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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
STATE OF WASHINGTON,
No. 69268-2-1
Respondent,
v. DIVISION ONE
RYAN CHRISTOPHER TERRY, UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Appellant. FILED: November 12, 2013
Leach, C.J. — Ryan Terry appeals his conviction for possession of a
controlled substance. He challenges the trial court's denial of his motion to
suppress evidence seized during a search incident to his arrest, claiming that
police officers improperly relied on information from an anonymous informant to
establish probable cause for his arrest. Because police had probable cause to
arrest Terry even if they did not consider the information received from the
informant, we affirm.
Background
In May 2010, Darcy Mulrooney sold her 1993 Nissan Pathfinder to Lance
Schneider. In July 2010, Schneider damaged the Pathfinder's engine, leaving
the car inoperable, and left the car on Mulrooney's property in Bellevue. Around
that time, Mulrooney saw Schneider working on the Pathfinder's engine.
No. 69268-2-1 / 2
On August 3, 2010, Elizabeth Usarzewicz reported that someone stole her
1993 Nissan Pathfinder. In early August, Mulrooney saw Terry and Schneider
unload a car engine from a truck and move it into the back of Schneider's
Pathfinder. On August 10, Detective Christiansen saw a car motor in the back of
Schneider's Pathfinder.
On August 11, 2010, Snohomish County Sheriff Deputy Haley responded
to a report of a vehicle prowl at a Monroe residence. An anonymous community
member told him that Terry had been at the Monroe residence and left at a high
rate of speed just before Haley arrived on the scene. Haley recovered
Usarzewicz's stolen Pathfinder at the Monroe residence with the engine, front
fenders, and front bumper missing.1 The Monroe residence was listed as Terry's
residential address during previous bookings at the King County jail, and police
received information that Terry rented this property as recently as January 2010.
On August 16, 2010, police officers arrested Schneider while he was
driving his Pathfinder. At the time of this arrest, Terry was a passenger in
Schneider's car. When police arrested Schneider, an officer found a car audio
amplifier, a reciprocating saw, and a heavy-duty jack, all of which had obscured
serial numbers, inside Schneider's car.
On October 3, police once again arrested Schneider. After obtaining a
search warrant for the engine in Schneider's Pathfinder, Christiansen saw a fresh
1 Although the parties disputed that Deputy Haley discovered
Usarzewicz's stolen Pathfinder on August 11, 2010, they stipulated to the police
report containing this statement.
No. 69268-2-1 / 3
weld over the serial number that obscured all but the first two letters. These two
letters matched the first two letters in the serial number for Usarzewicz's stolen
engine. Christiansen determined that the motor needed to be outside of the car
to place the weld over the serial number.
A community member told police that Schneider traded his Pathfinder for
a Saab in early September. Schneider told a number of people, including the
Saab's owner, that he installed a new engine in the Pathfinder in August. After
learning this information, police went to the address of the Saab's registered
owner and saw Schneider's old Pathfinder.
On October 15, 2010, Christiansen arrested Schneider for trafficking in
stolen property for the engine in his old Pathfinder. When Christiansen arrested
him, Schneider said, "Who ratted on me?" and also said that he was "not the only
one involved in this." On October 22, Deputy Hansmann arrested Terry. During
a search incident to Terry's arrest, he found suspected methamphetamine. The
State charged Terry with possession of methamphetamine.
On May 18, 2012, Terry filed a CrR 3.6 motion to suppress the
methamphetamine evidence, claiming that the State did not have probable cause
to arrest him, making the subsequent search of his person unlawful. After a
hearing, the court denied this motion, finding that probable cause existed to
arrest Terry for stolen property. Following a stipulated bench trial, the court
found Terry guilty of possession of a controlled substance and imposed a
standard range sentence.
No. 69268-2-1/4
Terry appeals.
Analysis
Terry claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the
evidence seized incident to his arrest because police officers lacked probable
cause to arrest him. More specifically, he argues that the officers impermissibly
relied upon an anonymous informant's statement that placed Terry at the stolen
vehicle's location.
We review a police officer's determination of probable cause as a mixed
question of law and fact.2 We first review the findings of fact related to a motion
to suppress under the substantial evidence standard.3 Because Terry challenges
none of the trial court's findings of fact, they are verities on appeal.4 We then
decide if the facts support the legal conclusion—probable cause.5 "We review
conclusions of law pertaining to suppression ofevidence de novo."6
We apply the test in Aquilar v. Texas7 and Spinelli v. United States8 to
determine if an informant's tip can establish probable cause to arrest.9 Under
2 City of College Place v. Staudenmaier, 110 Wn. App. 841, 846, 43 P.3d
43 (2002) (citing State v. Vasquez, 109 Wn. App. 310, 34 P.3d 1255 (2001)).
