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State v. Welch10/14/1994
inappropriate. Neither of those cases determined the reliability or sufficiency of the anonymous tip. Siergiey, 155 Vt. at 80, 582 A.2d at 120; Schmitt, 150 Vt. at 507, 554 A.2d at 668. Each case was decided solely on the basis of the officer's observations. Using those cases to support the proposition that an officer must both receive a tip and witness criminal behavior would be mistaken. A more apt case is one this Court cited with approval in Siergiey, 155 Vt. at 81, 582 A.2d at 121. In State v. Czmowski, 393 N.W.2d 72, 72-74 (S.D. 1986), a vehicle stop was upheld based on an anonymous call that a car was being driven erratically and the car's mere presence in the area, without police observation of erratic driving or criminal behavior. I see little difference between that case and this.
Finally, the intrusion on defendant's privacy was minimal. Trooper DiMauro sought only to inquire why the defendant was loading his truck, apparently at different secluded homes, in the middle of the night. We have previously recognized that " brief detention, its scope reasonably related to the justification for the stop and inquiry, is permitted in order to 'investigate the circumstances that provoke suspicion.'" Lambert, 146 Vt. at 143, 499 A.2d at 762; see also Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 146, 32 L. Ed. 2d 612, 92 S. Ct. 1921 (1972) ("A brief stop of a suspicious individual, in order to determine his identity or to maintain the status quo momentarily while obtaining more information, may be most reasonable in light of the facts known to the officer at the time."). The Court's use of Trooper DiMauro's innocuous inquiry to somehow show that reasonable and articulable suspicion was lacking runs contrary to the principles of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889, 88 S. Ct. 1868 (1968). Police officers must be able to respond to citizen complaints, and simple inquiries are the most appropriate, least intrusive response. Country dwellers would find much solace, and be better protected, if police were permitted to ask questions in cases such as this one.
I say there was enough evidence to deny the motion to suppress, and I would affirm.
BY THE COURT:
Frederic W. Allen, Chief Justice
Ernest W. Gibson III, Associate Justice
John A. Dooley, Associate Justice
Denise R. Johnson, Associate Justice
Dissenting:
James L. Morse, Associate Justice
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