State of Iowa v. Aaron Lu Chrisp ( 2016 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 14-1817
Filed May 11, 2016
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
AARON LU CHRISP,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Christine Dalton,
District Associate Judge.
A defendant appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress.
AFFIRMED.
Thomas J. OʼFlaherty of OʼFlaherty Law Firm, Bettendorf, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Mary A. Triick, Assistant Attorney
General, for appellee.
Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Potterfield, JJ.
2
VOGEL, Judge.
Following his conviction for operating while intoxicated, second offense, in
violation of Iowa Code section 321J.2(2)(b) (2013), Aaron Chrisp appeals,
asserting the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress. We review
his constitutional claim de novo. State v Freeman, 705 N.W.2d 293, 297 (Iowa
2005).
A police officer stopped the vehicle Chrisp was driving because it matched
the make, model, and license plate number of a vehicle witnesses saw driving
away from a bar fight that involved a knife and property damage. Although the
purpose of the stop was to investigate what had occurred at the bar, the stopping
officer smelled alcohol on Chrisp. After admitting he had been drinking and after
failing field sobriety tests, Chrisp was taken into custody.
The district court concluded, “[T]he information available to [the officer] at
the time of his investigatory stop of [the vehicle] rose to the level of reasonable
suspicion and did in fact justify the stop of the defendant’s car on the night in
question to investigate the assault and criminal damage complaints.”
We agree and affirm the district court’s decision pursuant to Iowa Court
Rule 21.26(1)(a), (d) and (e) .
AFFIRMED.