State v. Waye

1

STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. MICHAEL T. WAYE, Appellant.

No. 58292-9-II

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2

November 21, 2024

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Che J.

Michael T. Waye appeals his convictions for two counts of first degree unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of possession of an unlawful firearm, and the trial court's denial of his CrR 3.6 motion to suppress.

Sergeant Brian Spera found Waye's vehicle stop in the middle of an intersection to be suspicious and proceeded to follow Waye who was speeding. After blocking the vehicle, Sergeant Spera ordered Waye to exit the vehicle and handcuffed him. Pursuant to a search warrant for the vehicle, Sergeant Spera found two boxes of ammunition, a pistol, and a shotgun, among other things. Waye moved under CrR 3.6 to suppress any evidence gathered from the stop. The trial court denied Waye's motion. The jury convicted Waye of two counts of first degree unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of possession of an unlawful firearm. The trial court sentenced Waye and imposed a $500 crime victim penalty assessment (VPA).

Waye argues (1) Sergeant Spera did not have a reasonable articulable suspicion to stop Waye for speeding, (2) Sergeant Spera's seizure of Waye was unconstitutionally pretextual, (3) if we find that Sergeant Spera's seizure of Waye was a lawful mixed-motive stop, then we should disregard State v. Chacon Arreola,^[1] (4) there is insufficient evidence to sustain Waye's firearm convictions, and (5) the VPA should be stricken. The State concedes that the VPA should be stricken.

We hold that Sergeant Spera had a reasonable articulable suspicion of a traffic infraction, that Waye's stop was not pretextual, and that sufficient evidence exists to convict Waye of two counts of first degree unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of possession of an unlawful firearm.

We affirm Waye's convictions and the trial court's denial of his CrR 3.6 motion to suppress but remand to the trial court to strike the VPA.

FACTS

BACKGROUND

On October 17, 2020, around 1:30 a.m., Sergeant Spera was on traffic patrol in his marked sheriff's vehicle investigating traffic violations, drug activity, and assaults in an area of rural Mason County. Sergeant Spera saw a pickup truck stop for about a minute in the middle of an intersection and then make a sharp left turn. Sergeant Spera suspected the vehicle was involved in suspicious activity given the various criminal activities common to the area at the time and because the truck's behavior was inconsistent with typical driving behavior.

Sergeant Spera followed the truck without turning his lights on observed that the truck was driving "excessively fast," and, while pacing the truck, determined that it was traveling approximately 60 mph in a 35-mph zone. Rep. of Proc. (RP) at 40.

The truck turned into a gated driveway and made an abrupt stop. Sergeant Spera parked perpendicularly behind the truck blocking it from exiting, and then turned on his spotlight as the driver exited the truck. Sergeant Spera stepped out of his vehicle and took cover behind his engine block due to his concerns about his safety. Sergeant Spera was concerned because

[he] had [blocked] a vehicle and in a known drug area that multiple assaults had been occurring during this time frame at 1:00 in the morning, driving suspiciously, speeding away from [him], probably negligently, on that roadway due to the number of residences driveways and dog legs at a high speed, came to an abrupt stop at a driveway with a pull gate on it.^[2]

RP at 59-60. Sergeant Spera recognized the driver as Waye and knew that Waye had an active felony warrant out for his arrest. Sergeant Spera instructed Waye to come towards him, but Waye did not comply.

Eventually, Sergeant Spera handcuffed Waye and sat him on the ground before he contacted the truck passenger.

Sergeant Spera peered into the truck and saw a box of ammunition^[3] protruding from a hole inside the bench seat below the driver's steering wheel. This prompted him to apply for a search warrant for the truck. Sergeant Spera allowed the passenger to take her personal items from the truck before it was impounded. When the passenger removed her bag from the "center hump of the floorboard where the transmission [was] for the truck," she revealed a pistol underneath, which was placed with the grip facing the driver and the muzzle facing away "as if it was just set down by the driver." RP at 252. Sergeant Spera stopped the passenger from removing any other items from the truck.

After obtaining a search warrant, Sergeant Spera and another officer searched the truck. There were fresh shooting targets on the passenger side floorboard. The pistol and box of .380 caliber rounds of ammunition, which Sergeant Spera observed previously, were lying on the passenger side floorboard and protruding from a hole inside the driver's side bench seat, respectively. The pistol's magazine held .380 caliber rounds of ammunition.

