Masterson v. State, 49A02-0503-CR-223.

• Decision Date: 21 March 2006
• Docket Number: No. 49A02-0503-CR-223.,49A02-0503-CR-223.
• Citation: 843 N.E.2d 1001
• Parties: Darnell MASTERSON, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

843 N.E.2d 1001

Darnell MASTERSON, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 49A02-0503-CR-223.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

March 21, 2006.

John Pinnow, Greenwood, for Appellant.

Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, George P. Sherman, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, for Appellee.

OPINION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge.

In this interlocutory appeal, Darnell Masterson appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained as the result of a warrantless search of his vehicle. He presents the following restated issues for review:

1. Did the warrantless search violate Masterson's rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution?

2. Was the warrantless search reasonable under Article I, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution?

We affirm.

After midnight on October 5, 2004, Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Gilbert was dispatched to a Shell Station on the corner of 38th Street and Post Road on the report of a possible carjacking. The station attendant informed Deputy Gilbert that he called 911 after he saw a woman running and screaming that she needed the police. Within two minutes of his arrival, Deputy Gilbert was informed by dispatch that the victims were at 42nd Street and Post Road. He immediately proceeded to that location to speak with the victims, Bonita Shaffer and Melanie Wendell.

Shaffer explained to Deputy Gilbert that she exited Wendell's vehicle and walked toward the window of the Shell Station when a young black male approached her from behind, stuck a blunt object against her back, and told her to go to his car or he would shoot her. He then ordered her into a white four-door Ford with chrome wheels, where he put a knife to her throat and demanded money. Shaffer handed over the few dollars she had. The man threatened to kill her if she did not give him more money. He then proceeded to Wendell's vehicle and demanded money from Wendell. After a brief struggle, the man put a knife to Wendell's throat and said he would kill her if she did not hand over her purse. After taking Wendell's purse and cell phone, the man started back towards Shaffer. Shaffer quickly exited the white Ford and ran up to the attendant, yelling that she had been robbed. The assailant ran to the white Ford and drove away.

The women told Deputy Gilbert that they followed the white Ford until it turned east on 39th Place. They observed the vehicle pull into a parking area in front of an apartment building on the south side of 39th Place. After observing their assailant park the vehicle, the women continued northbound on Post Road to look for a police officer. Within minutes of the robbery, the women spoke with Deputy Gilbert at 42nd and Post Road. In addition to the details set forth above, including a description of the white Ford, the women informed Deputy Gilbert their assailant was a young black male with his Afro pulled back into a ponytail and wearing blue jeans and a blue and white striped shirt.

Deputy Gilbert broadcast the information over his police radio, and within a minute or two, another deputy located an unoccupied white 1986 Ford LTD parked near an apartment building located at 9021 East 39th Place. The hood of the vehicle was still warm to the touch, indicating it had recently been driven. The victims arrived on the scene with Deputy Gilbert and positively identified the vehicle.

Believing they had located the vehicle used in the crime, Deputy Gilbert and at least two other officers decided to remain at a discreet distance and observe the vehicle in hopes that the driver would return. A check of the vehicle's handicap license plate revealed the vehicle was registered to an older man who did not match the victims' description. The vehicle, however, had not been reported stolen. After about fifteen or twenty minutes of observing the vehicle with no activity, Deputy Gilbert contacted his supervisor, Detective Kelly Weidner. Detective Weidner advised Deputy Gilbert to "impound the vehicle with a detective's hold". Transcript at 11.

Prior to conducting an inventory search of the vehicle, the officers noticed a black male, later identified as Jawan Jordan, observing them. Deputy Gilbert approached Jordan and questioned him about the vehicle and its driver. Jordan advised that he had observed a black male with a long ponytail driving the vehicle and pointed to an area further east in the apartment complex where he thought the driver lived. Deputy Gilbert and another deputy then began inventorying the unlocked vehicle and discovered a pay stub on the front seat made payable to Darnell Masterson with an address of 9021 East 39th Place, Apartment # 5.

