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Simmons v. Commonwealth6/9/1989
In this appeal, we examine the constitutionality of a roadblock established for the purpose of checking the equipment and the registration of motor vehicles.
At 8:00 p.m. on July 10, 1986, two Virginia State Troopers set up a checking detail or roadblock at the intersection of Route 601 and Route 776 in Dinwiddie County. The troopers stopped all vehicles entering the checkpoint and inspected drivers' licenses and equipment.
Gary Lee Simmons, who had been fishing that afternoon, was stopped at the checkpoint at 8:55 p.m. One of the officers, Trooper Crowder, observed that Simmons' eyes "were very red," and that Simmons had a strong odor of alcohol on his person. When asked whether he had been drinking, Simmons admitted that he had consumed five beers. Requesting that Simmons pull over and step
out of his vehicle, Trooper Crowder administered two dexterity tests, which Simmons failed. Trooper Crowder then arrested Simmons for driving under the influence of alcohol. Simmons elected to have his breath analyzed; his blood alcohol content was .11 percent.
At trial, the Commonwealth called Trooper Crowder as its only witness. Trooper Crowder testified that the two troopers had stopped all the vehicles coming through the checkpoint during the hour prior to stopping Simmons. Trooper Crowder explained that the two troopers had established the checkpoint without any prior direction from their superiors and without an existing plan. Trooper Crowder also testified that the troopers had total discretion regarding where and when they would set up the roadblock.
Because no supervisor specifically had instructed the two troopers to establish the checkpoint, Simmons argued that his stop at the checking detail did not comply with the roadblock criteria established in Lowe v. Commonwealth, 230 Va. 346, 337 S.E.2d 273, cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1084 (1986). On the premise that the stop was impermissible, Simmons argued that his breath test results were inadmissible. Overruling Simmons' motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the stop, the trial court held that because "all traffic was stopped and checked," the seizure did not violate Simmons' Fourth Amendment rights. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court. Simmons v. Commonwealth, 6 Va. App. 445, 457, 371 S.E.2d 7, 14 (1988).
[1-2] Stopping an automobile and detaining the occupants at a roadblock constitutes a seizure under the fourth amendment of the United States Constitution. Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 653 (1979); United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 556 (1976). This Court recently addressed the constitutionality of a drunk driving conviction based on evidence obtained at a roadblock. In Lowe v. Commonwealth, we undertook the analysis required to determine whether a specific roadblock was constitutional under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and art. I, § 10 of the Constitution of Virginia. Citing Delaware v. Prouse and Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47 (1979), we indicated that the legitimacy of a roadblock is determined by weighing the state's interests in establishing the roadblock against the potential intrusions on personal privacy. See Lowe, 230 Va. at 349-50, 337 S.E.2d at 277. To avoid constitutionally impermissible infringements on privacy, the roadblock
must be carried out pursuant to a plan or practice which is ex
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