Hatcher v. State
Decision Date | 07 November 2007 |
Docket Number | No. 1055 September Term, 2006.,1055 September Term, 2006. |
Parties | Carroll Antonio HATCHER v. STATE of Maryland. |
Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
Katherine P. Rasin (Sarah Thorpe, Nancy S. Forster, Public Defender, on the brief), Baltimore, for Appellant.
Jeremy M. McCoy (Douglas F. Gansler, Atty. Gen., on the brief), Baltimore, for Appellee.
Panel: DAVIS, JAMES R. EYLER and MEREDITH, JJ.
Carroll Antonio Hatcher, appellant, was charged in the Circuit Court for Washington County with possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Before trial, appellant filed a motion to suppress cocaine seized from his pants pocket. Following a suppression hearing, the court denied appellant's motion, and appellant was convicted by a jury of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Subsequently, appellant was sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment, with all but 84 months suspended, and three years of unsupervised probation upon release. Appellant's sole contention on appeal is that the court's denial of his motion to suppress was in error. We shall affirm.
Appellant was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by police officers. The officers observed the driver of the vehicle run a red light and drive at an excessive speed, and they knew the vehicle had been stolen, prior to initiating the stop. The basis for our conclusion is that the arresting police officers had probable cause to arrest appellant and conduct a search incident to that arrest and, alternatively, that the cocaine would have been inevitably discovered.
On April 25, 2006, a suppression hearing was held pursuant to appellant's motion to suppress cocaine seized from his person during an illegal search. At that hearing, Officer Thomas Kelley testified as follows.
On December 15, 2005, at approximately 12:41 a.m., Officer Kelley and Officer Tom Niebauer of the Hagerstown Police Department, were stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of "North Jonathan and Franklin," when they observed a black Chevy run a red light on Franklin Street. At that time, Officer Kelley began to follow the vehicle, which was traveling at approximately 45 miles per hour in a zone with a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour. The officers ran the vehicle registration through police dispatch and learned that the vehicle had been stolen in Leesburg, Virginia. Subsequently, the officers initiated a traffic stop by activating the police vehicle's lights and siren. The vehicle continued traveling approximately "a quarter of a mile to a half mile," however, and proceeded to a ramp onto southbound Interstate 81 before it stopped "just off the ... ramp."
Once the vehicle stopped, the officers conducted a "high-risk stop" based on the fact that the vehicle was reported stolen and initially failed to comply when the officers attempted to stop it. Officer Kelley testified that the high-risk stop consisted of giving verbal commands to the driver, with weapons drawn, to turn off the vehicle, remove the keys from the ignition, and drop the keys outside of the vehicle. The officers then advised the driver to exit the vehicle. The driver complied with the officers' request, and he was handcuffed and removed to a safe location where he was detained.
Officer Kelley stated that the front seat passenger, a female, was then commanded to exit the vehicle, was handcuffed, and removed to a safe location, where she was detained. The last occupant of the vehicle, appellant, who had been sitting in the rear, on the driver's side of the vehicle, was then commanded to exit the vehicle, was handcuffed, and removed to a safe location, where he was detained. Officer Kelley testified that, as each occupant was removed from the vehicle, "[d]uring each time of the handcuffing, as they were being removed to a safe location, a quick pat down was conducted for any possible weapons."
Officer Kelley testified that after confirming that the vehicle had been stolen and determining that all of the occupants were going to be placed under arrest for the vehicle theft, but prior to placing appellant in the rear of his police cruiser, he "searched" appellant. Officer Kelley's testimony in this regard was as follows.
I maintained custody of those items, continued with the search and then placed [appellant] in the back of the car. Now the search was not an extensive search. It was just the, like you could say the personal compartments of [appellant] which consisted of pockets, the belt lining and again the belt lining for any possible hidden weapons or contrabands that may have been missed and then I rubbed down the legs and sock area.
On cross-examination, Officer Kelley testified that, although he had information that the vehicle was stolen, he had not received information prior to the stop that appellant was wanted for the theft. As the officers were in the "process of leaving" the scene, the police dispatcher advised that "Carroll Antonio Hatcher" was wanted for the theft, in Leesburg, Virginia. At that time, Officer Kelley was still trying to determine if appellant was Carroll Antonio Hatcher because he had identified himself as "Randolph T. Hatcher," and presented a New Jersey identification card so indicating. At some point, Officer Kelley also learned that there was a warrant for the driver of the vehicle, Dewaine Feaster.
As noted earlier, Officer Kelley testified that a "pat-down" had occurred prior to his search of appellant. On cross examination, Officer Kelley testified that he "assumed" a "pat-down" had occurred prior to his search. The pertinent testimony follows.
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Muscolino v. State
...department procedure which would have, in fact, absent the [illegality] . . . uncovered the disputed evidence"); Hatcher v. State, 177 Md. App. 359, 397, 935 A.2d 468 (2007) ("The State must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the lawful means which made discovery inevitable were......
-
Thompson v. State
...that the lawful means which made discovery inevitable were being actively pursued prior to the illegal conduct. Hatcher v. State, 177 Md.App. 359, 397, 935 A.2d 468 (2007) (citations omitted). Here, after considering whether appellant's arrest was legal, the suppression court determined tha......
-
Peters v. State
...department procedure which would have, in fact, absent the [illegality] ... uncovered the disputed evidence”); Hatcher v. State, 177 Md.App. 359, 397, 935 A.2d 468 (2007) (“The State must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the lawful means which made discovery inevitable were be......
-
Henderson v. State
...constitutionally permissible for the officers to seize the appellant and Austin until the K-9 unit arrived.6 See Hatcher v. State, 177 Md.App. 359, 395, 935 A.2d 468 (2007) (detention permitted because "unlike in Dennis, the vehicle was not stopped based solely on traffic violations"). The ......