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State v. Olaya3/5/1987
hing the trunk he asked if he could look inside the vehicle itself. When defendant said yes, he asked defendant to have his friend get out of the car.
Defendant, on the other hand, testified that after Officer Toler looked in the luggage he "was talking about the ownership of the car," so defendant give him additional papers regarding the car. The additional papers apparently included a power of attorney from Cantu. Defendant testified that Officer Toler then entered the back seat. Defendant also testified that the officer never asked him if he could look in the car, but only if defendant could open the trunk.
Upon checking the passenger compartment, the officer discovered a bottle of Pine Sol. Noticing that a vent cover in the door was loose, he removed it with a screwdriver from his patrol car and discovered six small packages of tin foil containing cocaine.
Officer Toler testified that he decided he wanted to search the car thoroughly after receiving the NCIC response and before returning to defendant's car. He was suspicious because the occupants of the car were Latin American and were traveling east to a large city, and because of the irregularity in the title. According to Officer Toler's testimony, these are characteristics he believed to be common in drug cases. He also testified that he made a conscious decision not to ask for a written consent to search, even though he had consent forms in his patrol car. He estimated that about ten minutes elapsed from the time defendant entered the roadblock until the cocaine was found.
After a hearing, the trial court entered an order that contained findings of fact. With respect to the roadblock, the trial court found: " he roadblock was conducted in daylight with due regard for proper location, equipment, officers and traffic conditions. The Court finds no evidence of the delegation of unbridled discretion to the officers nor did they act to assume same."
The trial court also specifically found "that Officer Toler did ask to look into the vehicle" and that "defendant was not afraid or frightened." The trial court found that "the consent to search the vehicle was not confusing nor misleading," and that, although defendant was present throughout the search, he did not "give the officer any indication of any lack of consent to search the automobile." Finally, the trial court found that "the brief detention was reasonable."
Based on these findings, the trial court ruled the roadblock was valid. The court sustained the search on the basis of a valid consent and denied defendant's motion to suppress.
THE VALIDITY OF THE ROADBLOCK.
New Mexico recognizes the validity of routine roadblock stops for the purpose of checking driver's licenses, registrations, and proof of insurance. State v. Bloom, 90 N.M. 192, 561 P.2d 465 (1977); State v. Bidegain, 88 N.M. 466, 541 P.2d 971 (1975); State v. Ruud, 90 N.M. 647, 567 P.2d 496 (Ct. App.1977). The Tenth Circuit has, on several occasions, approved the application of roadblocks set up to make routine checks of licenses and registrations. United States v. Diaz-Albertini, 772 F.2d 654 (10th Cir.1985).
Defendant concedes the validity of systematic non-random roadblocks, but he argues that the lack of written guidelines setting explicit and neutral limitations on the conduct of individual officers violates the standards articulated in Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 99 S. Ct. 1391, 59 L. Ed. 2d 660 (1979). In Delaw
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