Opinion
Court of Appeals No. A-9142.
July 26, 2006.
Appeal from the Superior Court, Fourth Judicial District, Fairbanks, Mark I. Wood, Judge. Trial Court No. 4FA-03-4005 CR.
Marcia E. Holland, Assistant Public Defender, Fairbanks, and Quinlan G. Steiner, Public Defender, Anchorage, for the Appellant.
Diane L. Wendlandt, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals, Anchorage, and David W. Márquez, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.
Before: Coats, Chief Judge, and Mannheimer and Stewart, Judges.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
A police officer contacted Ralph Trinidad in a bar. She discovered that Trinidad was on parole and that one of his parole conditions prohibited him from consuming alcohol or being in an establishment that sold alcohol. The parole conditions required him to submit to a test for alcohol consumption if directed to do so by his parole officer. At the direction of Trinidad's parole officer, the police officer detained Trinidad to have him submit to a portable breath test. After another officer arrived with the portable breath test device, Trinidad, clutching a plastic baggie, ran from the officers to the restroom. The officers arrested Trinidad and, incident to the arrest, searched him. The officers found a large amount of cash and approximately six grams of cocaine.
The State charged Trinidad with possession of the cocaine for distribution, resisting arrest, and harassment. Trinidad filed a motion to suppress evidence that the police obtained from his detention and search, arguing that his parole conditions were unconstitutional, that the police officer lacked the authority to detain him, and that the officers did not have probable cause to arrest him. Superior Court Judge Mark I. Wood denied Trinidad's motion to suppress. Following his conviction, Trinidad has renewed his arguments on appeal. We affirm.
Factual and procedural background
In the early morning hours of October 30, 2003, Fairbanks Police Officer Margaret Sullivan entered the Arctic Bar to perform a routine bar check. The officer noticed Ralph Trinidad sitting at the bar with three drinks on the counter in front of him. Initially, Officer Sullivan mistook Trinidad for someone else. However, as she was leaving the bar, Officer Sullivan recalled Trinidad from prior contacts with him. Officer Sullivan returned to her patrol car and had a police dispatcher check Trinidad's name with the Alaska Public Safety Information Network. The police dispatcher informed Officer Sullivan that Trinidad was on parole and was subject to parole conditions prohibiting him from consuming alcohol or being in an establishment that sold alcohol. Officer Sullivan then returned to the bar to speak with Trinidad. He still had three drinks sitting in front of him. Officer Sullivan advised Trinidad that police records showed that he was not supposed to be drinking. Trinidad denied that he had been drinking.
At that point, Officer Sullivan contacted the police dispatcher to determine whether Trinidad's parole conditions only prohibited consumption of alcohol or whether they also prohibited his presence in a bar. The dispatcher replied that Trinidad was not supposed to be in the bar and that Parole Officer Glenn Bacon (Trinidad's parole officer) had been contacted and wanted Trinidad to take a portable breath test (PBT). Officer Sullivan did not have a PBT kit with her, but she knew that a second officer, Officer David Stevenson, was on his way to the bar and would have a PBT device. Officer Sullivan informed Trinidad that he would need to wait for Officer Stevenson to arrive so that a breath test could be administered as requested by his parole officer.
While they waited, Trinidad began to remove his jacket and, at the same time, reached into his jacket pocket. Trinidad's actions concerned Officer Sullivan because she did not know whether Trinidad might have a weapon. Officer Sullivan directed Trinidad to keep his hands out of his pockets. Ignoring her direction, Trinidad again reached into his jacket pocket. Officer Sullivan reacted by grabbing Trinidad's hand and again instructed him to keep his hands out of his pockets.
Moments after this exchange, Officer Stevenson arrived. Trinidad said "I already know I'm going to jail[.]" In one swift motion, he jumped up and ran toward the bathroom, sliding out of his jacket along the way. As he ran away from her, Officer Sullivan noticed a piece of clear plastic sticking out of Trinidad's right fist. Officer Sullivan concluded, based upon her view of the plastic, and given her knowledge of Trinidad's history with drugs and the bar's reputation as a place where drugs were sold and used, that Trinidad probably had illegal drugs and intended to flush them down the toilet.
Officer Sullivan pursued Trinidad into the bathroom along with several other officers. Trinidad vigorously fought with the officers even after they had managed to get him handcuffed. While lying on the floor, Trinidad pushed his pants down, defecated, and began flicking feces at the officers. Eventually, the officers subdued Trinidad. Officer Gary Yamamoto searched Trinidad. During that search, he discovered six individual packages of cocaine, about one gram each, and over $6,000 in cash.
