 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Clark v. Municipality of Anchorage5/13/2005
No. 1983
Before: Coats, Chief Judge, and Mannheimer and Stewart, Judges.
MANNHEIMER, Judge, concurring.
Scott R. Clark was convicted of operating a motor vehicle without a current liability insurance policy in violation of Anchorage Municipal Code (AMC) 09.28.030. That ordinance provides that an owner or operator of a motor vehicle must have "a current motor vehicle liability policy, or other security that complies with Alaska Statutes Title 28, when operating the vehicle within the municipality."
Clark raises several constitutional arguments relating to his conviction. Clark claims that the district court should have suppressed his admission that he had no insurance because he was not given Miranda warnings. Clark also contends that the district court should have excluded his admission because the prosecution had not independently shown the corpus delicti of the offense. Finally, Clark claims that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for operating a motor vehicle without a current liability insurance policy. For the reasons explained below, we reject Clark's claims and affirm his conviction.
Facts and Proceedings
On February 19, 2003, Anchorage Police Officers Genevieve M. Haskins and Pablo Jose Paiz stopped a vehicle because the registration on its rear license plate had expired and because the vehicle had a broken taillight. Clark was the driver. Haskins asked Clark for his driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance. Clark provided his driver's license and his vehicle registration, but did not provide proof of insurance. Clark told Haskins that he did not have insurance. Haskins cited Clark for violating AMC 09.28.030.
Clark moved to dismiss the case, or alternatively, to suppress statements he had made concerning the status of his insurance on the ground that the stop was illegal. Clark also claimed that because the officer's request for his driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance amounted to custodial questioning, his rights to remain silent and to contact an attorney were violated.
District Court Judge James N. Wanamaker held an evidentiary hearing. After Officer Paiz testified, Clark withdrew his claim that the stop was illegal. However, Clark still argued that his admission that he had no insurance should be suppressed. Rather than arguing that Clark's admission was the product of custodial questioning, Clark's attorney argued that suppression was required because the ordinance "basically forces my client to implicate himself in a crime, violating his right to remain silent, and his right against self-incrimination."
Judge Wanamaker found that the traffic stop was "ordinary," and ruled that Miranda warnings were not required. He denied Clark's motion to dismiss the case or to suppress his statement that he had no insurance. Judge Wanamaker did not explicitly discuss Clark's claim that he was forced to implicate himself in violation of his right against self-incrimination.
At trial, Clark objected on corpus delicti grounds to the introduction of his statement that he had no insurance. District Court Judge Stephanie Rhoades overruled this objection, finding that there was sufficient corroborating evidence supporting the introduction of Clark's statement.
The jury convicted Clark of operating a vehicle without insurance. Clark appeals, challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance, Judge Wanamaker's suppression decision, and Judge Rhoades's corpus delicti ruling. Clark also claims that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction.
Discussion
Is AMC 0
Page 1 2 3 4 Alaska DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|