The People of the Territory of Guam v. Benjamin M. Ichiyasu

Appellant Ichiyasu appeals the decision of the appellate division of the district court of Guam affirming the Guam Superi- or Court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence and statements. We affirm.

I. FACTS

On November 23,1984, two women were struck by an automobile while standing on Route 1 in Agana, Gaum. The driver fled the scene. While on patrol, Officer John Thornton received several police radio dispatches describing the car and the direction it was traveling. The last of these indicated that the suspect vehicle had turned off Route 1 onto Route 11, a dead-end road that terminated at a pier. Thornton, who was close to the intersection of Routes 1 and 11, proceeded there at once, arriving in less than a minute. Upon reaching the intersection, he began to turn left onto Route 11 when he noticed a taxi with one passenger emerging from the dead-end road. As Thornton turned, he watched the taxi, and noted that the passenger, appellant Ichiyasu, was elderly, tall and slim and that he did not look at the police car. As the taxi turned onto Route 1, Thornton executed a U-turn and signalled the taxi to stop.

The officer first approached the taxi driver and asked where he had…