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Castle v. State5/5/2000
[No. 1670- May 5, 2000]
Appeal from the Superior Court, Fourth Judicial District, Fairbanks, Sigurd E. Murphy, Judge.
COATS, Chief Judge, dissenting.
On December 4, 1997, at approximately 3:30 in the morning, Fairbanks Police Officer Gary A. Yamamoto stopped a vehicle because one of its headlights was out. Donald L. Castle was a passenger in this car.
Officer Yamamoto questioned the driver, Michael Browning, and found out that Browning's driver's license was revoked. As Yamamoto was taking Browning into custody, Castle got out of the car and announced that he wanted to leave. Yamamoto directed Castle to get back in the car and stay there until the officer could interview him. Yamamoto then escorted Browning back to his patrol car. While Yamamoto's attention was focused on the driver, Castle walked away from the scene.
After securing Browning in his patrol car, Yamamoto began driving through the neighborhood, searching for Castle. Yamamoto discovered Castle walking along the street, on the sidewalk. The officer pulled his patrol car alongside Castle and stated, "Sir, I need to talk to you for just a moment." At that point, Castle started running. Castle left the sidewalk and ran into the middle of the street, right in front of Yamamoto's patrol car. Yamamoto turned on his overhead lights and gave chase.
Yamamoto followed Castle for approximately three blocks. Observing that Castle was beginning to tire , the officer pulled up next to Castle, rolled down his window, and gave Castle a push into the snowbank on the side of the road. Yamamoto then got out of his patrol car and chased Castle on foot. When the officer caught Castle, the two men grappled for a few minutes, but Castle eventually submitted.
Yamamoto handcuffed Castle and patted him down for weapons. Although he found no weapons, Yamamoto carried Castle back to the patrol car and searched him again for drugs. This search yielded several small plastic bags with white powder residue in them; this residue field-tested positive for cocaine. Yamamoto then arrested Castle. Castle subsequently pleaded no contest to fourth-degree misconduct involving controlled substances , reserving his right to contest the legality of the stop that led to the discovery of the cocaine.
On appeal, Castle renews his challenge to the legality of the stop, but he also disputes the intensity of the search that followed the stop. He points out that, during an investigative stop, an officer may engage in only a limited body search: a pat-down for weapons. Castle argues that even if Yamamoto was justified in making the stop, the officer nevertheless exceeded his authority when he searched Castle for drugs after the weapons pat-down yielded nothing.
This second argument concerning the intensity of the search is raised for the first time on appeal; Castle did not present it to the superior court. Accordingly, we decline to address it. We turn, instead, to the issue that Castle did preserve: the legality of the stop.
" henever a police officer accosts an individual and restrains his freedom to walk away, [the officer] has `seized' that person" for purposes of the Fourth Amendment. Moreover, a police officer's conduct may be deemed a "restraint" of a citizen's freedom even when the officer does not use force. " he question of whether an investigative stop occurred [hinges on whether] the challenged police conduct would lead a reasonable person to believe that the person was not free to leave." Because the average person often feels "an obligation to respond to [police] questions and not to walk away", a seizure occurs only when the police officer
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