The officers went to this address, which was only about twenty yards away. Jordan answered the door of the apartment and allowed the officers to enter. When he was again asked about the driver of the white Ford, Jordan acted nervous and motioned with his head toward a coat closet. Masterson, who fit the description given by the victims, was found hiding in the closet. The officers also found several items inside the apartment belonging to Wendell, including her purse, a cell phone, and a check drawn on her bank account. Thereafter, the victims were brought to the scene and identified Masterson as their assailant. Jordan advised the officers that Masterson had admitted committing the robbery and had offered him the cell phone taken in the crime.

The State subsequently charged Masterson with two counts of robbery, a class B felony, two counts of intimidation, a class C felony, and one count of confinement, a class B felony. Thereafter, on January 18, 2005, Masterson filed a motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of the warrantless search of the vehicle. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied the motion to suppress concluding that the automobile exception applied under the Fourth Amendment and the search was reasonable under article I, section 11 of the Indiana Constitution. Masterson appeals the denial of his motion to suppress.

Our review of a trial court's denial of a motion to suppress is similar to other sufficiency matters. Clark v. State, 808 N.E.2d 1183 (Ind.2004). That is, the record must disclose substantial evidence of probative value that supports the trial court's decision. Id. Further, we do not reweigh the evidence and we consider conflicting evidence most favorably to the trial court's ruling. Id.

1.

With regard to the Fourth Amendment, Masterson claims the trial court erroneously determined that the search fell within the automobile exception to the warrant requirement.¹ In particular, Masterson asserts the officers did not have probable cause to search the vehicle and the vehicle was not readily mobile.

As a general rule, the Fourth Amendment prohibits warrantless searches. Myers v. State, 839 N.E.2d 1146 (Ind.2005). The automobile exception, however, is a well-recognized exception to the warrant requirement. See id. A search falls within this exception when the vehicle is readily mobile and probable cause exists to believe it contains contraband or evidence of a crime. See id. (citing Maryland v. Dyson, 527 U.S. 465, 119 S.Ct. 2013, 144 L.Ed.2d 442 (1999) (where there is probable cause to search a vehicle a search is not unreasonable if based on facts that would justify the issuance of a warrant, even though a warrant has not been actually obtained)); see also Gibson v. State, 733 N.E.2d 945 (Ind.Ct.App.2000).

We turn first to the probable cause requirement. "Facts necessary to demonstrate the existence of probable cause for a warrantless search are not materially different from those which would authorize the issuance of a warrant if presented to a magistrate." Gibson v. State, 733 N.E.2d at 952. "Probable cause to issue a search warrant exists where the facts and circumstances would lead a reasonably prudent person to conclude that a search of those premises will uncover evidence of a crime." Id.

Masterson appears to argue that at the time of the search the officers could not have reasonably concluded his vehicle was the one used in the robbery. Masterson's slender argument goes:

The victims' description of a young black male as the robber did not fit with a car with a handicapped plate registered to an older black male at a different address. Moreover, Deputy Gilbert did not see a knife, purse or other items inside the car which would be consistent with it having been used in a robbery.

Appellant's Brief at 12 (citations to record omitted). This argument ignores the following facts relied upon by the trial court in determining that probable cause existed:

In this case the Court heard evidence that the victims of an armed robbery followed the subject vehicle and positively identified the car to police as the same one used by the [assailant] to flee the scene of the crime. A review of State's Exhibit 2 shows that the time between the 911 dispatch and the discovery of the white LTD at the apartment complex to be less than ten minutes. Deputy Gilbert testified that he felt the car hood and confirmed that the automobile had recently been driven. Ms. Wendell and Ms. Shaffer also gave a description of their attacker as a young black male with a ponytail. This is the same description given by [Jordan] who confirmed that such an individual was known to him as the regular driver of the vehicle in question, and was also known to be living in a nearby apartment building.

Appendix at 91-92. We agree with the trial court that based on this information, the officers could have reasonably concluded that the subject vehicle was the same one recently used by the suspect to flee the scene of the armed robbery. In our estimation, this was the only reasonable conclusion under the circumstances. Thus, based on the facts known to the officers at the time of the search, they had probable cause to believe a search of the vehicle would uncover contraband or evidence of the...