Layne v. Commonwealth9/1/1992
OPINION BY JUDGE SAM W. COLEMAN III
Tammy Renee Layne was convicted in a bench trial for driving while intoxicated in violation of Code § 18.2-266. She contends that the arresting officer illegally stopped and detained her; therefore, she argues that the evidence of her driving while intoxicated was illegally obtained and should have been suppressed. Specifically, she asserts that the officer lacked a reasonable and articulable suspicion that she was engaged in criminal activity when he stopped her.
We uphold the ruling of the trial court. When the officer stopped Layne, based upon information he had received and facts observed, he had a reasonable, articulable basis for making a brief investigative Terry stop to inquire of Layne's identity and whether her purpose in being in the area was criminal in nature. Thus, since the evidence of Layne's intoxication was obtained as the result of a lawful investigative detention, we affirm her conviction.
"'If there are articulable facts supporting a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed a criminal offense, that person may be stopped in order to identify him, to question him briefly, or to detain him briefly while attempting to obtain additional information.'" Williams v. Commonwealth, 4 Va. App. 53, 64, 354 S.E.2d 79, 85 (1987) (emphasis added) (quoting Hayes v. Florida, 470 U.S. 811, 816, 84 L. Ed. 2d 705, 105 S. Ct. 1643 (1985)). It is sufficient to justify an investigative detention if the officer reasonably suspects that the person "is committing, has committed or is about to commit" a crime. Simmons v. Commonwealth, 217 Va. 552, 557, 231 S.E.2d 218, 221-22 (1977). An investigative detention to detect or prevent incipient criminal activity is, when supported by the officer's reasonable and articulable suspicion that criminal activity may be afoot, consonant with the fourth amendment protections against unreasonable seizures. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 23, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889, 88 S. Ct. 1868 (1968); Lansdown v. Commonwealth, 226 Va. 204, 210, 308 S.E.2d 106, 110 (1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1104 (1984). For an investigative detention to be valid, "the detaining officers must have a particularized and objective basis [under the totality of the circumstances] for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity." Leeth v. Commonwealth, 223 Va. 335, 340, 288 S.E.2d 475, 478 (1982).
Officer T.L. Williams, the arresting officer, was dispatched at approximately 4:30 a.m. to a Stafford Street address in Lynchburg, Virginia, to investigate a reported assault and battery. At the address, he spoke with Sherry Lynn Falls. She informed him that Tammy Renee Layne had attacked her approximately fifteen minutes earlier in Amherst County. Falls provided Officer Williams with a physical description of Layne. She also told the officer that Layne had left her automobile parked in front of Falls' residence. Falls had reported the incident because, apparently, she was concerned that when Layne returned to her vehicle, further trouble might ensue. Shortly thereafter, Officer Williams observed Layne get into her vehicle in front of Falls' residence and drive away. He followed her, activated his lights, and
stopped Layne's vehicle. Officer Williams approached the vehicle, asked Layne to identify herself, and asked for her license and registration. When she complied with his requests,
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