Preview:

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 9-586 / 08-1429 Filed December 17, 2009 STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. DAN JOE GUSTAFSON, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Guthrie County, Darrell Goodhue, Judge.

The State seeks reversal of the district court's ruling granting the defendant's motion to suppress all evidence garnered after the stop of his vehicle. REVERSED AND REMANDED.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Nan Jennisch, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Mary Tabor and Kyle Hanson, Assistant Attorneys General, and Mary Benton, County Attorney for appellee.

Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mansfield, J., and Zimmer, S.J.*
*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2009).

2 PER CURIAM Following the granting of discretionary review, the State seeks reversal of the district court's ruling granting the defendant's motion to suppress all evidence garnered after the stop of his vehicle. Because we conclude the stopping officer had reasonable suspicion a criminal act was occurring, we reverse and remand. I. Background Facts and Proceedings. On the evening of March 14, 2007, Iowa State Trooper Thomas Williams observed Dan Gustafson's truck heading north on McPherson Street in the town of Casey. It appeared to Trooper Williams that the rear license plate of the truck was not illuminated as required by Iowa Code section 321.388 (2007) (requiring the rear license plate to be illuminated so as to render it legible from a distance of fifty feet to the rear). Because the area was well-lit, Trooper Williams decided to follow the vehicle into a darker area to verify the license plate lamp was out. After following Gustafson's vehicle for a time, Trooper Williams confirmed the license plate lamp was not functioning. Trooper Williams estimated the

closest distance he was traveling behind Gustafson's vehicle was thr ee to five car lengths. He defined a car length as a distance between twelve and fifteen feet. Upon verifying Gustafson's license-plate light was not working, Trooper Williams initiated a traffic stop. Because the wires running to the truck's license plate lamp were disconnected, the trooper decided to issue Gustafson a repair order or "fix-it ticket." While explaining the fix-it ticket, Trooper Williams smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Gustafson and observed that his eyes were bloodshot and watery. Gustafson admitted to having just left a bar,

3 and he stated that he had consumed three beers during the course of that evening. Trooper Williams administered field sobriety tests to Gustafson, which he failed. A preliminary breath test showed Gustafson had a blood alcohol content of .105 which is in excess of the legal limit. At that point, Trooper Williams placed Gustafson under arrest and transported him to the county jail. Gustafson was charged with second offense operating while intoxicated in violation of Iowa Code section 321J.2. He pled not guilty and filed a motion to suppress, in which he alleged the stop of his vehicle "was not supported by reasonable suspicion or probable cause." Following a hearing, the district court granted the motion based on this court's decision in State v. Reisetter, 747 N.W.2d 792 (Iowa Ct. App. 2008). Reisetter holds that in order to form a

reasonable suspicion that section 321.388 has been violated, an officer must be within fifty feet, or something that "reasonably approximates" fifty feet of the vehicle being viewed. Reisetter, 747 N.W.2d at 795. The district court

expressed skepticism with the result in Reisetter, but was unable to draw any meaningful distinction between the factual situation presented there and the facts presented by this case. The State filed an application for discretionary review of the district court's ruling granting the motion to suppress. The application asserted that the

Reisetter decision did not require invalidation of the stop and further urged that discretionary review should be granted "because the analysis in State v. Reisetter is causing confusion for the bench and bar." Our supreme court

granted discretionary review and transferred the case to this court.

4 II. Scope and Standard of Review. Gustafson challenged the vehicle stop based on his constitutional right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution. We review alleged constitutional violations de novo in light of the totality of the circumstances as shown by the entire record. State v. Turner, 630 N.W.2d 601, 606 (Iowa 2001). "We give deference to the district court's fact f indings due to its opportunity to assess the credibility of witnesses, but we are not bound by those findings." Id. III. Discussion. In its brief on appeal, the State contends that the

Reisetter decision was in error and should be overruled. However, the State contends that even under the Reisetter standard, Trooper Williams had sufficient grounds to stop the defendant's truck. For the reasons which follow, we agree that the stop was proper even under Reisetter. An officer may stop a vehicle for investigatory purposes when there is a reasonable suspicion that a criminal act has occurred or is occurring. State v. Kreps, 650 N.W.2d 636, 641 (Iowa 2002). The purpose of such a stop is to allow the officer to confirm or dispel suspicions of criminal activity through reasonable questioning. Id. A traffic violation, however minor, gives an officer probable cause to stop a motorist. State v. Aderholdt, 545 N.W.2d 559, 563 (Iowa 1996). The State contends the district court erred in granting Gustafson's motion to suppress because Trooper Williams had reasonable suspicion to make a traffic stop after observing the rear license plate of Gustafson's truck was not illuminated as required by section 321.388. This section requires a vehicle's rear

5 license plate to be illuminated so as to render it visible from a distance of fifty feet at all times the head lamps are lighted. Iowa Code

Download STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. DAN JOE GUSTAFSON, Defendant-Appellant..p

Iowa Law