Cullins v. Wainwright, 20784.

• Decision Date: 14 February 1964
• Docket Number: No. 20784.,20784.
• Citation: Cullins v. Wainwright, 328 F.2d 481 (5th Cir. 1964)
• Parties: Floyd L. CULLINS, Appellant, v. Louis L. WAINWRIGHT, Director, Division of Corrections, State of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

328 F.2d 481 (1964)

Floyd L. CULLINS, Appellant, v. Louis L. WAINWRIGHT, Director, Division of Corrections, State of Florida, Appellee.

No. 20784.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

February 14, 1964.

Meinhard H. Myerson, Jacksonville, Fla., A. K. Black, Lake City, Fla., for appellant.

George R. Georgieff, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Florida, Tallahassee, Fla., Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before TUTTLE, Chief Judge, and JONES and BELL, Circuit Judges.

JONES, Circuit Judge:

The material facts here are not complex and are not in dispute. Apartment 607, in a downtown apartment house in Jacksonville, Florida, was rented to William H. Cross. On October 17, 1958, Special Agents of the Florida Sheriff's Bureau, with the consent of the manager of the apartment building, went into Apartment 707, directly above the Cross apartment. In Apartment 707 they removed a grille from an air shaft and lowered a microphone down the air shaft so that it was opposite a grille in Apartment 607. Although it may not be clearly established of record, it was conceded by the Assistant Attorney General of Florida that the air shaft, as it passed through the sixth floor, was entirely surrounded by the interior walls of Apartment 607. The microphone was wired to recording and listening devices operated by the officers in the apartment above. Using this electronic equipment the officers overheard conversations between Cross, the tenant of the apartment, and others, including the appellant. The voices of Cullins and Cross were recognized. From the conversations the officers became convinced that Cullins and others were operating a lottery enterprise. The information so obtained was incorporated in an affidavit of probable cause upon which a warrant was issued for the search of Apartment 607. Cullins and Cross were at the apartment and were placed under arrest. A search was made and gambling paraphernalia were seized.

Cullins, Cross and others were charged by the State of Florida with a violation of its lottery laws. Cullins filed a motion to suppress the evidence procured by the search on the ground that the search was in violation of his constitutionally protected right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure. Objections were made to the introduction of the evidence procured at the raid. The motion to suppress was denied. The objections to the admission of evidence were overruled. Cullins was convicted on August 7, 1959. State remedies were exhausted, the validity of the search being upheld in the state courts. A petition for habeas corpus was filed in the United States District Court. After a hearing at which the facts herein recited were developed, the court dismissed the habeas corpus proceeding and issued a certificate of probable cause so as to permit an appeal to this Court. 28 U.S.C.A. § 2253. In making the announcement that a certificate of probable cause would be issued, the district judge observed that "the court certifies probable cause, because this is a field that I would like to see examined a little more."

The area is not one which has been free from exploration. The Supreme Court has had occasion to set forth the guiding principles in a number of significant decisions. Lopez v. United States, 373 U.S. 427, 83 S.Ct. 1381, 10 L. Ed.2d 462; Silverman v. United States, 365 U.S. 505, 81 S.Ct. 679, 5 L.Ed.2d 734; On Lee v. United States, 343 U.S. 747, 72 S.Ct. 967, 96 L.Ed. 1270; Goldman v. United States, 316 U.S. 129, 62...