Crane v. State
Decision Date | 29 July 1975 |
Docket Number | 3 Div. 354 |
Parties | Ronald J. CRANE, alias v. STATE. |
Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Benjamin E. Pool, Montgomery, for appellant.
William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and J. Brent Thornley, Asst. Atty. Gen. for the State.
Grand larceny; sentence: ten years imprisonment.
Testimony established that the appellant, Ronald J. Crane, and an accomplice Ronnie Brown stole fourteen diamond rings from Capitol Jewelers and Distributors in Montgomery on August 16, 1972.
Witness Susie Faile testified that around 12:30 P.M., on that date, she was at the diamond counter of the establishment returning a ring. She observed the appellant and another man at the same diamond counter. She testified that she observed the appellant lift the glass on the diamond case and the other man remove two trays of diamond rings. Appellant put one tray under his coat and both men ran from the store. The witness immediately reported the theft to Mrs. Betty Mitchell, a clerk in the diamond department.
Mrs. Mitchell testified that she had observed the appellant and Brown in the store at the time and on the date in question. She did not see them take the diamonds as she was at another counter obtaining authority for a customer's refund. Mrs. Faile alerted her to the theft, and she notified Mr. Arthur Glenn Sexton of the diamond department of the store. Mrs. Mitchell observed the counter to have been locked, but the glass top had been displaced. She made a definite identification of appellant and Brown at the police lineup later that day.
Mr. Sexton testified that he had observed the appellant and Brown in the diamond department of the store on the date and at the approximate time of the theft. He did not personally see the theft, but on being informed of it, he examined the diamond counter and discovered two trays totaling fourteen diamond rings were missing. He identified the missing diamond rings at the police station later that day. He made an individual identification of the rings at that time and in court, he separately identified the tags which were attached to the rings. He testified as to the value, description and identification of each ring and the tags were introduced into evidence. Likewise, admitted into evidence was a photograph of the diamonds taken at the police station upon being identified by Mr. Sexton as depicting the rings stolen.
Christopher Filley, an employee of the store, was just returning from a break when he saw the appellant and Brown run from the store, get into a light colored Cadillac and speed off. He observed one had a black case in his hand similar to the diamond cases used by the store. The two passed within thirty feet of him, and he observed the direction in which they drove. He had first observed appellant and Brown in the store around 10:00 A.M. that morning. He, likewise, made a positive identification of the two from a police lineup later that day.
Officer Clarence Edward Ward, an enforcement agent of the State Alcoholic Beverage Control Board testified as to the arrest and search of the suspects. He received a radio dispatch over the State Trooper network that two white males in a light colored Cadillac bearing a white or a black and white license tag had been involved in a theft. When the suspects stopped at a service station, the witness apprehended them. Before a search was made, he radioed for a more detailed description of the suspects to include their clothing. The description fit the suspects, and they were searched and fourteen diamond rings were found on Ronnie Brown. The witness said each ring had an identification tag on it, and he identified State's Exhibits 1 through 14 as being those tags. He testified that he showed the rings with tags attached to Mr. Sexton who also identified them.
Counsel for appellant cross examined each witness for the State and offered one witness for the defense. Detective R. M. Lindsey testified he was unable to obtain any identifiable fingerprints from the diamond cabinet due to the prints being smudged.
There was no motion to exclude the State's evidence after the State rested its case in chief. There was no exception to the court's oral charge after additional instruction requested was given, and there was no motion for a new trial. Appellant filed a pretrial motion to suppress the evidence obtained by the search of Officer Ward, and renewed such motion verbally during trial, all of which were overruled by the trial judge.
Appellant contends that Officer Ward did not have probable cause to arrest or search him and Brown. We disagree. Officer Ward was a law enforcement officer of the state acting upon a State Trooper radio dispatch. The vehicle and occupants fitted the description given him by radio. A felony had been committed, and he had probable cause to believe the suspects may have committed the crime. Officer Ward testified in part as follows:
'A. Brown was driving.
On cross examination, he further testified concerning the search:
'
Justice Bloodworth sets out the law applicable to the facts of this case in his scholarly opinion in Daniels v. State, 290 Ala. 316, 276 So.2d 441 (1973). We hold the above testimony sufficient to establish probable cause to search without a warrant under the particular circumstances of this case. See: Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543, 39 A.L.R. 790 (1925).
Appellant contends the trial court committed reversible error in admitting into evidence a photograph of the stolen rings without proper authentication. The record shows the following sequence:
The State next proceeded to have the witness identify and authenticate each of the fourteen tags which were previously attached to the rings. The fourteen exhibits were then offered into evidence along with Exhibit No. 15 (the photograph) and the following occurred:
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