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Sasser v. City of Richland7/15/2003
NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - MISDEMEANOR
TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION: DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE , FIRST OFFENSE: SENTENCED TO FORTY-EIGHT HOURS IN RANKIN COUNTY JAIL, SUSPENDED/MASEP/VIRS, FINED $749.50 PLUS COURT COSTS OF $177.50
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 07/15/03
. Anthony Sasser was found guilty in Richland City Court of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor, first offense. He appealed to the County Court of Rankin County and was found guilty in a de novo bench trial. Sasser then perfected an appeal to the Circuit Court of Rankin County. That court affirmed the conviction. Thereafter, Sasser obtained permission to further appeal his conviction to this Court under authority of Section 11-51-81 of the Mississippi Code, contending that the appeal necessarily raised a constitutional issue; namely, that the roadblock set up by the City of Richland Police Department which resulted in his arrest constituted an unreasonable search and seizure under the Constitution of the State of Mississippi. Sasser also seeks to raise two additional issues that do not give rise to constitutional issues. We are unconvinced that the roadblock in question was conducted in violation of Sasser's rights arising under the applicable provisions of this state's constitution and decline to reverse his conviction on that basis. We also find that the remaining issues are not properly before us. For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Sasser's conviction and judgment of sentence.
I. Facts
. At approximately midnight on June 18, 2000, Sasser passed through a fixed safety checkpoint that had been set up by the City of Richland Police Department. The officer charged with checking the validity of Sasser's operator's license became concerned that Sasser may have been drinking alcoholic beverages. Ultimately, Sasser was given an intoxilyzer test that indicated his blood alcohol content exceeded the amount allowed by the statute on impaired drivers. As a result, he was charged with driving under the influence . The proceedings outlined in the initial paragraph ensued, resulting in the matter now coming before this Court.
II. The Roadblock
. In his first issue, Sasser contends that the checkpoint set up by the City of Richland Police Department was conducted in violation of protections afforded him under Article 3, Section 23 of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi, which provides as follows:
The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, and possessions, from unreasonable seizure or search; and no warrant shall be issued without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, specially designating the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized.
. At the trial in county court, the only time Sasser sought to deal with the matter of the roadblock was at the close of the evidence when he sought to have the charge dismissed as follows:
I also want to move for basically a judgment of acquittal on the ground that the initial stop was an unconstitutional violation of the Fourth Amendment . . . .
. This Court, relying on the case of Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444 (1990), has previously held that roadblocks of this nature do not violate the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Briggs v. State, 741 So. 2d 986, 989-90 ( 8-10) (Miss. Ct. App. 1999). That case, as we observed in Briggs, dealt with the distinction between fixed roadblocks where all motorists are subjected to a brief stop and roving roadblocks that are nothing more than random incidents of pulling over individual motorists. Briggs, 741 So. 2d at 989 ( 8). Althoug
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