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State v. Aguinaldo11/22/1989
On July 26, 1988, Maui police set up an intoxication control roadblock at Firebreak Road and Haleakala Highway. Defendant-Appellee Lynn Aguinaldo was driving a vehicle which was routinely stopped for a check. When the police officer had an opportunity to observe Aguinaldo, it was apparent that she was not intoxicated. The police officer, as a matter of routine, then asked Aguinaldo to produce her driver's license and no-fault insurance card. When Aguinaldo was unable to do so, the police officer cited her for failure to produce a current driver's license and proof of car insurance.
Aguinaldo moved to suppress all evidence obtained pursuant to her detention at the roadblock. She contends that the demand to produce her driver's license and no-fault insurance card constituted a warrantless search in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, § 7 of the Hawaii Constitution.
The trial court granted Aguinaldo's motion to suppress on the grounds that (1) the highway safety statutes relating to intoxication control roadblock programs do not authorize police officers
to enforce any other laws than those relating to driving under the influence of intoxicating substances (DUI) at an intoxication roadblock, and (2) the police had no probable cause to detain and question Aguinaldo once it was determined that she was not violating any DUI laws. The State appeals.
We reverse.
I.
The trial court stated in its conclusion of law (COL) #1 that HRS § 286-162.5 and § 286-162.6, which authorize the police to establish intoxication roadblocks, do "not expressly authorize police officers to enforce other traffic laws at the time of the DUI
roadblock stop." The statement is factually correct, but we disagree with the conclusion drawn therefrom by the trial court. While the roadblock statutes do not expressly authorize police to enforce other traffic laws at DUI roadblock stops, neither do they prohibit it.
A separate section of the highway safety laws, HRS § 286-116 (1985), authorizes " very police officer or law enforcement officer when stopping a vehicle or inspecting a vehicle for any reason demand that the driver or owner display the driver's or owner's driver's license and insurance identification card." (Emphasis added.)
"Laws in pari materia, or upon the same subject matter, shall be construed with reference to each other. What is clear in one
statute may be called in aid to explain what is doubtful in another." HRS § 1-16 (1985); see also Zator v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. , 69 Haw. 594, 597, 752 P.2d 1073, 1075 (1988).
Both the roadblock statutes and HRS § 286-116 pertain to police powers in ensuring highway safety. HRS § 286-116 authorizes the police to demand the production of a driver's license and no-fault insurance card whenever the police stop a vehicle for any reason.
We interpret "for any reason" to mean stopping vehicles for any valid reason. See State v. Powell , 61 Haw. 316, 320, 603 P.2d 143, 147 (1979). ("The propriety of the search of appellee's automobile, and the subsequent seizures . . . hinges in part upon the validity of the initial stop . . . . If it is ultimately deter
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