State v. Boyea12/1/2000
On Appeal from District Court of Vermont Unit No. 3, Washington Circuit
Alan W. Cheever, J.
To appreciate the realities underlying today's decision, consider the following alternative scenarios based upon the record evidence. Having received a State Police radio dispatch - derived from an unnamed informant - reporting a specifically described vehicle with New York plates traveling in a certain direction on I-89 operating "erratically," a police officer locates the car, observes it exit the highway, and pulls out in pursuit. The officer catches up with the vehicle within minutes, but then faces a difficult decision. He could, as the officer here, stop the vehicle as soon as possible, thereby revealing a driver with a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit and a prior DUI conviction. Or, in the alternative, he could follow the vehicle for some period of time to corroborate the report of erratic driving. This could lead to one of several endings. The vehicle could continue without incident for several miles, leading the officer to abandon the surveillance. The vehicle could drift erratically - though harmlessly - onto the shoulder, providing the corroboration that the officer was seeking for an investigative detention. Or, finally, the vehicle could veer precipitously into oncoming traffic, causing an accident.
These are not improbable scenarios. Sooner or later, depending upon the outcome of this case, one or all of them could occur. The dissenting Justices would hold that the constitutional right to privacy leaves the officer no choice but to wait, at whatever risk to the driver and the public. We are not persuaded that the Constitution compels this result. Rather, an anonymous report of erratic driving must be evaluated in light of the imminent risks that a drunk driver poses to himself and the public. We hold that, on the facts of this case, the officer's expeditious stop of the vehicle was based upon sufficiently reliable information, notwithstanding the absence of any personal observation of incriminating behavior by the driver. Accordingly, we affirm.
The undisputed facts were as follows. On July 18, 1998, at approximately 3:00 p.m., a Vermont state trooper received a radio dispatch of a "blue-purple Volkswagen Jetta with New York plates, traveling south on I-89 in between Exits 10 and 11, operating erratically." The officer, who was patrolling nearby, parked his cruiser in the median just north of Exit 10 to wait for the vehicle. Within five minutes, the officer spotted a purple Volkswagen Jetta with New York plates traveling south on I-89. The officer observed the vehicle turn off the interstate at Exit 10, and immediately pulled out to follow. The officer lost sight of the vehicle after it exited, but regained visual contact as it turned onto Route 2, and caught up with it shortly thereafter. The officer activated his blue lights, and the vehicle pulled over. Based upon his subsequent observations, the officer arrested defendant for DUI. The trial court denied a motion to suppress, and defendant entered a conditional plea of guilty to DUI, second offense. This appeal followed.
Defendant contends that, because nothing the officer observed during the mile and a half that he "followed" defendant confirmed the anonymous report of erratic driving, the officer lacked a reasonable and articulable suspicion to justify the stop. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21 (1968); State v. Crandall, 162 Vt. 66, 70, 644 A.2d 320, 323 (1994). It is worth observing, at the threshold, that it is inaccurate to suggest the officer here was somehow trailing defendant waiting for her to give some overt sign of intoxication. In fact, the record shows, and the
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