People v. Johnson

549 P.3d 1008

2024 CO 47

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.Sean Terrance JOHNSON, Defendant-Appellee.

Supreme Court Case No. 23SA293

Supreme Court of Colorado.

June 17, 2024

Interlocutory Appeal from the District Court, Adams County District Court Case No. 22CR1144, Honorable Brett M. Martin, Judge

Attorneys for Plaintiff-Appellant: Brian S. Mason, District Attorney, Seventeenth Judicial District, Todd Bluth, Senior Deputy District Attorney, Cameron Munier, Senior Deputy District Attorney, Brighton, Colorado

Attorneys for Defendant-Appellee: Megan A. Ring, Public Defender, Jackson A. Laughlin, Deputy Public Defender, Brighton, Colorado

En Banc

JUSTICE BERKENKOTTER delivered the Opinion of the Court, in which CHIEF JUSTICE BOATRIGHT, JUSTICE MÁRQUEZ, JUSTICE HOOD, JUSTICE GABRIEL, JUSTICE HART, and JUSTICE SAMOUR joined.

JUSTICE BERKENKOTTER delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 The People bring this interlocutory appeal under C.A.R. 4.1, challenging the district court’s order suppressing evidence that police officers found in Sean Terrance Johnson’s vehicle after stopping him for two traffic violations. The court suppressed the evidence based on its finding that the officers unlawfully prolonged their investigatory stop by waiting for a drug-detection dog to arrive to conduct a sniff of his car for illicit drugs.

¶2 Because the officers acquired probable cause to arrest Johnson for possession of drug paraphernalia during the stop, and in fact arrested him, we conclude that they no longer needed to justify the detention as part of an investigatory stop. Accordingly, we reverse the court’s suppression order and remand the case for the court to consider whether probable cause existed to search the vehicle following Johnson’s arrest.

I. Facts and Procedural History¹

¶3 On the afternoon of April 12, 2023, while on a routine patrol, Adams County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Bacigalupo noticed a Dodge Charger make a U-turn without signaling. Believing this to be a traffic violation, Deputy Bacigalupo relayed his observation to Sergeant Daniel Monares, who was also patrolling the area. When Sergeant Monares saw the Charger make another turn without signaling, he activated the lights on his patrol vehicle and pulled the car over.

¶4 After the car pulled into a parking lot and stopped, Sergeant Monares approached and identified himself to the driver, Johnson. Deputy Bacigalupo also responded to the scene. Sergeant Monares asked Johnson for identification, along with his registration and proof of insurance. Johnson supplied his name and date of birth but was unable to produce a driver’s license, registration, or proof of insurance.

¶5 Both officers noticed an empty shell casing in the front seat cupholder of Johnson’s vehicle. The casing raised the officers’ suspicions. The officers also noticed that Johnson—who appeared unusually nervous—was wearing a camouflage bag strapped to his chest with a folding knife clipped to it. Based on their experience in law enforcement and their personal experiences carrying weapons, the officers recognized the bag as one frequently used to carry concealed weapons, typically handguns. The officers asked Johnson whether there were other weapons in the vehicle. Johnson first said there were none but later indicated he had a shotgun in the trunk.

¶6 While Sergeant Monares returned to his patrol vehicle to check for any outstanding warrants for Johnson’s arrest, Deputy Bacigalupo asked Johnson to step our of his car. The officers also requested that a K-9 unit respond to the scene to conduct a "free air" sniff, i.e., a sniff around the outs.de of a vehicle, for narcotics.

¶7 After initially refusing Deputy Bacigalupo’s request to step out of the car, Johnson eventually complied, removing the camouflage bag and leaving it on the front seat in the process. Deputy Bacigalupo then ordered Johnson to turn around and place his hands on his head to perform a pat-down. While doing so, Deputy Bacigalupo felt what he immediately recognized as a "bulbous pipe" in Johnson’s pocket. Johnson admitted that the pipe was his and told Deputy Bacigalupo that he’d used it the night before to stay awake for his job at a hospital.

¶8 Upon discovering the pipe, Deputy Bacigalupo handcuffed Johnson and arrested him. When he attempted to read Johnson his Miranda rights, Johnson stopped him, telling Deputy Bacigalupo that he knew them. Sergeant Monares, who by then had confirmed that there were no outstanding warrants for Johnson’s arrest, escorted Johnson back to his patrol car to be transported to the sheriff’s station. In the car, Sergeant Monares asked Johnson for his current home address and his employer’s contact information. During that conversation, Johnson admitted that he used methamphetamine to stay awake.

