State v. Zietlow, 2017 MT 148

On June 13, 2015, Town Pump employee Karmen Stagl called 911 multiple times to report a potentially intoxicated customer, relaying both her own observations and contemporaneous reports from coworker Jamie Weavers.
Stagl described the suspect (Gregory Zietlow), his clothing, and a black Chevy Silverado LTZ with temporary dealer plates and gave the full plate number and direction of travel.
Trooper Andrew Novak used the plate to find the vehicle’s registered address, drove there, did not initially see the truck, then observed a matching truck pull into that address and stopped it.
Novak confirmed the plate, vehicle description, and Zietlow’s appearance; the stop developed into probable cause and Zietlow was arrested for aggravated DUI (BAC > .16).
Zietlow moved to suppress the stop for lack of particularized suspicion; the Justice Court denied the motion, he pled guilty reserving appeal, and the District Court denied suppression on review.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Zietlow)	Held
Whether citizen tip (partly relayed from coworker) was reliable enough to give particularized suspicion for an investigatory stop	Tip was from an identified citizen, included personal observations and detailed vehicle/plate info, and was corroborated by officer observations	Tip lacked sufficient personal observations by Stagl (mostly relayed from coworker) and officer did not sufficiently corroborate route/travel to justify the stop	Held: Tip met Pratt factors — identified informant, based on personal observation (including coworker’s contemporaneous observations as relayed), and corroboration by officer — so particularized suspicion existed

City of Missoula v. Moore, 360 Mont. 22, 251 P.3d 679 (discusses particularized suspicion standard and corroboration)
State v. Peters, 362 Mont. 389, 264 P.3d 1124 (finding parked vehicle at registered address can suffice to corroborate citizen tip)
Hulse v. DOJ, Motor Vehicle Div., 289 Mont. 1, 961 P.2d 75 (statutory authority for investigatory stops)
State v. Gill, 364 Mont. 182, 272 P.3d 60 (totality-of-the-circumstances evaluation for suspicion)
State v. Martinez, 314 Mont. 434, 67 P.3d 207 (citizen informant reliability principles)
State v. Myhre, 329 Mont. 210, 124 P.3d 126 (identifying information lends high indicia of reliability)
State v. Pratt, 286 Mont. 156, 951 P.2d 37 (three-factor test for third‑party tip: ID, personal observation, officer corroboration)
State v. Clawson, 351 Mont. 354, 212 P.3d 1056 (holding that relay of a coworker’s contemporaneous observation combined with the informant’s own observations can satisfy Pratt)