Gomez v. Beto
| Decision Date | 14 February 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 72-2714 Summary Calendar.,72-2714 Summary Calendar. |
| Parties | Gilbert GOMEZ, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Dr. George J. BETO, Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Harry H. Walsh, Tex. Dept. of Corrections, Huntsville, Ala., for petitioner-appellant.
Crawford Martin, Atty. Gen., Dunklin Sullivan, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, Tex., for respondent-appellee.
Before BELL, DYER and CLARK, Circuit Judges.
Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied February 14, 1973.
Petitioner in this appeal from a habeas corpus proceeding presents two separate challenges to the search which produced the evidence leading to his conviction on narcotic charges. The first is the lack of probable cause to arrest the petitioner and search the car in which he was riding. The second is whether the search of the car can be justified, assuming arguendo the existence of probable cause, in the absence of a warrant. We affirm.
Officers of the Austin Police Department received a tip from unidentified informers that petitioner and one Torres had in their possession a large amount of heroin and were preparing it for distribution to pushers. The informers stated that petitioner and Torres would soon leave a certain house with the heroin in a blue and white Oldsmobile belonging to Torres. Within minutes another officer who had been directed to the vicinity of the house for the purpose of surveillance, reported that the petitioner and Torres had left the house in the Oldsmobile. Shortly thereafter the car was stopped by the police and the occupants arrested. The suspects and the car were taken to the police station. The car was thoroughly searched at the station within fifteen to thirty minutes of the time of the arrest, and three packages containing heroin were found.
The information provided by the informers provided ample probable cause for the arrest of the petitioner. The officers who received the tip testified that they had received tips from these same informers on numerous occasions and that they had always been reliable. The specificity of their information and the subsequent confirmation of some of the details by the surveillance officer provided a sure constitutional basis for this procedure.
Nor is there any merit in petitioner's contention that the search of the car at the police station was invalid for lack of a warrant. This case is clearly within the scope of the rule enunciated in Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 26 L.Ed.2d 419 (1970). The search was carried out as soon as the car was taken to the police station. As the court in Chambers stated:
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
United States v. Soriano
...all the tangled skeins to the benefit of everyone concerned. 2 E. g., United States v. Chapman, 474 F.2d 300 (CA5, 1973); Gomez v. Beto, 471 F. 2d 774 (CA5, 1973); United States v. Henderson, 469 F.2d 1074 (CA5, 1972); United States v. Gulledge, 469 F.2d 713 (CA5, 1972); United States v. Mi......
-
Weeks v. Estelle
...station. The Supreme Court found that the information supplied by the informant was sufficient to show probable cause. In Gomez v. Beto, 5 Cir. 1973, 471 F.2d 774, cert. denied, 414 U.S. 843, 94 S.Ct. 103, 38 L.Ed.2d 81, a case factually very similar to the case at bar, we found a tip from ......
-
Easley v. State
...probable cause to search, either course is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.' See also the recent case (January 2, 1973) of Gomez v. Beto, 471 F.2d 774, decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Appellant's argument is without merit. Point II is covered by ou......