[1] ¶9 After Johnson’s arrest, Thornton Police Officer Evan Potter arrived at the scene with Axel, a K-9 trained to detect several illegal drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin, but not marijuana.² When Officer Potter led Axel around the vehicle to conduct a sniff, Axel alerted to the presence of an illegal drug near the driver’s side door. Officer Potter opened the door, and Axel alerted again at the center console. Based on Axel’s alerts, the officers searched the vehicle, in the process finding two firearms in Johnson’s camouflage bag, methamphetamine in a jar in the console as well as in a bag on the passenger floorboard, and two shotguns in the trunk. They also discovered several identification documents belonging to people other than Johnson.

¶10 The People subsequently charged Johnson with one count each of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, § 18-18-403.5(1), (2)(a), C.R.S. (2023); criminal possession of an identification document, § 18-5-903.5(1), (2)(b), C.R.S. (2023); criminal possession of a financial device, § 18-5-903(1), (2)(b), C.R.S. (2023); and possession of identity theft tools, § 18-5-905, C.R.S. (2023). The People also charged Johnson with four special offender counts pursuant to section 18-18-407(1)(d)(II), C.R.S. (2023).

¶11 Johnson moved to suppress the evidence found in his car, contending that the officers subjected him to an investigative detention unsupported by reasonable suspicion, which led to his formal arrest without probable cause or a warrant in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. At the suppression hearing, Deputy Bacigalupo testified that Johnson’s failure to produce proof of insurance or a license was a traffic violation which, in his experience, generally resulted in the issuance of a summons but not a formal arrest. He clarified, however, that it was the discovery of the pipe in Johnson’s pocket that prompted him to arrest Johnson for possession of drug paraphernalia.

¶12 The court granted Johnson’s motion to suppress. It found that the officers, having witnessed Johnson make a U-turn and an additional left turn without signaling, were justified in stopping him because they had reasonable suspicion that he had committed a traffic violation under section 42-4-903(2), C.R.S. (2023). It concluded, as well, that the officers had a reasonable belief that Johnson could pose a threat to their safety based on the shell casing, folding knife, Johnson’s admission that he had a shotgun in the trunk of his car, and the bag he wore around his chest. Accordingly, the court held that the officers were permitted to pat-down Johnson to ensure that he didn’t pose a safety threat.

¶13 The court further determined that when Deputy Bacigalupo felt the pipe in Johnson’s pocket, the officers had probable cause to believe Johnson possessed drug paraphernalia. And it observed that immediately after Deputy Bacigalupo discovered the pipe in Johnson’s pocket, the Deputy placed Johnson in handcuffs and formally arrested him.

¶14 But the court then went on to find that the officers did not have reasonable suspicion that there were illegal drugs in Johnson’s car or that it contained evidence of other criminal activity. Without that, the court concluded, the officers impermissibly prolonged Johnson’s stop to wait for Axel’s sniff. The court reached this conclusion, it seems, based on its recollection that Deputy Bacigalupo testified that he would have released Johnson with a summons based on the lane signal violation and his possession of drug paraphernalia. Thus, in the court’s estimation, once Deputy Bacigalupo removed the pipe from Johnson, and Sergeant Monares confirmed there were no outstanding warrants for his arrest, the "investigation [for drug paraphernalia] had effectively concluded."

¶15 It was these factual findings that led the court to conclude the officers needed additional reasonable suspicion to believe that contraband existed in the car to prolong the stop for Axel’s sniff. And because, in the court’s view, additional reasonable suspicion was lacking, the stop was impermissibly extended, and the free air sniff was unlawful. The court consequently suppressed the evidence discovered in Johnson’s vehicle.

¶16 The People moved for reconsideration, arguing that (1) Johnson was lawfully arrested based on his possession of drug paraphernalia, and (2) the subsequent search of his vehicle was permissible following his arrest. According to the People, Johnson’s stop wasn’t impermissibly extended because probable cause developed during the pat-down search and he was placed under arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia.

¶17 The district court denied the People’s motion. It again recognized that the officers’ discovery of the pipe provided them with probable cause to believe that Johnson possessed drug paraphernalia. Even so, it nonetheless concluded that "[t]here is no indication in the record that [the] officers intended to effect a full arrest and transport of Mr. Johnson on the charge of possession of drug paraphernalia or the traffic offenses leading to the stop in this case." (Emphasis added.) In the court’s view, the probable...