State v. Askerooth, No. C6-02-318.

681 N.W.2d 353

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Todd Jeffrey ASKEROOTH, Appellant.

No. C6-02-318.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

June 17, 2004.

Office of MN State Public Defender, Jodie L. Carlson, Assistant State Public Defender, Minneapolis, MN, for Appellant.

Mike Hatch, Minnesota Attorney General, Susan Gaertner, Ramsey County Attorney, Mark Nathan Lystig, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney, St. Paul, MN, for Respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

PAUL H. ANDERSON, Justice.

Shortly after midnight on April 21, 2001, a Saint Paul police officer stopped Todd Jeffrey Askerooth for failing to obey a stop sign. After making the stop, the officer learned that Askerooth did not have a driver's license. The officer asked Askerooth to get out of his van, conducted a pat-down search for weapons, and then confined Askerooth in the back seat of the officer's squad car. After identifying Askerooth, the officer asked for and received consent to search the van. He searched the van with the assistance of two other officers who arrived at the scene. Following the search, the officer issued citations for the driving offenses, after which he permitted Askerooth to leave on foot. The officer then searched his squad car and discovered a film canister containing methamphetamine.

Askerooth was charged with fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance. He moved to suppress the methamphetamine on the ground that it was discovered as the result of an unreasonable seizure. The Ramsey County District Court denied this motion, finding that the placement of Askerooth in the back of the squad car was temporary and done so the officer could investigate Askerooth's identity. The court then convicted Askerooth in a bench trial. Askerooth appealed and the court of appeals affirmed. We reverse.

At approximately 12:40 a.m. on April 21, 2001, Saint Paul police officer Thaddus Schmidt was traveling south on Farrington Avenue in Saint Paul's North End neighborhood. As Schmidt stopped at the stop sign at the intersection with Stinson Street, he saw a van traveling west on Burgess Street a block to the south. The van went through the intersection at or below the posted speed limit, but did not stop for a stop sign. The van's failure to stop prompted Schmidt to pursue it. Schmidt turned onto Burgess, followed the van, and caught up with it at the next intersection where the van turned south. Schmidt then activated his emergency lights. Shortly thereafter, the van pulled over to the curb and stopped.

Schmidt parked behind the van and left his headlights on. He observed that the driver appeared to be the van's sole occupant. He then approached the van and asked the driver for his driver's license. When the driver said he did not have a license, Schmidt ordered him to step out of the van, which he did. Schmidt then had the driver put his hands behind his head while Schmidt did a pat-down search for weapons. Schmidt then ordered the driver to walk to the squad car where he confined him in the back seat. It is undisputed that the driver was not free to leave the scene without Schmidt's permission and, once in the squad car, he could not open either door. A few minutes after Schmidt confined the driver in the back seat, two other Saint Paul police officers arrived at the scene, but remained outside Schmidt's squad car.

While the driver was in the back seat, Schmidt asked him if he had any identification. The driver again said he did not have a driver's license, but he identified himself as the appellant, "Todd Askerooth," and provided his date of birth and address. Schmidt entered this information into his computer and received a matching physical description. The computer search also showed that Askerooth's driver's license had been revoked.

Schmidt then asked Askerooth if he knew why he was stopped. Askerooth said he did not. Schmidt explained it was for failure to obey the stop sign at Burgess and Farrington. Schmidt informed Askerooth he would be issuing citations for failing to obey a stop sign and for driving after revocation, but Schmidt did not immediately issue the citations. At some point while Askerooth was still in the back seat, Schmidt asked him for consent to search the van. Askerooth orally consented to the search. Schmidt then searched the van with the assistance of the other two officers. While the search was conducted, Askerooth remained confined in the back seat of the squad car. The only reported item discovered as a result of the search was a small scale, found in a basket on the front passenger seat.

