Daniels v. United States, 21200.
| Decision Date | 29 March 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 21200.,21200. |
| Parties | Willis M. DANIELS, Jr., Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Mr. George B. Haddock, Washington, D. C. (appointed by this court), for appellant.
Mr. Joel M. Finkelstein, Asst. U. S. Atty., with whom Messrs. David G. Bress, U. S. Atty., and Frank Q. Nebeker, Asst. U. S. Atty., were on the brief, for appellee.
Before BAZELON, Chief Judge, and WRIGHT and LEVENTHAL, Circuit Judges.
In September 1966 appellant was indicted on one count of robbery in violation of 22 D.C.CODE § 2901 (1967). After entering a plea of not guilty, he filed a motion to suppress certain items of evidence. This motion was denied and in April 1967 appellant was tried before a jury which returned a guilty verdict. In June he was sentenced to serve from 18 to 54 months in prison.
Appellant raises only one issue on appeal: that his arrest, and therefore the search incident to it, were illegal and consequently the evidence of the robbery taken from him during the search should have been suppressed. The facts of the case, as developed at trial, may be quickly stated.
At about 4:50 P.M. on September 5, 1966, as Miss Maria Belda, 71, was walking down the street, a man, passing from the opposite direction, grabbed her pocketbook and knocked her to the ground. Miss Belda, upon getting to her feet, gave chase. In so doing, she came upon a lady sitting on a bench who told her in which direction the fleeing man had gone. Miss Belda caught sight of the man once again but soon lost him. She then looked briefly for a policeman but was unable to find one. However, on her way home she saw an officer to whom she reported the robbery and gave a description of her assailant. The officer then called the station and drove Miss Belda around the neighborhood in search of the suspect.
At approximately 4:55 P.M. a police lookout was broadcast which was heard by two policemen who were cruising in the vicinity of the crime. The broadcast described the suspect as a Negro male, about six feet tall, of medium build and complexion, and wearing a yellow shirt and yellow trousers. A few minutes thereafter a man matching this description was spotted by the cruising policemen about three and a half blocks from the scene of the crime. The officers approached the appellant, told him he matched the description of a robbery suspect, and asked him if he would accompany them to confront the victim. Appellant was then taken to Miss Belda who identified him as the man who robbed her. He was searched and in his pockets was found evidence that marked him as her assailant. This evidence uncovered by the search was admitted at appellant's trial.
We agree with the Government that the police had probable cause to make an arrest at the time they accosted appellant and asked him to accompany them for the purpose of identification. Appellant apparently concedes that a lookout describing him was broadcast and heard as the arresting officers testified. He maintains, however, that the Government has failed to prove the source of the information contained in the...
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