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State v. Seaman12/6/2005
Submitted on Briefs: September 7, 2005
Tammie Seaman was convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) following the Justice Court's denial of her motion to suppress. She appealed to the District Court for the Eighth Judicial District, Cascade County. The District Court determined that the officer involved had no lawful basis to stop and detain Seaman for a welfare check under the Community Caretaker Doctrine. Hence, the District Court reversed the Justice Court's Order denying Seaman's motion to suppress and further reversed the resulting Justice Court judgment of conviction. The State now appeals asking that we reverse the District Court and order that Seaman's DUI conviction be reinstated. We reverse and remand.
We address the following issue on appeal: Whether the District Court misinterpreted or misapplied the Community Caretaker Doctrine and thereby erroneously reversed the Justice Court's Order denying Seaman's motion to suppress.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On January 6, 2004, at about 3:15 p.m., Officer Robert Armstrong of the Montana Highway Patrol was driving northbound on Interstate 15 about four miles northwest of Great Falls. As he drove by the Manchester Interchange, Officer Armstrong looked to his left across the median to the southbound lane and saw a red passenger car parked on the shoulder of the off-ramp of the interchange. He noticed that there was someone sitting in the driver's seat of the vehicle. The temperature at the time was near zero, with a substantial sub-zero wind chill factor.
Officer Armstrong, who has over eight years of experience with the Montana Highway Patrol, became concerned that someone in the parked car might need assistance, hence he decided to check out the situation. He drove up the interstate for about half a mile, turned onto the southbound lane at a crossover, and drove back to the parked car. When Officer Armstrong pulled up behind the parked car and turned on his overhead emergency lights, his dash-mounted video camera was automatically activated, and the events that followed were recorded.
As Officer Armstrong drove up behind the parked car, he observed that the person who had been in the car and who was later identified as Seaman, was now standing outside the car on the passenger side and that both passenger side doors were open. Officer Armstrong did not see anyone else in the car. As Officer Armstrong pulled up to a stop behind the car, Seaman closed the car doors and walked slowly around the back of the car, holding onto the rear and side of the car and glancing toward the patrol car. Seaman continued to the front of her car, opened the driver's door, and got into the car. Officer Armstrong got out of his patrol car, activated the external microphone on his uniform, and walked up to the driver's window.
Officer Armstrong later testified that because he was still unsure that everything was okay, he went up to the driver's window and asked Seaman some questions. As he did so, he noticed that Seaman's eyes were bloodshot and glassy, her speech was slurred, and he smelled the odor of alcohol. Seaman told Officer Armstrong that she and her car were okay and that she had stopped her car because she had asthma. When Officer Armstrong asked if she had a medical problem and if she needed an ambulance, she responded that she did not. When Officer Armstrong asked her if she had been drinking, Seaman initially said she had not, but she later admitted that she had had several beers.
Based on his observations, Officer Armstrong decided to commence a DUI investigation. After further questioning and the administration of the horizontal gaze nystagmu
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