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People v. Long8/25/2004
The State appeals from an order quashing the arrest of defendant, Michael G. Long, and suppressing the evidence stemming from that arrest. It contends that the court erred in finding that defendant lacked actual physical control of his truck at the time of his arrest for driving under the influence (DUI) (625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(1), (a)(2) (West 2002)). We hold that the uncontested evidence that defendant was lying on the seat of the truck and that the keys were on the floor under the steering column was sufficient to give the arresting officer probable cause to conclude that defendant had actual physical control of the vehicle. We also hold that defendant lacked standing to object to the arresting officer's entry onto the private property where defendant had parked the truck. As a result, we reverse the order of the trial court.
Officer Tim Hoffstead of the Genoa police department arrested defendant for DUI on June 21, 2002. Defendant moved to quash the arrest and suppress the resulting evidence, alleging only that Hoffstead lacked probable cause to make the arrest.
At the suppression hearing, Hoffstead testified that, at approximately 1 a.m. on the night of the arrest, he noticed defendant's pickup truck parked in an alley running from a side street to a parking lot between two businesses that fronted on Main Street in Genoa. The truck's lights and engine were off. Defendant introduced several exhibits, including a map and surveyor's plat, illustrating the layout of the area in which the truck was parked. **75 ***865 At defendant's request, Hoffstead pointed out (by drawing on two of the exhibits) the place in which he remembered finding the truck. These exhibits show the truck parked so as to block the alley, which was the only good way to exit the parking lot. Hoffstead understood the alley to be city property and had always patrolled it. (Defendant's exhibits suggest that both the alley and the parking lot were private property.) Because he thought that the alley was an unusual place for a vehicle to be parked at 1 a.m., he went to investigate the truck. When he shined his spotlight on the truck, it appeared to be unoccupied, but, as he approached it while shining his flashlight through the windows, defendant sat up. Hoffstead concluded that defendant had been lying across the front seat. Hoffstead found the keys to the truck on the floor of the driver's side, below the steering column. When he spoke to defendant, he smelled alcohol and noticed that defendant's eyes were glassy and bloodshot.
Defendant testified that he had parked his truck, not in the alley, *823 but instead near the back of the parking lot in a graveled parking area behind several Dumpsters. He admitted that he had been drinking that night and that, when Hoffstead found him, he had his jeans pulled halfway down because he had been urinating in the truck. Hoffstead confirmed the accuracy of defendant's description of his own condition at the time of his arrest.
The State moved for a directed finding, contending that the evidence showed that Hoffstead had a proper basis to investigate the truck and that defendant had been in actual control of it when Hoffstead found him. Defendant argued that Hoffstead had lacked a proper reason to investigate a vehicle legally parked on private property. The court ruled in the State's favor, finding that, although defendant was on private property, Hoffstead was acting properly in patrolling the lot and that, once Hoffstead encountered defendant, Hoffstead had reasonable grounds to believe that defendant was under the influence of alcohol.
Defendant moved for reconsideration, contending that case law supported the conclusion that he was not in actual physical control of the vehicle when Hoffstead found him. He argued that,
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