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State v. Justesen5/16/2002
OPINION (For Official Publication)
The State appeals from an order granting Alan Justesen's (Justesen) Motion to Suppress. We reverse and remand.
BACKGROUND
On June 17, 2000, at approximately 12:45 a.m., Sergeant Tom Stefanoff (Stefanoff), of the Carbon County Sheriff's Department, was patrolling a desolate stretch of Airport Road one mile east of the airport in Carbon County, when he came upon a white 1991 Ford minivan. The minivan had no lights on and Stefanoff was uncertain if the minivan was occupied. As such, Stefanoff decided to check and see if the minivan was broken down, abandoned, or if the occupants in the minivan, assuming there were occupants, needed assistance.
Stefanoff pulled off the road, and, with his patrol vehicle's headlights on, ultimately stopped six to eight feet behind the minivan. The only illumination in the area came from Stefanoff's headlights. Accordingly, after stopping his vehicle, Stefanoff activated his "take-down lights" "to illuminate the area" for safety reasons. Stefanoff did not activate his vehicle's high beam headlights, nor the red and blue flashing lights located on the light bar.
Stefanoff exited his vehicle and approached the minivan. He noticed the minivan's brake lights illuminate as he proceeded to the driver's side of the minivan. As he continued toward the front of the minivan, Stefanoff saw Justesen sitting in the driver's seat with the keys in the ignition. The minivan was not running.
Stefanoff spoke with Justesen through the driver's side window, which was already down, and asked for Justesen's identification. Justesen identified himself as "Steve Templeton" and told Stefanoff that he had no identification. During the encounter, Stefanoff smelled the odor of alcohol emanating from Justesen. Accordingly, Stefanoff asked Justesen if he had been drinking. Justesen admitted to having had a few drinks. At that point, Stefanoff asked Justesen to exit the minivan and perform several field sobriety tests. Stefanoff subsequently arrested Justesen for driving under the influence . A search of Justesen's vehicle, incident to arrest, uncovered Justesen's wallet containing his identification, revealing his real name.
Justesen was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving on a denied license, and providing false information to a police officer. Justesen filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the encounter was a level two stop not supported by a reasonable suspicion that Justesen had committed or was about to commit a crime. The trial court granted the motion, suppressing the conversation between Stefanoff and Justesen, as well as Stefanoff's observations, both of which led to the arrest. The State appeals.
ISSUE AND STANDARD OF REVIEW
The State argues the trial court erred by concluding that the encounter was a level two stop, and therefore, in granting Justesen's Motion to Suppress. We review a trial court's conclusions of law for correctness, "with a measure of discretion given to the trial judge's application of the legal standard to the facts." State v. Veteto, 2000 UT 62, , 6 P.3d 1133.
ANALYSIS
The trial court concluded that the encounter between Stefanoff and Justesen was a level two stop because Stefanoff activated his "take down lights" after he pulled up behind Justesen's minivan. The State argues that the encounter between Stefanoff and Justesen was a voluntary level one encounter that did not rise to a level two stop simply because Stefanoff activated his "take down lights." We agree.
It is well-established that there are three "levels of constitutionally permis
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