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State v. Olson2/12/1998
1998 ND 41
REVERSED.
[ ] The State appealed from an order suppressing evidence found in the trunk and passenger compartment of a car and in a hotel room. We conclude the search of the passenger compartment was a valid search incident to arrest and the search of the trunk was valid under the inevitable discovery doctrine. We also conclude the search warrant for the hotel room was supported by probable cause. We therefore reverse the suppression order.
I.
[ ] Between 2:30 and 3:00 a.m. on October 2, 1996, the manager of the Days Inn called 911 to report individuals in an older white Oldsmobile Cutlass were creating a disturbance in the parking lot at the Days Inn. She said she believed the occupants were intoxicated and mentioned the possibility of drugs.
[ ] Shortly before 3:00 a.m., a West Fargo Police Officer received the report from West Fargo Police dispatch while he was having coffee at a gas station with a friend, who was not a police officer. The officer and his friend left the station, and the officer was going to go to the Days Inn. As they were leaving the station, however, they observed an older Cutlass with a bicycle hanging out of the trunk. The officer got in his car and followed the Cutlass, while the officer's friend went to the Days Inn to verify the information received from dispatch. The officer's friend, after verifying with the manager of the Days Inn the description of the vehicle and verifying it had a bicycle hanging out of the trunk, called the information into dispatch.
[ ] The officer, while following the car, noted it weaved within its own lane of traffic for approximately one and one-half miles. After the officer received confirmation from dispatch that this was the correct vehicle, he stopped the car. The driver, after initially giving the officer a false name, eventually gave his correct name, Jarel Olson. The officer ran a license check, which showed Olson's Minnesota driver's license had been suspended, and arrested Olson for driving under suspension.
[ ] The passenger, after being "checked out" by another officer, was allowed to leave, but needed to remove the bicycle from the trunk, which was tied down with a piece of rope. While the passenger was removing the bicycle, the officer saw a .22 rifle in the trunk. The officer then searched the trunk and found two small suitcases and a brown paper bag, inside of which was a plastic container. Inside one of the suitcases, the officer found .22 shells as well as .357 ammunition. Inside the plastic container, the officer found plastic bags containing a substance he believed to be methamphetamine.
[ ] After searching the trunk, the officer searched the passenger compartment and found syringes, a black box containing a small gram scale, some unidentified pills, a hunting knife and sheath, a black notebook listing names, addresses, phone numbers, and amounts of money "owed," and plastic bags believed to contain methamphetamine. The officer arrested Olson for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. A special agent with the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation obtained a search warrant and searched Olson's residence, room 214 of the Days Inn. Items seized from the room included miscellaneous paperwork, foil with residue, razor blades, a black bag, plastic bags, rubber gloves, "snort tubes," a boot knife in a black sheath, an electronic scale, a loaded .357 handgun, and a .22 caliber clip containing five shells.
[ ] Olson was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. Olson filed a motion to
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