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Shearer v. Municipality Of Anchorage6/23/2000
Appeal from the District Court, Third Judicial District, Anchorage, Sigurd E. Murphy, Judge.
MANNHEIMER, Judge, dissenting.
Daniel Shearer was charged with one count of driving while intoxicated (DWI). Shearer moved to suppress evidence on the grounds that an off-duty police officer's encounter with Shearer in his driveway constituted an invalid investigatory stop. After District Court Judge Sigurd E. Murphy denied the motion, Shearer pled no contest to, and was found guilty of, DWI. Shearer appeals, claiming that Judge Murphy erred in denying the motion to suppress evidence. We affirm.
On January 20, 1999, just after midnight, Anchorage Police Officer Anthony Provost was driving toward the northbound Glenn Highway exit on Muldoon Road when he observed a black Jeep Cherokee pull out of a strip mall and partially obstruct the oncoming lane of traffic. Provost did not attempt to stop the Jeep because he was already committed to the Glenn Highway. Provost had just finished his shift and was on his way home to Eagle River. He was driving an unmarked Ford Aerostar van.
Provost was driving in the right hand lane on the Glenn Highway when he noticed a vehicle similar to the Jeep he had just seen pass him in the left lane at a "high rate of speed." Provost then observed the Jeep slow down to a speed of 55 miles per hour as it approached two other vehicles. The Jeep pulled over to the right hand lane and passed those vehicles. Provost testified that he watched the Jeep move back and forth between lanes, generally without signaling first (although at times the driver would signal after he entered a new lane). At one point, Provost observed the Jeep move into the right lane with its left signal on.
Provost testified that based on his training, his 20 years of experience as a police officer, and the "speeding, the slowing, the passing, the lane changes, the movement . . . from one lane to another and then the signal comes on and then back into the first lane," his impression was that the driver of the Jeep was intoxicated. Provost characterized the Jeep's movement as "gross weaving" over several lanes of the Glenn Highway. After observing the Jeep for several minutes, Provost telephoned Anchorage Police Department (APD) dispatch and advised them that he suspected that the driver of the Jeep was intoxicated. Provost asked APD to run a check on the Jeep's license plates and eventually called for assistance.
According to Provost, the Jeep took the Highland Road exit and traveled at an excessive rate of speed as it proceeded down the Loop Road toward Eagle River. Provost noted in his report that the Jeep moved from the right into the left lane and then back into the right lane traveling faster than the posted speed limit down the Loop Road. As the Jeep (and Provost) approached Kantishna Drive on the Loop Road, dispatch reported to Provost the address to which the vehicle was registered. Provost advised dispatch that the driver appeared to be headed to that address. The Jeep turned left on Kantishna Drive and spun out, turning 270 degrees. The driver corrected the turn and continued to his residence.
Although the driver of the Jeep used his remote control to open the garage door, he parked the Jeep in his driveway. Provost testified that he contacted the driver of the Jeep (Daniel Shearer) as he stepped out of the vehicle. Provost identified himself as a detective with the APD and asked Shearer to step away from the vehicle. Provost conducted a pat down search and obtained Shearer's identification. Provost testified that he detected the odor of alcoholic beverages on Shearer's person. Provost asked Shearer to perform the balance a
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