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State v. Killeagle6/6/2000
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Seventeenth Judicial District, In and for the County of Phillips, The Honorable John C. McKeon, Judge presiding.
Submitted on Briefs: January 6, 2000
Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court 1996 Internal Operating Rules, the following decision shall not be cited as precedent but shall be filed as a public document with the Clerk of the Supreme Court and shall be reported by case title, Supreme Court cause number and result to the State Reporter Publishing Company and to West Group in the quarterly table of noncitable cases issued by this Court.
Joseph Michael KillEagle (KillEagle), having pled guilty to certain criminal offenses and reserved the right to appeal certain underlying matters, appeals from the ruling of the Seventeenth Judicial District Court, Phillips County, denying his motions to suppress and dismiss. We affirm.
We address the following restated issues on appeal:
1. Did the District Court err in denying KillEagle's motion to suppress, which was based on his claim that the officer lacked a particularized suspicion to justify the investigative stop of his vehicle?
2. Did a particularized suspicion exist for conducting a horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test during the investigative stop?
3. Did the District Court err in determining that KillEagle's motion to suppress the
HGN test results for lack of foundation was premature?
4. Did the officer have probable cause to arrest KillEagle for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI)?
5. Did the District Court err in denying KillEagle's motion to dismiss the charges against him for lack of evidence?
BACKGROUND
KillEagle originally was charged in the Justice Court of Phillips County with several offenses. The charges, which arose from a stop of KillEagle's vehicle by Montana Highway Patrol Officer Ralph Atchley (Atchley) some miles outside of Malta, Montana, later were amended. KillEagle moved to suppress the evidence resulting from the vehicle stop and dismiss the charges. After denying KillEagle's motions, the Justice Court convicted him of the offense of operation of a motor vehicle by a person with an alcohol concentration of 0.10 or more and driving while his license was suspended or revoked. KillEagle appealed to the District Court for a trial de novo.
KillEagle renewed his motions to suppress and dismiss in the District Court and a hearing was held. Atchley, Phillips County Deputy Sheriff Shawn VanVleet, Les KillEagle--KillEagle's father--and KillEagle all testified. At the close of the hearing, the District Court made oral findings and conclusions which expressly took into account "some confusion over the location of the particular offenses." The court concluded that particularized suspicion existed for the investigative stop, that probable cause existed thereafter for the issuance of citations, that the results of the HGN test conducted by Atchley were not so inherently unreliable as to be inadmissible as a matter of law, and that KillEagle's argument relating to the necessity of expert testimony to lay the foundation for admissibility of the HGN test results was premature because the State of Montana (State) had indicated it would call expert witnesses at trial. The effect of the District Court's findings and conclusions was to deny KillEagle's motions to suppress and dismiss.
KillEagle subsequently entered guilty pleas to the charges against him, reserving the right to appeal from the ruling on his motions. The District Court sentenced him and entered judgment. KillEagle appe
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