Opinion
Court of Appeals No. A-11275 Trial Court No. 3AN-10-10930 CR No. 6002
12-11-2013
CHRISTOPHER DELA CRUZ FERNANDEZ, Appellant, v. MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE, Appellee.
Appearances: Pamela Dale, Anchorage, for the Appellant. Matthew A. Michalski, Assistant Municipal Prosecutor, and Dennis A. Wheeler, Municipal Attorney, Anchorage, for the Appellee.
NOTICE
Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d) and Paragraph 7 of the Guidelines for Publication of Court of Appeals Decisions (Court of Appeals Order No. 3). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited as binding authority for any proposition of law.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appeal from the District Court, Third Judicial District, Anchorage, Gregory J. Motyka, Judge.
Appearances: Pamela Dale, Anchorage, for the Appellant. Matthew A. Michalski, Assistant Municipal Prosecutor, and Dennis A. Wheeler, Municipal Attorney, Anchorage, for the Appellee.
Before: Mannheimer, Chief Judge, Allard, Judge, and Coats, Senior Judge.
Sitting by assignment made pursuant to Article IV, Section 11 of the Alaska Constitution and Administrative Rule 23(a).
Judge MANNHEIMER.
Around 3:30 in the morning in late September 2010, an Anchorage police officer observed an unconscious man sitting in the driver's seat of a vehicle that was parked on a downtown street. The vehicle was running. The man's head was slumped back, and his eyes were closed. The officer stopped his car, walked up to the parked vehicle, and knocked on the window.
It turned out that the driver of this vehicle was Christopher Dela Cruz Fernandez, and that he had been sleeping. It also turned out that Fernandez was intoxicated.
After Fernandez was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence, he asked the district court to suppress the evidence against him, claiming that this evidence was the fruit of an unlawful investigative stop.
Following an evidentiary hearing, the district court concluded that the officer contacted Fernandez to check on his welfare. The district court further concluded that, given the circumstances (i.e., an unconscious person sitting in the driver's seat of a running vehicle at 3:30 in the morning), the officer was justified in believing that Fernandez might be in need of assistance.
We agree.
The judgement of the district court is AFFIRMED.