Goodwin v. Com., 0667-89-2

• Decision Date: 04 December 1990
• Docket Number: No. 0667-89-2,0667-89-2
• Citation: 11 Va.App. 363,398 S.E.2d 690
• Parties: Richard Nathaniel GOODWIN v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia. Record
• Court: Virginia Court of Appeals

Page 690

398 S.E.2d 690

11 Va.App. 363

Richard Nathaniel GOODWIN v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

Record No. 0667-89-2.

Court of Appeals of Virginia.

Dec. 4, 1990.

Russell C. Williams, Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.

M. Katharine Spong, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Mary Sue Terry, Atty. Gen., on brief), for appellee.

Present: KOONTZ, C.J., and COLEMAN and KEENAN, JJ.

KOONTZ, Chief Judge.

On March 22, 1989, Richard Nathaniel Goodwin entered a conditional plea of guilty to one count of possession of cocaine and one count of possession of a concealed weapon after his motion to suppress the cocaine and the weapon was denied. The trial court sentenced him to five years in the penitentiary, but suspended the sentence on the condition he serve nine months in jail in the form of work release. On appeal, Goodwin contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence. ¹

At about 5:00 p.m. on December 29, 1988, Richmond police officers Vickers and Kelly were in their car patrolling the Gilpen Court area of the 1100 block of St. James Street in Richmond. Gilpen Court was considered a high crime area and the officers previously had made numerous arrests in the vicinity. Upon approaching St. James Street, the officers saw Goodwin walk out from an open area behind some apartments and toward the street. It was a cold day and Goodwin was wearing a bulky winter coat that was tied around the waist. In the officer's estimation, when Goodwin appeared to see the police car he "jammed" his hand in his coat pocket. The officers did not see any item or article in Goodwin's hand or coat pocket. The officers were concerned that Goodwin had shoved a weapon into his pocket so they pulled their car up to where he was approaching the street. As Goodwin began to walk down the sidewalk past the rear of the car, the officers got out and approached him. They told Goodwin that they wanted to pat him down for weapons. Goodwin consented and then told the officers that he was carrying a "little knife." When Goodwin began to reach into a pocket to retrieve the knife, the officers stopped him and grabbed it themselves. The knife found was, in the officers' estimation, not accurately described as a "little knife." Thereupon, they arrested Goodwin for carrying a concealed weapon. Subsequent to the arrest, the officers searched the coat pocket into which Goodwin shoved his hand. Finding nothing, they then searched his other pockets and found a small plastic bag containing cocaine.

At the suppression hearing, the trial court found, without any additional explanation, that an "investigatory situation" arose because the officers saw Goodwin put his hand in his pocket in a quick motion. Besides finding an "investigatory situation" existed, the trial court made no other express findings for the record before denying Goodwin's motion to suppress. "While we consider the sufficiency of the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, granting to it all reasonable inferences fairly deducible therefrom, ... we cannot on review disregard credible, unimpeached evidence of the Commonwealth which exculpates the defendant." Harward v. Commonwealth, 5 Va.App. 468, 479, 364 S.E.2d 511, 516 (1988) (citations omitted).

Before addressing whether Goodwin's fourth and fourteenth amendment rights were violated, we must first address the threshold question of whether a "stop" occurred prior to the time the police found the knife. A "stop" or "detention" occurs when the "circumstances ... amount to a show of official authority such that 'a reasonable person would have believed he was not free to leave.' " Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 502, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1326, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983) (quoting United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 554, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 1877, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980)); see also Moss v. Commonwealth, 7 Va.App. 305, 307, 373 S.E.2d 170, 171-172 (1988). At the suppression hearing, officer Vickers conceded he detained Goodwin. The facts support that concession. The officers stopped their car next to Goodwin and told him they wanted to pat him down for weapons. Since the record does not indicate otherwise, we assume the trial court also found there was a "stop" or "detention".

We must next decide whether the police had proper grounds for stopping Goodwin. ² "In order to determine what cause is sufficient to authorize police to stop a person, cognizance must be taken of the 'totality of the circumstances--the whole picture.' Assessing that whole picture, 'the detaining officers must have a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity.' " Leeth v. Commonwealth, 223 Va. 335, 340, 288 S.E.2d 475, 478 (1982) (quoting United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 417-418, 101 S.Ct. 690, 694-95, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981)); see also Williams v. Commonwealth, 4 Va.App. 53, 65, 354 S.E.2d 79, 85 (1987); Iglesias v. Commonwealth, 7 Va.App. 93, 100, 372 S.E.2d 170, 174 (1988) (en banc). While considering "trained police officers may be 'able to perceive and articulate meaning to given conduct which would be wholly innocent to the untrained observer,' " the court must determine whether reasonable suspicion exists based on objective standards "rather than on the police officer's subjective intent." Iglesias, 7 Va.App. at 101, 372 S.E.2d at 174-75 (quoting United States v. Goodling, 695 F.2d 78, 82 (4th Cir.1982)).

In a case based on comparable facts, this Court found police lacked adequate grounds to stop a person. Moss v. Commonwealth, 7 Va.App. 305, 373 S.E.2d 170 (1988). In Moss, while patrolling in his car, a police officer observed the defendant and two other people at a street corner. The police officer stopped ...