3 State v. Lew, 156 Wn.2d 709, 733, 132 P.3d 1076 (2006) (citing State v.
Mendez. 137 Wn.2d 208, 214, 970 P.2d 722 (1999)).
4 State v. Benitez. 175 Wn. App. 116, 121 n.2, 302 P.3d 877 (2013) (citing
State v. Lorenz, 152 Wn.2d 22, 30, 93 P.3d 133 (2004)).
5Staudenmaier, 110 Wn. App. at 846.
6 Lew, 156 Wn.2d at 733 (citing Mendez, 137 Wn.2d at 214).
7 378 U.S. 108, 84 S. Ct. 1509, 12 L. Ed. 2d 723 (1964).
8 393 U.S. 410, 89 S. Ct. 584, 21 L Ed. 2d 637 (1969).
9 State v. Gaddv, 152 Wn.2d 64, 71, 93 P.3d 872 (2004). Although the
United States Supreme Court rejected the Aquilar/Spinelli test for the "totality-of-
the-circumstances" test in Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 230, 103 S. Ct. 2317,
No. 69268-2-1 / 5
this test, the State must establish (1) the basis of the informant's information and
(2) the informant's credibility orthe reliability of the informant's information.10
Probable cause to arrest exists when an officer is aware of facts and
circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to believe that a crime has
been committed.11 This determination is based upon the totality of facts and
circumstances within the arresting officer's knowledge.12 "The standard of
probable cause ... is to be applied in the light of everyday experience, rather
than according to strict legal formulae."'13
Terry claims that the State established neither the informant's basis of
knowledge nor the informant's reliability. Here, the informant told Haley that
before Haley arrived, Terry was at the Monroe residence and left at a high rate of
speed. But even if police did not consider this evidence, the facts and
circumstances would lead a reasonable police officer to believe that Terry
possessed Usarzewicz's stolen engine. Usarzewicz reported her Pathfinder
stolen in early August. Police had information associating Terry with the Monroe
residence where they found the stolen Pathfinder without its engine. The day
before police recovered the Pathfinder, Christiansen saw a car engine in the
76 L. Ed. 2d 527 (1983), we still adhere to the Aquilar/Spinelli informant test.
See State v. Jackson, 102 Wn.2d 432, 443, 688 P.2d 136 (1984).
10 Gaddv, 152 Wn.2d at 71-72 (citing State v. Cole, 128 Wn.2d 262, 287,
906 P.2d 925 (1995)).
11 State v. Graham, 130 Wn.2d 711, 724, 927 P.2d 227 (1996) (quoting
State v Terrovona, 105 Wn.2d 632, 643, 716 P.2d 295 (1986)).
12 State v. Scott, 93 Wn.2d 7, 11, 604 P.2d 943 (1980).
13 Scott, 93 Wn.2d at 11 (alteration in original) (quoting State v. Baxter. 68
Wn.2d 416, 420 P.2d 638, 641 (1966)).
No. 69268-2-1 / 6
back of Schneider's car. The first two letters of the serial number on the engine
in Schneider's car matched the first two letters on the engine removed from
Usarzewicz's Pathfinder. Furthermore, Schneider told numerous people,
including the Saab owner, that he installed a new engine in the car. Police also
had information that Terry associated with Schneider. In early August,
Mulrooney saw Terry help Schneider move a car engine into Schneider's car.
Additionally, Terry was a passenger in Schneider's car when police arrested
Schneider and recovered items with obscured serial numbers. These facts,
coupled with Schneider's statement to Christiansen that he was "not the only one
involved in this," would lead a reasonable person to believe that Terry committed
a crime.
Terry also alleges that police could not rely upon his presence in
Schneider's car to establish probable cause for his arrest because he did not
have constructive possession of the three items found with obscured serial
numbers inside Schneider's car. But police arrested Terry for possessing the
stolen engine, not these three items. Terry's mere presence in Schneider's car
at the time of Schneider's arrest shows his association with Schneider. Because
the police did not rely upon Terry's possession of the three items found with
obscured serial numbers in Schneider's car to establish probable cause for his
arrest for possession of stolen property, his argument fails.
-6-
No. 69268-2-1 / 7
Conclusion
Because the trial court's findings of fact support its legal conclusion that
police had probable cause to arrest Terry for possession of stolen property, the
trial court properly denied Terry's motion to suppress the methamphetamine
seized during a search incident to his arrest. We affirm.
£~s e. /
WE CONCUR:
-7-
State Of Washington v. Ryan Christopher Terry
Combined Opinion