion to suppress is challenged, we accept the trial court's findings of fact that are supported by substantial evidence, but we freely review the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found.
State v. Atkinson
,
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and its counterpart, art. I, § 17 of the Idaho Constitution, guarantee the right of every citizen to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. However, not all encounters between the police and citizens involve the seizure of a person.
Terry v. Ohio
,
The United States Supreme Court, in
United States v. Mendenhall
,
Examples of circumstances that might indicate a seizure, even where the person did not attempt to leave, would be the threatening presence of several officers, the display of a weapon by an officer, some physical touching of the person of the citizen, or the use of language or tone of voice indicating that compliance with the officer's request might be compelled.
Other circumstances that may indicate a seizure include whether an officer used overhead emergency lights or took action to block a vehicle's exit route.
State v. Willoughby
,
Pieper argues that the initial encounter with the officers was not consensual and that he was seized without reasonable suspicion when the officers approached his vehicle on either side, shined flashlights into the vehicle, and asked for identification from Pieper and his passenger. Pieper further argues that a reasonable person would not have felt free to leave upon being asked for identification pursuant to I.C. § 18-705, which prohibits resisting or obstructing an officer's lawful investigation, and/or I.C. § 49-316, which requires a driver to surrender a driver's license to a police officer upon demand.
*1244 The district court found that the officers did not seize Pieper without reasonable suspicion and that the encounter was consensual up until one of the officers observed marijuana in the car. It was at that point Pieper and his passenger were ordered out of the car and detained. The court stated:
At all times up to when [the first officer] told the defendant to get out of the car, put his hands behind their back, this is at all times a consensual encounter.
The fact that there's two officers; that fact that it's at night, everything is-that doesn't change my analysis. It's consensual. It's asking questions. There's no command until: "Get out of the car. Put your hands behind you back," after the statement being made by [the second officer] that he saw a big old jar of weed.
....
It's whether a reasonable person would feel free to disregard the police officer's requests and leave. And-and I find that that isn't the case; that hasn't been proven up until the time that ... [the first officer] says based on [the second officer's] claim that there's a big old pot of weed in the back, jar of weed in the back, "Get out of the car," [the first officer] says, and, "Put your hands behind your back." That's when there's a seizure. That's when it's no longer consensual. That's when Miranda was needed for anything not to be suppressed.
We agree with the district court. The officers did not seize Pieper without reasonable suspicion when they parked their patrol car elsewhere in the parking lot, approached Pieper's car on foot from either side of the vehicle, and shined flashlights into the interior of Pieper's vehicle. First, the officers did not block Pieper's vehicle nor activate the patrol car's overhead emergency lights. Second, the officers' use of flashlights did not make the encounter more intrusive. Our Supreme Court has held the use of lights to illuminate an area can significantly enhance officer safety and does not constitute a seizure of people in the illuminated area.
State v. Baker
,
Pieper further argues that the officers were in violation of the Idaho Constitution, which he contends provides greater protection from governmental interference than the United States Constitution. The Idaho Supreme Court has held that the guarantees under the United States Constitution and the Idaho Constitution are substantially the same.
State v. Fees
,
III.
CONCLUSION
Pieper was not seized without reasonable suspicion. The district court's order denying Pieper's motion to suppress is affirmed.
Judge GUTIERREZ and Judge LORELLO concur.
An investigative detention is permissible if it is based upon specific articulable facts that justify suspicion that the detained person is, has been, or is about to be engaged in criminal activity.
State v. Sheldon
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Tyson Michael PIEPER, Defendant-Appellant.
- Cited By
- 9 cases
- Status
- Published