Summary 2008 WY 51

Summary of Decision issued May 2, 2008

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: Wagner v. State

Citation: 2008 WY 51

Docket Number: S-07-0104

Appeal from the District Court of Goshen County, the Honorable Keith G. Kautz, Judge.

Representing Appellant (Defendant): Diane Lozano, State Public Defender; Tina N. Kerin, Appellate Counsel; and David E. Westling, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel.

Representing Appellee (Plaintiff): Bruce A. Salzburg, Attorney General; Terry L. Armitage, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Eric Johnson, Faculty Director, Prosecution Assistance Program; Brian Hunter, Student Director; Clarissa Collier, Student Intern.

Facts/Discussion: After being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, Wagner filed a motion to suppress claiming that the arresting officer did not have reasonable suspicion to justify the investigatory stop.
The Court focused their attention on the investigatory stop which requires only the presence of specific and articulable facts and rational inferences which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed or may be committing a crime. Regardless of whether or not the officer articulated that she had knowledge of Wagner’s suspended license, it was undisputed that it was indeed suspended. The officer had reasonable suspicion to believe that Wagner was driving while under the influence of alcohol based on the officer’s conversation with an identified citizen-informant, the look on Wagner’s face when he was stopped by the officer and that the officer saw Wagner stumble, hold onto a gate in order to maintain his balance and that he was very unsteady on his feet. Taken together, the information provided helped form the basis for a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot.

Holding: The totality of the circumstances in the instant case established that the officer had reasonable suspicion to believe that Wagner was not only driving under the influence but also driving on a suspended license. The investigatory stop was justified.

Affirmed.

J. Hill delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/5m62sh .

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