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[T] State v. Crasco9/19/2003
Submitted on Briefs: July 10, 2003
Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court 1996 Internal Operating Rules, the following decision shall not be cited as precedent but shall be filed as a public document with the Clerk of the Supreme Court and shall be reported by case title, Supreme Court cause number and result to the State Reporter Publishing Company and to West Group in the quarterly table of noncitable cases issued by this Court.
Luther Joe Crasco (Crasco) appeals from the March 15, 2001 order of the Seventeenth Judicial District Court, Phillips County, denying his Motion to Suppress and Dismiss the charges of Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, first offense, § 61-8401, MCA (1999) and Improper Passing in a No Passing Zone § 61-8-326, MCA (1999). We affirm.
ISSUES
Crasco presents four issues on appeal, which this Court restates as two:
1. Was the District Court's denial of Crasco's Motion to Suppress and Dismiss, on the ground that the officers had particularized suspicion for an investigative stop, clearly erroneous?
2. Was the District Court's denial of Crasco's Motion to Suppress and Dismiss, on the ground that the officers had probable cause for arrest, clearly erroneous?
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On the evening of October 15, 1999, Phillips County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Solberg and Reserve Deputy Allen Guderjahn approached the Milk River Bridge from the westbound lane of U.S. Highway 2. They observed an eastbound small, dark truck cross the double line into the westbound lane, passing two eastbound vehicles in a no-passing zone on the bridge.
Deputy Solberg pulled off the road to avoid the oncoming vehicle in his lane of travel. As Guderjahn watched the departing truck, Deputy Solberg drove across the bridge, turned his patrol vehicle around in a parking lot, and drove east across the bridge to follow the truck. After traveling a short distance on Highway 191, the deputies came up behind a green Ford Ranger pickup truck driven by Crasco. They witnessed the truck drive around an obstruction in the road and pull into the parking lot of a convenience store. Crasco's truck circled around the store's gas pumps and turned to re-enter Highway 191 when the deputies executed a traffic stop.
Crasco maintains that the deputies stopped the wrong truck. Both he and his passenger, son Brandon Crasco, testified that they did not pass any vehicles on the Milk River Bridge, did not see any other vehicles on the bridge, and did not see a truck pass other vehicles. While the deputies conceded that they saw neither the driver nor the license number of the pickup which executed the illegal pass, both deputies testified that they did not lose sight of the suspect vehicle and that they were certain Crasco's truck was the vehicle they witnessed performing the illegal pass on the bridge. However, as Crasco notes, there was some discrepancy in the deputies' testimony and reports as to their exact location at the time they observed the illegal maneuver. Guderjahn admitted it was possible he may have lost sight of the truck momentarily as Deputy Solberg turned the patrol vehicle around.
Crasco admitted he had consumed a few beers and Deputy Solberg testified that he smelled alcohol on Crasco when he approached Crasco's truck. Because Deputy Solberg observed clues which suggested Crasco might be under the influence of alcohol, the deputies radioed Montana Highway Patrolman Ralph Atchley to borrow his Portable Breath Test (PBT) unit. After Patrolman Atchley arrived, Crasco refused to take a PBT test. He did not perform th
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