State v. Williams
State v. Williams
Opinion of the Court
*385Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction for possession of methamphetamine, ORS 475.894(1), asserting that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress. Defendant argues that, after the officer who stopped him developed reasonable suspicion that he had committed the crime of driving while under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), the officer unlawfully extended *244the stop by asking him whether he had alcohol or drugs in the car and by requesting consent to search his vehicle. As explained below, because there was a reasonable, circumstance-specific relationship between the officer's questions and the purpose of the stop, the trial court did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress.
We review the denial of a motion to suppress for legal error, and we are bound by the trial court's findings of fact so long as they are supported by constitutionally sufficient evidence in the record. State v. Maciel-Figueroa ,
Port of Portland Police Officer McKay stopped defendant after observing multiple traffic violations and, upon contact, noticed that he had a sweaty, "beet red" face, and very watery eyes. Based on defendant's appearance, that he had a "hard time answering simple questions," and "just seemed kind of like he wasn't sure what was going on," McKay believed that defendant was under the influence of "some type of intoxicant." McKay asked defendant if he had been drinking that day or taking any medications, and defendant replied that he had just woken up from napping in his car and that he works long hours. McKay then asked defendant if he had any alcohol or controlled substances with him or in the car, and defendant replied that he was "not sure." McKay then asked if defendant minded if he checked.
*386Defendant "paused for a second, looked down, and said 'I'm not sure. I don't know what I have.' " McKay followed up by asking if defendant minded if he took a "quick look," and, without verbally responding, defendant picked up a jacket from the passenger seat and said, "I don't think I have anything." Under the jacket, McKay saw a clear glass pipe with white residue. McKay told defendant that "it looked like a meth pipe," to which defendant nodded affirmatively.
At that point, McKay read defendant his Miranda rights and then asked him if there were additional drugs in the car. Defendant replied that "there may be." McKay then asked defendant to exit the vehicle and placed him under arrest and in handcuffs. McKay searched defendant's car and found two toiletry cases that contained methamphetamine and associated paraphernalia on the floor behind the passenger seat. Defendant was cited for the traffic infractions and transported to jail for possession of methamphetamine.
Before trial, defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that McKay unlawfully extended the duration of the traffic stop when he asked defendant for consent to search his vehicle without reasonable suspicion, in violation of Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution. The state responded that McKay had reasonable suspicion that defendant was driving under the influence of intoxicants, and, accordingly, the request to search defendant's car was constitutionally permissable.
After testimony from McKay and defendant, as well as the parties' arguments, the court found McKay credible and denied the suppression motion. Subsequently, defendant was convicted of possession of methamphetamine in a bench trial.
Article I, section 9, establishes the right of the people to be free from unreasonable searches or seizures. A stop is a "temporary restraint of a person's liberty for the purpose of criminal investigation" and is a type of seizure. State v. Rodgers/Kirkeby ,
If an officer's questions or "request for consent was 'reasonably related' to the purpose of the detention, then the request did not extend the stop in violation of Article I, section 9." State v. Pichardo ,
On appeal, defendant concedes that McKay lawfully stopped defendant to investigate traffic violations and further acknowledges that McKay subsequently developed reasonable suspicion that defendant was driving under the influence of intoxicants. Accordingly, the narrow issue before us is whether McKay's questions involving possession of alcohol or drugs and McKay's request for consent to search defendant and his car were reasonably related to the DUII investigation.
Defendant remonstrates that McKay unlawfully extended the stop by asking him whether he possessed alcohol or drugs and requesting consent to search the vehicle because the questions were not related to either the traffic violations or the DUII investigation and were not supported by an objectively reasonable suspicion that defendant possessed a controlled substance. Defendant further contends that, because defendant's seizure became unlawful the moment that McKay inquired about possession of alcohol or drugs without justification, all evidence obtained as a result of that illegality must be suppressed. The state responds that McKay's questions involving possession and request *388for consent to search defendant's vehicle were reasonably related to the DUII investigation because the questions sought to uncover evidence of that crime.
Defendant challenges three questions that McKay asked, and we address each one in turn. First, defendant challenges McKay's question of whether defendant had any alcohol or controlled substances with him or in the car. We conclude that this question had a "reasonable, circumstance-specific" relationship to the investigation of the DUII. Although possession of alcohol or controlled substances is not an element that the state has to prove in a DUII case, possession of alcohol or a controlled substance certainly can be relevant evidence to prove that a driver has committed the crime of DUII. For instance, in the context of searches incident to DUII arrests, "we routinely have upheld searches of closed containers in cars incident to arrest for DUII where the containers are the type that reasonably could conceal evidence of alcohol * * * or drugs." State v. Washington ,
*246*389Next, we examine McKay's requests for consent together because they are qualitatively the same question, and we similarly conclude that they were reasonably related to the DUII investigation. When McKay asked defendant whether he had any alcohol or controlled substances in the car, defendant replied that he was "not sure." In response, McKay asked defendant if he would mind if McKay "checked." Defendant paused and then said, "I'm not sure. I don't know what I have." McKay then asked again if defendant would mind if he took a "quick look." McKay's requests for consent to search for alcohol or drugs directly followed his question of whether defendant had any alcohol or drugs in the vehicle and both were similarly directed at uncovering evidence of the crime of DUII. Accordingly, for the same reasons explained above, asking defendant for consent to search the vehicle for alcohol or drugs was reasonably related to the DUII investigation, and did not unlawfully extend the stop.
Defendant's reliance on State v. Miller ,
On appeal, we concluded that the officer was justified in commencing an investigation into the defendant's "recent use of a controlled substance."
*390In this case, defendant relies on Miller to support his argument that an inquiry about the presence of alcohol or drugs during a DUII investigation is not reasonably related to that investigation. Defendant's argument relies on isolated statements in Miller in which we stated that "the act of deploying the dog cannot be supported as 'reasonably related' to [the officer's] suspicion of DUII," and that "[a] drug-detection dog detects the presence of drugs, not whether a person is intoxicated."
Affirmed.
The state does not argue that the questions were justified on an independent basis, namely, that McKay had reasonable suspicion that defendant possessed a controlled substance.
In State v. Rondeau ,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.