The State charged Trinidad with third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, resisting arrest, and harassment. Trinidad filed a motion to suppress the evidence. Following an evidentiary hearing, Superior Court Judge Mark I. Wood denied the motion to suppress. Judge Wood found that Trinidad's parole conditions were valid because they were reasonably related to Trinidad's rehabilitation. Judge Wood also found that it was appropriate for Officer Sullivan to briefly detain Trinidad at the request of Parole Officer Bacon in order to obtain a breath test. He also found that Officer Sullivan had probable cause to arrest Trinidad for possession of drugs and that this arrest justified Officer Yamamoto's search of Trinidad incident to that arrest.
AS 11.71.030(a)(1), AS 11.56.700(a)(1), AS 11.61.120(a)(1), respectively.
At the conclusion of Trinidad's jury trial, he was acquitted of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance but found guilty of the lesser-included offense of fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, as well as resisting arrest and harassment. This appeal followed.
AS 11.71.040.
We affirm Judge Wood's finding that Trinidad's conditions of parole were authorized
A condition of parole or probation must be "reasonably related to the rehabilitation of the offender and the protection of the public[,] and must not be unduly restrictive of [the offender's] liberty." In upholding the parole conditions that prohibited Trinidad from consuming alcohol or being in an establishment that sold alcohol and required him to submit to testing to determine whether he had consumed alcohol, Judge Wood found that Trinidad had a significant history of alcohol and drug abuse. He found that the parole conditions were designed to keep Trinidad from re-offending and were reasonably related to his rehabilitation and the protection of the public. Judge Wood's finding is supported by the record. Trinidad has an extensive record of prior drug- and alcohol-related offenses. According to the presentence report for his present offense, Trinidad's "criminal involvement with illegal drugs and alcohol is documented as far back as 1988. The defendant's drugs of choice appear to be alcohol, marijuana and cocaine." We conclude that Judge Wood's finding upholding Trinidad's parole conditions is supported by the record.
State v. Thomas, 133 P.3d 684, 685 (Alaska App. 2005) (quoting Roman v. State, 570 P.2d 1235, 1240 (Alaska 1977)).
We affirm Judge Wood's conclusion that Officer Sullivan lawfully detained Trinidad
Trinidad's parole conditions required him to submit, if directed by his parole officer, to testing to determine whether he had consumed alcoholic beverages. The parole officer could lawfully enlist the assistance of the police to have them carry out the breath test. Officer Sullivan was acting at the direction of the parole officer and, therefore, had the authority to detain Trinidad to conduct the breath test.
Brown v. State, 127 P.3d 837, 845 (Alaska App. 2006).
Trinidad argues that because Parole Officer Bacon was not personally present at the bar, he had no authority to direct Officer Sullivan to detain Trinidad. But Trinidad offers no authority for this position, and his argument makes little sense. Under the rule that Trinidad proposes, Officer Sullivan would be powerless to act on behalf of the parole officer even though the parole officer was aware of the situation and wanted to have Trinidad tested to determine whether he had consumed alcohol in violation of his parole. We see no reason to impose such an unnecessary restraint on the parole officer's authority.
We uphold Judge Wood's conclusion that the police had probable cause to arrest Trinidad and search him incident to that arrest
Trinidad argues that Officer Sullivan did not have probable cause to arrest him. But Judge Wood found that Officer Sullivan had probable cause to believe that Trinidad was in possession of illegal drugs. Officer Sullivan testified that she was aware of Trinidad's prior history with illegal drugs. She testified that Trinidad had earlier been trying to reach in his jacket pockets. Trinidad then ran towards the bathroom with a piece of clear plastic in his right fist. Officer Sullivan concluded that Trinidad was making a break for the bathroom in an attempt to dispose of illegal drugs. Judge Wood found that Trinidad's conduct and Officer Sullivan's observations gave her probable cause to believe that Trinidad was in possession of illegal drugs. He concluded that Officer Sullivan therefore had probable cause to arrest Trinidad for possession of the illegal drugs and to search him, incident to that arrest. We agree with Judge Wood's analysis.
Conclusion
We conclude that Judge Wood did not err in denying Trinidad's motion to suppress. The judgment of the superior court is AFFIRMED.