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State v. Labuda8/10/2004
Submitted on Briefs: May 19, 2004
Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court 1996 Internal Operating Rules, the following decision shall not be cited as precedent. The decision 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.
Alan Jay Labuda (Labuda) appeals the judgment of the Twelfth Judicial District Court, Hill County, denying his motion to suppress.
We address the following issue on appeal and affirm: Did the officers have particularized suspicion in stopping the minivan in which Labuda was a passenger?
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On May 28, 2002, Alex Giles (Giles), a traveling salesperson, was driving from Great Falls back home to Havre. Around Big Sandy, Giles noticed that a vehicle had pulled out behind him. The vehicle was traveling in the same direction as Giles; however, it was traveling on the wrong side of the road. The vehicle eventually returned to the right side of the road as it neared the Big Sandy city limits.
The vehicle then passed Giles, during which time Giles noted that the vehicle was "a dark colored Chevy pickup." Giles then noticed that the vehicle "began drifting from one lane to the other, close to the ditch," and that another vehicle that the driver of the pickup had also passed "had to get to the shoulder of the road" to let the driver of the pickup by, as the driver did not pass in the appropriate lane.
Giles called 911, telling the dispatcher that he thought that the driver of the pickup was driving under the influence . The 911 dispatcher asked Giles if it was possible for him to get a license number. Hence, Giles drove "between 95 and 100 miles an hour" in order to "catch" the pickup, traveling a distance of "14 or 15 miles" before getting behind the pickup. Giles was then "a few feet behind," the pickup, and he gave the dispatcher the license number. He also noticed that the driver of the pickup "appeared to have kind of longer, bushier hair and seemed to be wearing a baseball cap." When asked for an estimation of the driver's height, Giles told the dispatcher that based on how tall the driver seemed to sit in the driver's seat, he estimated the driver's height to be "around six-feet tall."
Giles and the driver of the pickup then entered the town of Laredo, at which time Giles pulled over and watched the driver drive to a residence. Giles then observed the driver go back and forth from his residence to the pickup several times. He then saw another vehicle--a minivan--turn off of the highway and drive to the same residence.
Giles next observed "the person that appeared to be driving the pickup" get into the minivan. It was at this time that the summoned officers arrived, namely Deputy Dwyer and Deputy Ross. However, before arriving, Deputy Dwyer received information from the dispatcher that the vehicle matching the license and description relayed to her by Giles came back registered to Labuda.
Upon arriving, Deputy Dwyer and Giles began talking "for a short time," after which the minivan left the residence and proceeded to drive towards Giles, Deputy Dwyer, and Deputy Ross. At that time, Deputy Dwyer stopped the minivan. Deputy Ross advised Deputy Dwyer that he recognized the passenger in the minivan as Labuda. Deputy Dwyer then spoke to Labuda, noting Labuda "was slurring his words," and that he had to repeat the questions he was asking Labuda several times because he could not unders
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