After the search, Schmidt issued citations to Askerooth for failing to obey a stop sign and for driving after revocation. Because Askerooth did not have photo identification, Schmidt had him place a fingerprint of his right index finger on the citation form. Schmidt advised Askerooth to lock the van, leave it where it was legally parked, and walk to his home which was approximately three blocks away. Askerooth then locked the van and Schmidt allowed him to leave. Once Schmidt released Askerooth, he immediately searched the squad car's back seat. During this search, Schmidt found a black film canister "tucked" under the back seat on the passenger side of the squad car. Opening the canister, he found two small bags containing what appeared to him to be methamphetamine or a "drug of that sort."

It is not clear what happened next, but the record reflects that later that same day Askerooth was in custody at the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center where he was interviewed by the police. During this interview, Askerooth admitted that he placed the canister in the back seat and he did it because he was scared. The record is silent as to when Askerooth placed the canister in the back seat. Askerooth also admitted that the substance in the canister was methamphetamine and that he uses the drug. A subsequent test confirmed that the substance was methamphetamine with a gross weight of 2.5 grams. Based on this information, the county attorney charged Askerooth with fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance in violation of Minn.Stat. § 152.025, subd. 2(1) (2002).

Askerooth moved to suppress the methamphetamine on the ground that it was discovered as a result of an unreasonable seizure. Schmidt testified at an omnibus hearing on the motion that, while he was following the van, he did not observe any traffic violations other than the initial failure to obey the stop sign. He acknowledged that he did not run a license plate check when following the van. He also testified that Askerooth was cooperative and did not do anything to arouse his suspicion or lead him to believe that Askerooth was dangerous. In addition, Schmidt testified that he did not recognize Askerooth from any prior incidents. Schmidt acknowledged that it is his standard procedure to put individuals driving without a license in the back seat of his squad car in order to facilitate obtaining information about their identity without having to go back and forth between the vehicles.¹

With regard to the van search, Schmidt testified that he did not have Askerooth sign a written consent form nor did he tell Askerooth that he was free to withhold consent. The sole reason Schmidt gave for why he asked to search the van was to ensure that Askerooth did not have access to any weapons when he returned to it. Schmidt further testified that he searches the back seat of his squad car each day when his shift begins and each time he removes anyone from the back seat. The district court denied Askerooth's motion to suppress the methamphetamine. The court found that the placement of Askerooth in the back seat was temporary so Schmidt could investigate Askerooth's identity. In a bench trial following the omnibus hearing, the court found Askerooth guilty of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance. Minn.Stat. § 152.025, subd. 2(1). The court sentenced Askerooth to one year and one day in prison, stayed the sentence, and placed him on probation for five years.

Askerooth appealed the denial of his suppression motion and the court of appeals affirmed. State v. Askerooth, No. C6-02-318, 2003 WL 230673, at *2 (Minn. App. Feb.4, 2003). The court of appeals held that placing Askerooth in the back seat was reasonable because the stop occurred at 12:40 a.m., the officer was alone, and it was a practical way for the officer to accomplish the lawful task of verifying Askerooth's identity, the status of his license, and to issue the citations. Id. at *2.

I.

We are asked to determine whether Schmidt's confinement of Askerooth in the back seat of his squad car was an unreasonable seizure warranting suppression of the methamphetamine. Both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 10 of the Minnesota Constitution guarantee the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects" against "unreasonable searches and seizures." U.S. Const. amend. IV; Minn. Const. art. I, § 10. When reviewing a pretrial order on a motion to suppress evidence, we may independently review the facts and determine whether, as a matter of law, the district court erred in suppressing or not suppressing the evidence. State v. Harris, 590 N.W.2d 90, 98 (Minn. 1999).

It is undisputed that Askerooth was seized; therefore, our focus is on whether his seizure was reasonable. When determining the reasonableness of a seizure during a traffic stop, courts have been guided by the United States Supreme Court's statement that a traffic stop is more analogous to an investigative stop, as discussed in Terry v. Ohio,² than to a formal arrest. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 439, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984) (citing Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968)). While Berkemer is perhaps the most explicit statement connecting Terry principles to police stops for minor traffic violations,...