In addition, there was a 12-gauge shotgun located between the back wall of the truck cabin and the backrest of the driver's side of the bench seat. The shotgun was modified such that the barrel was 15 13/16 inches in length. The overall length of the shotgun was 35 1/2 inches. The "sawed off portion" of the altered barrel showed the "irregular nature of the muzzle," indicative that it had not been manufactured that way. RP at 282. Given the location of the shotgun, it would have been accessible by a person seated in the driver's seat.

Adjacent to the shotgun, Sergeant Spera found a piece of paper with "Mitchell Waye dad's ring" written on it. RP at 276. "Mitchell Waye" is the name of Waye's brother and also Waye's known alias. Waye had been convicted of two crimes of dishonesty, one of which was a first degree criminal impersonation conviction stemming from Waye using his brother's name.^[4] The officers also found a black backpack, which contained a box of 12-gauge shotgun shells and a smaller bag. The smaller bag contained, among other things, two Washington identification (ID) cards belonging to Waye.

Waye had borrowed the truck that night from his roommate so he could take the passenger to her house. Waye occasionally borrowed the truck. Waye saw the ammunition between his legs but denied any knowledge of the pistol and shotgun in the truck. Waye also denied knowledge of how his ID cards got in the bigger backpack with the shotgun shells.

The State charged Waye with two counts of first degree unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of possession of an unlawful firearm.^[5]

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. CRR 3.6 MOTION

In April 2021, Waye moved under CrR 3.6 to suppress all evidence obtained during his unlawful search and seizure and to dismiss his charges. In his motion, Waye primarily argued that the stop was an unlawful pretextual stop because there was no evidence that Sergeant Spera attempted to stop Waye for a traffic infraction, and that Sergeant Spera did not have a reasonable and articulable suspicion of criminal activity under Terry v. Ohio.^[6] The State argued that Sergeant Spera had a reasonable suspicion that Waye committed the traffic offense of speeding because Spera pursued Waye, travelling over 60 mph in a 35-mph zone. The State also argued that the stop was not pretextual because Sergeant Spera initially observed Waye stopping in the middle of an intersection.

After taking testimony consistent with the facts above, the trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law, including Finding of Fact (FF) 5, that "[w]hile following the truck on Stadium Beach, [Sergeant] Spera observed the vehicle travelling at well over the posted speed limit, estimating approximately 60 mph in a posted 35 mph zone." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 67. The court denied Waye's motion. In Conclusions of Law (CL) A, the court concluded that Sergeant Spera had reasonable suspicion that a traffic infraction, speeding, had occurred in his presence and in CL B, that "[e]ven if [the stop] is properly considered a mixed-motive stop, both to investigate the traffic violation and in response to other known suspicious activities in the area, it is still a valid contact." CP at 68.

II. TRIAL AND SENTENCING

After taking additional evidence consistent with the facts above, a jury convicted Waye of the firearm charges. At sentencing, the trial court "impose[d] only the mandatory legal financial obligation of the crime victims fund, $500" and "waive[d] the $200 filing fee based upon Mr. Waye's limited ability to meet his legal financial obligations." RP at 565.

Waye appeals.^[7]

ANALYSIS

Waye argues that the trial court erred by denying his CrR 3.6 motion, specifically arguing (1) Sergeant Spera did not have a reasonable articulable suspicion to stop Waye for speeding (2) Sergeant Spera's seizure of Waye was unconstitutionally pretextual, (3) if we find that Sergeant Spera's seizure of Waye was a lawful mixed-motive stop, then we should disregard Chacon Arreola, (4) there is insufficient evidence to sustain Waye's firearm convictions, and (5) the VPA should be stricken. The State concedes that the VPA should be stricken.

I. LEGAL TRAFFIC STOPS

Waye argues that there was not a lawful basis for the traffic stop because Sergeant Spera did not have a reasonable articulable suspicion to stop Waye for speeding. We disagree.

A. Standard of Review

When reviewing a trial court's suppression decision, we review the court's findings of fact for substantial evidence and whether those findings support its conclusions of law. State v. Alexander, 5 Wn.App. 2d 154, 159, 425 P.3d 920 (2018). Substantial evidence exists where there is enough evidence to persuade a fair-minded...