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Delgado v. State10/20/1999
4140 NOTICE
Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d) and Paragraph 7 of the Guidelines for Publication of Court of Appeals Decisions (Court of Appeals Order No. 3). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited for any proposition of law, nor as an example of the proper resolution of any issue.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
Appeal from the Superior Court, Fourth Judicial District, Fairbanks, Mark I. Wood, Judge.
A jury convicted Ramon O. Delgado of driving while intoxicated (DWI) and refusal to submit to a breath test, both class C felonies, and driving while license suspended (DWLS), a class A misdemeanor. Delgado appeals, contending that Acting Superior Court Judge Mark I. Wood should have suppressed the evidence because the traffic stop was not justified by a reasonable suspicion and should not have instructed the jury that being "under the influence" of intoxicants, for purposes of the DWI count, meant being "impaired in any way" by intoxicants. We affirm.
At about 1 a.m. on June 28, 1997, Fairbanks Police Officers Thomas Clarke and Ron Bowers were on patrol in their vehicle when they saw Delgado's car remain stopped at a green light for about ten to fifteen seconds and then turn and drive very slowly-"almost at a crawl." The officers followed Delgado's car, which continued to drive slowly, for one or two blocks. When Clarke then activated the patrol car's overhead lights, Delgado stopped his car, got out, walked quickly, and later ran away from the officers. The officers finally caught up to Delgado and arrested him (on an arrest warrant for another offense). At the time, the officers were also concerned that Delgado was intoxicated, not solely because of his driving behavior, but also because he had been weaving when he ran from them and had a "fairly strong" odor of alcohol; but Delgado refused to take any field sobriety tests. At the police station, Delgado refused to submit to breath testing on the Intoximeter 3000. At Delgado's request, the police transported him to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where his blood was drawn. His blood-alcohol level was 0.082 percent.
Delgado did not testify at trial or present a defense. The jury convicted Delgado of felony DWI, refusal, and DWLS.
On appeal, Delgado first contends that Judge Wood should have suppressed the evidence from an unjustified investigative stop.
Before the trial, Delgado moved to suppress the evidence, arguing that the traffic stop had been illegal because it was based on a hunch and not a reasonable suspicion. The court held an evidentiary hearing, at which the police officers testified as outlined above (except for Delgado's blood-test result). Delgado testified, in pertinent part, that he had stopped at the green light to let people cross the street, then drove slowly at first because he thought the green light would change back to red. Then, after making the turn, he drove the speed limit.
Judge Wood denied the motion to suppress. Judge Wood summarized the officers' testimony and then stated:
A extremely slow-moving vehicle late at night is sufficient to raise reasonable suspicion on the officers, particularly where there's a delayed reaction which could indicate mental impairment. It could also indicate a disabled vehicle, but the vehicle wasn't disabled-it proceeded forward. So it was reasonable for the officers to suspect that Mr. Delgado had some sort of mental impairment and that was the reason for his delayed reaction to the light.
And the slow crawl around the corner through the light and then down First Avenue confirm
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