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State v. Martinez4/1/2003
Heard: October 2, 2001
Submitted: December 12, 2002
Jesus Martinez and Daniel Olson pled guilty to felony drug offenses, while preserving the right to appeal the denial of separate motions to suppress evidence gathered as a result of an investigative stop of their vehicle. We reverse the order of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, denying the Appellants' motions to suppress.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The investigative stop of Jesus Martinez and Daniel Olson on the afternoon of November 4, 1999, culminated a two-week investigation by the Billings Police Department's Special Investigation Unit (SIU). The issue on appeal is whether the police officers had a particularized suspicion to justify the stop. Because a finding of particularized suspicion is fact-specific, we recount the events leading up to the stop in some detail.
On October 20, 1999, Detective Richard Hirschi received a call from a woman who stated a man named Ricky would arrive in Billings within three days with fifty pounds of marijuana. According to the woman, Ricky would travel from Oregon in a tan Thunderbird with license plate number WFY768 and stay at the Townhouse Motel . Later that day, Hirschi met the caller and signed her up as a confidential informant. The woman stated that she was the girlfriend of a man named Daniel Olson, who lived in Havre, Montana, and that her boyfriend knew about many illegal dealings.
Hirschi and Detective Ken Paharik followed up the tip by visiting the Townhouse Motel and determining that a Thunderbird with a similar plate number had been listed on the motel register two weeks earlier by a guest named Jesus Martinez. Martinez had stayed at the Townhouse on October 1 and 2, 1999, and on October 12 through 14, 1999. The detectives ran a vehicle registration check and learned that the plate number provided by the informant was registered to Pedro Martinez Acezedo of Salem, Oregon, for a tan-colored 1989 Thunderbird. Upon questioning, Townhouse employees reported noticing no suspicious activity during Martinez's prior stays at the motel. The police requested that motel personnel contact them should Martinez check-in again.
On November 2, 1999, the motel clerk alerted Hirschi that Martinez had again registered and that he was driving a small 1986 Chevrolet truck with Oregon plates. The police verified the truck was registered to a Mario Rodriguez of Monmounth, Oregon. Later that day, the confidential informant called again and told Hirschi that Ricky had checked-in at the Townhouse. In addition, the informant related that Daniel Olson had stolen a flat-bed truck in Great Falls and driven it to Billings. She directed the police to a three-block area where the truck was parked in Billings. The detectives verified that a truck stolen in Great Falls the previous day was at the described location.
The police placed Martinez under surveillance shortly after his arrival in Billings and continued to follow his movements for most of the next two and one-half days. Throughout this time, the surveillance team observed no activity that they associated with drug-dealing. The officers saw no persons come to or leave Martinez's motel room; did not witness Martinez meeting with people in bars or restaurants, on the street or at other public places; and never observed Martinez carrying large sacks or luggage to or from his vehicle.
During the second day of surveillance, the police pulled Martinez over for illegally changing lanes on a Billings street. After questioning him, the officers requested permission to search the vehicle. Martinez consented. Officer Lamb and the depa
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