State v. Charley, 35,669

Defendant (Robert Charley) pled guilty conditionally and appealed convictions for possession of promethazine (fourth-degree felony) and possession of tramadol (misdemeanor).
Officer responded to an anonymous report of a male drinking alcohol in a vehicle in a Wal‑Mart parking lot under a municipal ordinance prohibiting public consumption on private parking lots.
Officer approached the vehicle, obtained the driver’s consent to search for open alcohol containers, and detained Defendant while searching the vehicle.
Officer performed a pat‑down frisk of Defendant and removed a glass pipe from his pocket; drugs were later discovered leading to charges.
Defendant raised, on appeal, challenges to (1) the validity of the investigatory stop based on an anonymous tip, (2) whether the detention’s scope/duration exceeded reasonable suspicion, (3) whether the pat‑down was justified, and (4) whether seizure of the pipe was lawful. Several issues were not preserved below.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Validity of stop based on anonymous tip	State argued tip provided sufficient basis and related investigatory purpose	Charley argued officer lacked reasonable suspicion because tip was anonymous and insufficiently corroborated	Not addressed on appeal—issue not preserved below, so court declined to consider
Scope/duration of detention during vehicle search	State: search for open containers was reasonably related to the reported offense; detention lasted only as long as search	Charley: any reasonable suspicion dissipated before officer asked him out of vehicle because no incriminating behavior or open containers were observed initially	Court held search/detention were reasonably related to the initial stop and no longer than necessary; affirmed
Lawfulness of pat‑down frisk	State: facts (viewed favorably to State) supported officer’s reasonable suspicion that Defendant might be armed and dangerous	Charley: officer lacked reasonable suspicion to frisk him	Court upheld frisk, applying standard to view facts in light most favorable to prevailing party; affirmed
Seizure of glass pipe from pocket	State: seizure justified during frisk/search incident to detention	Charley: (did not preserve argument) seizure unlawful	Issue not preserved; court alternatively rejected Defendant’s merits arguments and affirmed

State v. Werner, 117 N.M. 315 (1994) (scope of investigatory detention must be reasonably related to circumstances that justified the stop)
State v. Cline, 126 N.M. 77 (1998) (appellate review views facts in light most favorable to prevailing party)
State v. Janzen, 142 N.M. 638 (2007) (different legal theories for suppression must be preserved for appellate review)
State v. Martinez, 148 N.M. 262 (2010) (court may refuse to address informant reliability raised for first time on appeal)