Summary
The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the revocation of Edwin Saltz's driver's license after his arrest for driving under the influence. The court held that the trooper had reasonable suspicion to stop Saltz's truck based on the totality of the circumstances, including the REDDI report, the close timing and location of the stop, and the truck's substantial similarity to the reported vehicle. The court did not decide whether the stop was independently justified by an alleged mud flap violation.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Trooper Christensen had reasonable suspicion to stop Saltz's truck based on a REDDI report when the truck did not exactly match the caller's description of a blue and gray Ford F-350.
Holdings
- Under the totality of the circumstances, the trooper had reasonable suspicion to stop Saltz's truck because the truck roughly matched the REDDI caller's description, appeared at the exact location within one minute, and the stop occurred in dark conditions.
Key quotations
“specific and articulable facts which create a reasonable suspicion that imminent public danger exists, or serious harm to persons or property has recently occurred” (126 P.3d at 136)
“the strength of those points of comparison [given by the caller] which do match up and whether the nature of the descriptive factors which do not match is such that an error as to them is not improbable” (126 P.3d at 137)
Factual background
At 2:05 a.m. on April 13, 2003, a Soldotna resident placed a REDDI call reporting an intoxicated male leaving the Maverick Bar in a blue and gray Ford F-350. Trooper Darrel Christensen, about a minute away, arrived and saw a large Ford truck pull out of the bar's parking lot; he stopped it after observing it lacked mud flaps. The truck was actually a red and gray Ford F-250, not the blue and gray F-350 described. After stopping, Christensen smelled alcohol, observed Saltz's slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, and Saltz failed a field sobriety test; a breath test showed a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit. Saltz had three prior DUI convictions, leading to a five-year license revocation.
Procedural history
Saltz's driver's license was administratively revoked after a hearing officer found reasonable suspicion for the stop and probable cause for DUI. Saltz appealed to the superior court, which affirmed. He then appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court.