A hunch by Blanding's police chief is no substitute for probable cause, the Utah Court of Appeals has ruled in overturning a DUI conviction.
Chief Mike Halliday said he pulled over Clifton Yazzie because Yazzie had a history of DUI-related offenses and he "would have bet anything that (Yazzie) had no driver's license," Halliday later testified in court.
Citing no driving infraction or other offense, Halliday pulled Yazzie over in October 2003 and asked him for his driver's license, to which Yazzie produced a valid Arizona license. Halliday then ordered Yazzie out of his car and conducted a field sobriety test, which he reportedly failed.
A dispatch check revealed that Yazzie also had a Utah license, which had been suspended for alcohol-related offenses. After the arrest, a blood test showed that Yazzie's alcohol level was well over the legal limit.
Before trial, Yazzie moved to have this evidence suppressed, claiming the stop had been illegal and therefore the evidence was not valid. When the motion was denied, Yazzie pleaded guilty to DUI and appealed.
According to the unanimous ruling released last Thursday, justices questioned the Blanding Police Department's account of run-ins with Yazzie. Despite claiming over 100 encounters with Yazzie over a 20-year period, Halliday testified that they had no traffic or DUI stops with Yazzie over the past two years.
Justices also noted that Yazzie had broken no law to warrant a stop. "Such an action is reasonable and the initial seizure will be found to be sound if the defendant commits a traffic offense in the officer's presence," wrote appellate Justice William Thorne.
In their ruling, justices said a "hunch, a guess or a 'bet' " was no justification for violating a man's Fourth Amendment right against unlawful search and seizure.
The court reversed Yazzie's conviction and has remanded the case back to a lower court.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com