 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Arroyos5/23/2005
{1} The State appeals from the district court's order suppressing evidence and dismissing the DWI charge against Ruben Arroyos (Defendant) where a Deputy Marshal of the Town of Mesilla stopped Defendant in the City of Las Cruces for erratic driving. On appeal, the State contends that the district court did not have authority to suppress and dismiss these charges, that the Deputy Marshal's stop was justified as a lesser intrusion than the citizen's arrest that he was entitled to make, and that he acted reasonably and within his authority.
As discussed below, we reverse.
BACKGROUND
{2} On December 22, 2002, Deputy Marshal Lawrence Louick of the Town of Mesilla Marshal's Department observed Defendant's vehicle traveling west on University Avenue, which is within the boundary of the City of Las Cruces, not the Town of Mesilla.
Initially, Deputy Marshal Louick observed Defendant make a wide right turn onto University Avenue, and observed Defendant's vehicle brake lights come on several times as he proceeded southbound on University Avenue. Deputy Marshal Louick followed Defendant's vehicle and, when Defendant turned southbound onto Stern Drive, the vehicle traveled to the left of the center line into the northbound lane for a significant distance before drifting back into the southbound lane. Deputy Marshal Louick then stopped Defendant and requested dispatch to send a Doña Ana County sheriff's deputy to the scene. While waiting for the sheriff's deputy, Deputy Marshal Louick approached Defendant, smelled alcohol on his breath, and had Defendant perform a finger-count test and recite the alphabet, which he recited only to the letter "D" and slurred his speech badly. At that time, Defendant admitted drinking alcohol. When Doña Ana County Sheriff's Deputy Timothy Girard arrived on the scene, Deputy Marshal Louick told him what had happened and then left. When Deputy Girard spoke to Defendant, he noticed that Defendant had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and smelled of alcohol. Deputy Girard had Defendant perform the "walk and turn" and the "one-leg stand" field sobriety tests, both of which Defendant failed. Deputy Girard then arrested Defendant for DWI. There is nothing in the record that leads us to believe that Deputy Girard relied upon Deputy Marshal Louick's finger test or alphabet test. But, instead, Deputy Girard relied upon the field sobriety tests that he administered and Defendant failed.
{3} Deputy Marshal Louick testified that he was employed by the Town of Mesilla as a deputy marshal, and has been certified by the State of New Mexico as a law enforcement officer. He also admitted that he had no other authorization as a law enforcement officer, and had not been cross-commissioned, appointed, or cross- designated as a special deputy sheriff of the County of Doña Ana. It is undisputed that, from the initial observation by Deputy Marshal Louick all the way to the location of the stop, Defendant's vehicle, at no time, was within the jurisdictional boundary of the Town of Mesilla. In district court, Defendant moved to suppress the evidence and dismiss the charges on the grounds that Deputy Marshal Louick lacked jurisdictional authority to stop him. The district court dismissed with prejudice the State's claims against Defendant, ruling that Deputy Marshal Louick was without authority to stop Defendant outside the town limits of Mesilla. The State appeals.
DISCUSSION
May a deputy marshal, who observes erratic driving behavior, initiate a traffic stop outside his jurisdictional territory, when he is neither cross-commissioned nor in fresh pursuit, and where a local sheriff's deputy subsequently arrives on the scene, h
Page 1 2 3 4 New Mexico DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|