Bradshaw v. State

• Citation: 192 So.2d 387
• Decision Date: 05 December 1966
• Docket Number: No. 44158,44158
• Parties: Alfred Ray BRADSHAW v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi

Page 387

192 So.2d 387

Alfred Ray BRADSHAW v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 44158.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Dec. 5, 1966.

Lawrence D. Arrington, Hattiesburg, for appellant.

Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by R. Hugo Newcomb, Sr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

ETHRIDGE, Chief Justice:

Alfred Ray Bradshaw, appellant, was convicted in the Circuit Court of Perry County of burglary and larceny. The principal questions here pertain to the admission of certain evidence obtained by police officers from defendant's person after his arrest, and from the automobile occupied by him but driven and owned by another; and to certain allegedly prejudicial arguments to the jury by the district attorney. We affirm, as modified by amendment of the sentence.

Carley's Drug Store in Richton, Perry County, Mississippi, was burglarized by persons who pried the cover from a vent and lowered themselves through a manhole in the ceiling, which contained fiberglass insulation. A number of bottles of narcotics and related items and over $1500 in cash were taken. A day or so later, in Bossier City, Louisiana, there was an armed robbery, and the police were looking for a car which was similar to the car driven by one Thorn. The defendant and three other men, who fitted the descriptions of the men being sought for the Bossier City robbery, were riding with Thorn in his car. With knowledge of the felony and descriptions of the wanted men, police officers at Bossier City stopped the Thorn car, arrested and searched the occupants, including defendant, and searched the automobile. Under the front seat occupied by Bradshaw, they found a sack with bottles containing narcotics with the labels scratched off. On the floor of the back seat was a bottle containing a drug with the Carley Drug Store label on it, and Mr. Carley's crossmark and date. In the trunk the officers found some work clothing-pants and shirts. The FBI Laboratory compared the fiberglass on this clothing with that from the ceiling of the drug store, and an FBI agent stated that they were identical. The sack contained four packages of proof coins for the years 1960-1963, which Carley said appeared to be identical to sets taken from his store. Bradshaw had in his possession a substantial amount of money, all in one dollar bills. Among them were nine one dollar bills from which was omitted the inscription 'In God We Trust.' Carley said these were similar to bills taken from his store.

As to the items found in the automobile and not on appellant's person, he could not object to their admission into evidence. He was neither the owner nor driver of the car, and any search of it, as to him, was not unlawful. Powell v. State, 184 So.2d 866 (Miss.1966); Johnson v. State, 246 Miss. 182, 145 So.2d 156 (1962), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 702, 83 S.Ct. 1018, 10 L.Ed.2d 125 (1963); Head v. State, 246 Miss. 203, 136 So.2d 619 (1962).

The money taken from defendant's person, namely, the nine one dollar bills without the usual inscription, was also admissible in evidence. An officer without a warrant may arrest a person when he has reasonable cause to believe that a felony has been committed, and reasonable cause to believe that such person committed it. These criteria existed here, under Mississippi, Louisiana and federal constitutional law. Miss.Code Ann. § 2470 (1956); La.Rev.Stats. § 15:60 (1950); Schmerber v. State of California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966).

Assuming, but not deciding, that the excerpt from...