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State v. Almanza6/14/1999
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Eighth Judicial District, In and for the County of Cascade, Honorable Marge Johnson, Judge Presiding.
Submitted on Briefs: May 13, 1999
. 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.
. Richard James Almanza appeals the ruling of the Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County, denying his motion to suppress the State's evidence against him on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, in violation of § 61-8-401, MCA. We affirm the ruling of the District Court.
ISSUE
. Did the District Court err in denying Almanza's motion to suppress the State's evidence on the grounds that the arresting officer lacked a particularized suspicion justifying the stop?
BACKGROUND
. On June 16, 1996, at approximately 2:25 a.m., Officers Paul Smith and Kathy Carson of the Great Falls Police Department both responded to a disturbance call in a quiet residential neighborhood on 19th Street South in Great Falls, Montana. The officers did not have any particular description of the individual purportedly causing the disturbance. Both officers mistakenly turned on 18th Street instead of 19th Street. The officers parked their vehicles on 18th Street and proceeded on foot to locate the source of the disturbance.
. Officer Smith first saw Almanza's vehicle as it pulled out of an alley onto 18th Street heading south. Officer Carson also noticed Almanza's vehicle traveling south down 18th Street and observed that the vehicle was driving in the middle of the street rather than on the right side of the road. Officer Carson observed that the vehicle was traveling at such an excessively slow speed that she was able to walk alongside the vehicle as it moved.
. Almanza's car windows were open and extremely loud music was being played inside the car. Given the time of day and the volume of the music, Officer Carson believed the driver was causing a disturbance in the neighborhood. She approached the vehicle and requested that the driver turn his radio down. Almanza did not hear Officer Carson's request and continued driving. Officer Carson then yelled for Almanza to turn his radio down. Almanza looked over at Officer Carson, but did not otherwise respond to her and continued driving slowly down 18th Street.
. Officer Carson observed that Almanza's eyes were glazed and concluded that something was wrong with him, so she reached into the vehicle, shifted it into park and turned the vehicle's radio down. While reaching into the vehicle, Officer Carson noticed a lit cigarette burning the seat between Almanza's legs and detected the odor of alcohol on Almanza.
. Officer Carson asked Almanza to step out of the vehicle. Outside the vehicle, both Officer Carson and Officer Smith observed that Almanza was staggering. He appeared to be intoxicated. Almanza refused to produce his driver's license or car registration and would not tell the officers his name. The officers ran a check on the vehicle tags and determined that the vehicle was owned by Almanza.
. Almanza was charged with and convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, in violation of § 61-8-401, MCA, second offense, in a bench trial before the Great Falls City Court. Almanza appealed his conviction to the E
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