Summary 2009 WY 59

Summary of Decision issued April 29, 2009

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

Case Name: VanKooten v. State

Citation: 2009 WY 59

Docket Number: S-08-0205

Appeal from the District Court of Laramie County, the Honorable Michael K. Davis Judge.

Representing Appellant VanKooten: Dion J. Custis of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee State: Bruce A. Salzburg, Attorney General; Terry L. Armitage, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Senior Assistant Attorney General.

Facts/Discussion: VanKooten entered a conditional guilty plea to felony possession of a controlled substance, reserving the right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress the cocaine evidence discovered during a search of his vehicle.

VanKooten claimed the district court erred in concluding that the trooper had reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to detain him for a canine sniff of the exterior of his vehicle after the lawful traffic stop had concluded. The Court noted that VanKooten invoked Article 1, Section 4 of the Wyoming Constitution as grounds for suppressing the drug evidence arguing the detention was nonconsensual. However, the instant case was about reasonable suspicion, not consent. VanKooten also attacked the reliability of an anonymous tip concerning his drug activities. There was no evidence in the record concerning the alleged anonymous tip, so the Court would not consider that aspect of his argument. The Court then turned its attention to whether VanKooten’s brief detention for the canine sniff violated the Fourth Amendment. After reviewing the record, the Court agreed with the district court that the trooper possessed reasonable suspicion to detain VanKooten including: the trooper had information that the driver of the car was transporting drugs between Colorado and Torrington and dealing drugs in Torrington; the car was spotted five miles south of Torrington headed south; when the trooper first saw the car, it was traveling 65 mph; and when the trooper passed the car, and turned around, it sped up to 125 mph. The Court stated the aggregate of the factors provided the trooper with an objectively reasonable basis for suspecting that VanKooten was involved in criminal activity, thus warranting further detention pending the canine sniff of his vehicle.

Conclusion: The Court found that reasonable suspicion existed justifying VanKooten’s detention. The Court held that the district court properly denied VanKooten’s motion to suppress.

Affirmed.

J. Golden delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/c9znwt .

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