IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket No. 47892 STATE OF IDAHO, ) ) Filed: October 22, 2021 Plaintiff-Respondent, ) ) Melanie Gagnepain, Clerk v. ) ) MILDRED EILEEN COUCH, ) ) Defendant-Appellant. ) ) Appeal from the District Court of the Third Judicial District, State of Idaho, Canyon County. Hon. Gene A. Petty and Hon. Darla S. Williamson, District Judges. Judgment of conviction for possession of a controlled substance, vacated. Eric D. Fredericksen, State Appellate Public Defender; Justin M. Curtis, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Justin R. Porter, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. ________________________________________________ LORELLO, Judge Mildred Eileen Couch appeals from her judgment of conviction for possession of a controlled substance. We reverse the order denying Couch’s motion to suppress and vacate Couch’s judgment of conviction. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND An officer drove to a parking lot in response to a report that people in two vehicles were “smoking something off of tin foil” while parked there. The cars were described in the call report as a beige “Chev Cavalier” and a “gry toy pc” with 1A plates; the officer interpreted the latter to mean a gray Toyota passenger car with Ada County license plates. The call report also indicated there were “2 subjects” in both vehicles. When the officer arrived at the parking lot, he saw the Chevy Cavalier but noted the other vehicle was a silver Honda Civic with Ada County license 1 plates, not a Toyota passenger car. In addition, the Honda did not have two occupants as reported. Instead, the officer observed only one person, later identified as Couch, seated in the driver’s seat. The officer approached Couch, informed her that he was there to investigate the report of drug use, and questioned her. Couch refused the officer’s request to search her vehicle. When the officer asked her for identification, however, Couch produced her driver’s license. The officer then went to the other vehicle, obtained identification from two of the occupants, and gave the documents (including Couch’s driver’s license) to another officer to run through dispatch. Before dispatch reported back, a canine unit arrived at the scene and a drug dog alerted to the presence of drugs in Couch’s vehicle. After the officer ordered Couch out of her vehicle, she admitted that she might have a methamphetamine pipe on her. Searches of her vehicle and person yielded two syringes, one of which contained methamphetamine residue, and a glass pipe. The State subsequently charged Couch with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Couch filed a motion to suppress, arguing that she was seized when the officer retained Couch’s driver’s license and that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to justify this seizure. The district court denied her motion. The district court agreed that Couch was seized when the officer retained Couch’s driver’s license, but concluded the seizure was reasonable because the officer had a “legitimate reason to contact” Couch …
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