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Siirila v. State10/13/1999
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
No. 4138
Appeal from the Superior Court, Third Judicial District, Kenai, Harold M. Brown, Judge.
Following a plea of no contest, Kenneth R. Siirila was convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI), a class C felony, and driving while license canceled, suspended, or revoked, a class A misdemeanor. Siirila appeals, contending that Superior Court Judge Harold M. Brown should have suppressed the evidence because the traffic stop was not justified by reasonable suspicion. We affirm.
At approximately 6 p.m. on June 20, 1997, Seward Police Officer Louis Tiner was on patrol in his vehicle when he saw Siirila's car stop at an intersection which had no stop sign, nor a marked crosswalk, in Siirila's direction of travel. Nor was there any pedestrian traffic - or anything else - that might have warranted Siirila's stop. Siirila then turned right, crossing over the fog lines of both 3rd Avenue and Adam Street. Tiner then followed Siirila to the next intersection, where he stopped for a stop sign. Tiner watched Siirila turn right, again crossing over the fog lines of two streets. Tiner followed Siirila, who continued on, driving at "a very slow rate of speed" even though there was "not . . . a lot of traffic." Tiner then saw Siirila again stop at an intersection "where there was no stop sign for him, no people crossing in the crosswalk, waited for several seconds before making a right-hand turn[.]"
Tiner testified that he could recall no other vehicles at the two intersections where Siirila stopped when there was no controlling stop sign, nor could he recall "anything at either of those intersections that would have warranted a stop in the middle of the roadway."
In response to Judge Brown's questions, Tiner told the Judge that he thought those stops were unusual, and that "an individual stopping in the middle of the roadway at no stop sign" was a "hazard."
Tiner testified that:
ased on -- on my experience and -- and training, I -- I figured that there was something wrong with the individual that was driving. Either they didn't know where they were going or they were impaired, and -- and felt like the individual should be talked to. I didn't understand why the vehicle would cut the corners. I didn't understand why the vehicle was stopping at every intersection that they came to.
Tiner then activated his overhead lights and pulled Siirila over. During the stop, Siirila admitted and Tiner verified through his dispatcher that Siirila's license had been revoked.
On appeal, Siirila contends that Judge Brown should have suppressed the evidence from an unjustified investigative stop. Before the trial, Siirila moved to suppress the evidence, arguing that the traffic stop had been illegal because it was not based on reasonable suspicion. The court held an evidentiary hearing, at which Tiner testified as outlined above. Siirila did not testify.
Following the hearing, Judge Brown denied the motion to suppress.
Judge Brown found that:
The police officer observed the defendant driving in downtown Seward at approximately six o'clock in the evening under circumstances where there was a lot of cars parked on the side of the road, and some traffic. None of the single incidents that the police officer spoke about as being unusual driving on the part of the defendant in and of itself would have created the articulable suspicion in his mind of imminent -- that the person was impaired. But looking at the totality of the circumstances presents a little bit different problem.
You've got at least twice when the defendan
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