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State v. Superior Court11/21/1984
This is a special action brought by the State from a decision of the Superior Court of Pima County affirming the granting of defendants' motion to dismiss the complaints against them. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Art. 6, § 5 of the Arizona Constitution.
We must decide the following issue: Were the sobriety checkpoints conducted by the Tucson Police Department between 9 December 1983 and 31 December 1983 constitutional?
The facts follow. The Tucson Police Department set up a series of sobriety checkpoints between 9 and 31 December 1983. The stops were constructed and operated according to an extensive command directive compiled by the Commander of the Traffic Enforcement Division. The checkpoints were not to be set up on main, high traffic volume arteries. The directive provided that a driver would first encounter a sign saying "Reduce Speed Ahead." Approximately two hundred feet from the sign would be another sign saying "Speed Limit Twenty Five Miles Per Hour." Another hundred feet away a sign stated "Sobriety Checkpoint Ahead." A coning pattern was placed eight hundred feet further away to divert traffic. If there were any side streets before the coning pattern, a No-Turn sign would be placed in front of the street. After the cones there would be a "Prepare to Stop" sign and two hundred feet from that would be a stop sign. A police officer would approach the car and ask the driver to pull up to a second officer. This first officer would shine a flashlight into the car to determine whether the driver or passenger had any weapons. The second officer would then ask the driver to produce his driver's license. He would also shine a light into the car to look for open containers and observe the driver closely for signs of intoxication and would be permitted to ask him such questions as "where have you been tonight" and "what do you think about checkpoints." If the officer had no basis for believing that the driver
was intoxicated, the driver would be permitted to proceed. The entire process took anywhere from five to twenty seconds. If the driver seemed to be impaired the officer would ask him to proceed into a predesignated parking area where he would be asked to perform a field sobriety test.
The police were also prepared for drivers attempting to avoid the roadblock. A chase officer would follow any driver making a turn prior to the initial reduce speed ahead sign for one mile. If any traffic violations or problems were noted that would warrant a stop under normal circumstances, a stop would be made to check for impairment. The same procedure would occur for a person who drove safely through the roadblock but refused to talk with the officers. If a driver made a turn at a No-Turn sign, a chase officer would stop the driver to check for signs of intoxication. No citations were issued for traffic violations such as driving with an expired license. Rather, the driver would be informed of the violation and advised to correct the deficiency.
Defendants Gene Simmons, Mary Miller, Glen Ethington and Jerry Collier were stopped pursuant to these checkpoints and arrested for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor, A.R.S. § 28-692. They each filed a motion to dismiss, alleging that the checkpoints were unconstitutional. The four motions were consolidated for hearing and granted by the Municipal Court judge (the trial court). The state appealed to the Pima County Superior Court, Ariz. Const. Art. 6, § 16 and A.R.S. § 12-124, and the trial court ruling was affirmed. We accepted
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