Parks v. State, 4 Div. 70
| Decision Date | 25 May 1971 |
| Docket Number | 4 Div. 70 |
| Citation | 248 So.2d 761,46 Ala.App. 722 |
| Parties | Rayford A. PARKS v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Greene & Pope, Phenix City, for appellant.
MacDonald Gallion, Atty. Gen., and Lloyd G. Hart, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Appellant, Rayford A. Parks, appeals from a conviction for the offense of illegal possession of narcotics. Punishment was fixed at ten years in the penitentiary.
The evidence for the state tends to show that on the night of February 18, 1970, the automobile in which the defendant was riding as a passenger was stopped by the Phenix City Police in Phenix City, Russell County, Alabama, and the driver, Willie Clyde Parks, defendant's brother, was placed under arrest for driving while intoxicated.
Officer Donaldson testified that while attempting to remove the car from the road, he and his companion noticed two large paper sacks, approximately a foot high, on the floorboard of the car immediately behind the driver's seat. One of the sacks was open and Officer Donaldson observed that it contained small bottles and boxes. The defendant was asked to get out of the car and present identification. The two police officers, without further investigation, then called for detectives.
When the detectives arrived both occupants were outside the car. Detective Elkins testified that he looked in the car window and observed, by the use of a flashlight, the word 'narcotic' across a label over the caps of bottles in the open sack. He then asked Officer Donaldson to place the defendant under arrest for suspicion of possession of narcotics. Detective Elkins removed the sacks from the automobile and turned them over to Captain Williams, who testified that he removed two boxes and a bottle from the sacks and delivered them to Dr. James Small, of the Alabama State Department of Toxicology and Criminal Investigation.
Dr. Small testified that one box delivered to him contained ampules of clear liquid containing demoral hydrochloride, also known as isonipecaine. The other box contained tablets identified as containing morphine. The bottle contained a liquid identified as opium alkaloids.
The sacks were not obtained as the result of a search of the automobile, as they were in plain view on the floor of the car. Harris v. United States, 390 U.S. 234, 88 S.Ct. 992, 19 L.Ed.2d 1067; Segers v. State, 283 Ala. 694, 220 So.2d 882. Nor does the fact the lack of daylight required the use of a flashlight to view from the outside the contents of the car, constitute a search and make the plain view doctrine inapplicable to this case. United States v. Williams, 416 F.2d 4 (5th Cir. 1969); Sheridan v. State, 43 Ala.App. 239, 187 So.2d 294; People v. Linden, 185 Cal.App.2d 752, 8 Cal.Rptr. 640. The motion to suppress this evidence was properly denied.
The indictment charged the appellant with unlawful possession of one bottle containing opium alkaloid; twenty ampules containing isonipecaine, and one hundred tablets containing morphine. The appellant contends that there is a fatal variance as the state failed to prove the appellant's possession of the exact quantity of narcotics as alleged in the indictment. Such is not a variance. It is sufficient to prove only so much of an indictment as shows that the accused has committed a substantial offense specified therein. Fuller v. State, 39 Ala.App. 219, 96 So.2d 829; Blakeney v. State, 244 Ala. 262, 13 So.2d 430.
At the close of the state's case the appellant moved to exclude the evidence presented on behalf of the state on grounds that the state failed to prove a prima facie case against the defendant that there was no evidence of a conspiracy or an aiding or any other act by the defendant to connect him with the evidence introduced as being illegal drugs, and further that the defendant was not shown to have exercised any control or dominion over the automobile in which the illegal drugs were found. The appellant offered no evidence in his behalf.
In Rueffert v. State, 46 Ala.App. 36, 237 So.2d 520, this court noted:
The well established rule in cases involving possession of prohibited liquors is that where actual manucaption is not shown and constructive possession is relied upon, the state must show beyond a reasonable doubt, in addition to the constructive possession, that the accused knew of the presence of the prohibited beverages. Grimes v. State, 38 Ala.App. 94, 76 So.2d 684; Davis v. State, 40 Ala.App. 609, 119 So.2d 236. The rules of evidence in a prosecution for possession of marijuana are the same as those applicable in every other criminal case.
The offense of possession of illegal drugs is susceptible of joint commission. Green v. State, 30...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Moore v. State
...McHellen v. State, supra; Henderson v. State, 347 So.2d 540 (Ala.Crim.App.), writ quashed, 347 So.2d 543 (Ala.1977); Parks v. State, 46 Ala.App. 722, 248 So.2d 761 (1971). Since the possession of illegal drugs is susceptible of joint commission, the guilt of the accused does not necessarily......
-
Crafts v. State
...1149 (Ala.1976); Shipman v. State, 51 Ala.App. 80, 282 So.2d 696, cert. denied, 291 Ala. 484, 282 So.2d 700 (1973); Parks v. State, 46 Ala.App. 722, 248 So.2d 761 (1971). Cf. Fields v. State, 333 So.2d 861 The judgment of the circuit court is reversed and rendered. Burks v. United States, 4......
-
German v. State
...So.2d 696, cert. denied, 291 Ala. 484, 282 So.2d 700 (1973); Pryor v. State, 48 Ala.App. 465, 265 So.2d 907 (1972); Parks v. State, 46 Ala.App. 722, 248 So.2d 761 (1971). Mere presence is insufficient to establish constructive possession. Smith v. State, 351 So.2d 668 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. d......
-
Durden v. State
...guilty knowledge may be established by circumstantial evidence and guilt does not necessarily depend upon ownership. Parks v. State, 46 Ala.App. 722, 248 So.2d 761." Daniels v. State, 49 Ala.App. 654, 275 So.2d 169 Of course, such knowledge may be shown by circumstantial evidence. McCord v.......