Preview:

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE
Assigned on Briefs December 14, 2004 STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RANDOLPH ANDERSON
Appeal from the Criminal Court for Sumner County No. 842-2003 Jane Wheatcraft, Judge

No. M2004-00735-CCA-R3-CD - Filed February 8, 2005

The defendant, Randolph Anderson, appealed a conviction in the Sumner County General Sessions Court for simple possession of marijuana. In the trial court, the defendant filed a motion to suppress which was granted. In this appeal from the order of suppression, the state argues that the trial court erred by concluding that the arresting officer lacked any basis to stop the vehicle driven by the defendant. The judgment is affirmed. Tenn. R. App. P. 3; Judgment of the Trial Court Affirmed GARY R. WADE, P.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JAMES CURWOOD WITT , JR., and ALAN E. GLENN , JJ., joined. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Jennifer L. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney General; and Dee Gay, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee. Randolph Anderson, Nashville, Tennessee, pro se. OPINION On September 3, 2003, Drug Task Force Officer Mike Guthrie observed a black 1995 Saturn traveling northbound on Interstate 65. Although the officer did not believe that the vehicle was exceeding the speed limit, he did see that there was a commercial border or frame holding the license plate. While the numbers on the license plate were visible, the officer chose to make a stop because the issuing county was partially obscured. The stop was recorded by a video camera and included an accompanying audio tape. The officer claimed at the suppression hearing that as he followed the vehicle, he saw the right wheels make contact with the fog line four times within the one-half mile it traveled before stopping. That was not, however, discernible from the video. As the officer approached the car, and after identifying the defendant as the driver, he saw an open can of beer inside. While he was informing the defendant of the reason for the stop, Officer Guthrie smelled alcohol. The defendant, an African-American who was driving to Kentucky to purchase lottery tickets, was asked to recite the alphabet and, as confirmed by the audio, successfully did so.

The officer directed the defendant to step away from the car and asked for and received permission to search. He then utilized a police dog to sniff for the presence of illegal drugs and the defendant acknowledged that there might be a "roach" in the ash tray. A small plastic bag of marijuana was found in the defendant's pants pocket. After the officer determined that there were no outstanding warrants and confirmed the validity of the defendant's driver's license, the defendant was given a citation and released. The videotape was shown during the hearing as a part of the proof. During his recorded conversation with Officer Guthrie, the defendant, a long-time Saturn employee, denied having crossed over the fog line before parking on the right shoulder of the road. There was also evidence that the defendant had utilized the same Rivergate Saturn license tag holder since the purchase of the vehicle some ten years earlier. At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing on the motion to suppress and, after hearing argument from the prosecution that the law enforcement officers in Sumner County had a policy of stopping vehicles with commercial frames to hold license plates, the trial court made reference to the statute utilized as the basis for the activation of the blue lights and the initiation of the stop: Every registration plate shall at all times be securely fastened in a horizontal position to the vehicle for which it is issued so to prevent the plate from swinging and at a height of not less than twelve inches (12") from the ground, measuring from the bottom of such plate, in a place and position to be clearly visible and shall be maintained free from foreign materials and in a condition to be clearly legible. Tenn. Code Ann.

Download Andersn.pdf

Tennessee Law