People v. Woods

• Decision Date: 27 February 1956
• Docket Number: Cr. 1031
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Clifford Coleman WOODS, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 901

293 P.2d 901

139 Cal.App.2d 515

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Clifford Coleman WOODS, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 1031.

District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, California.

Feb. 27, 1956.

Rehearing Denied March 8, 1956.

Hearing Denied March 28, 1956.

Johnson & Johnson, by Charles M. Snell, San Diego, and Clifford Coleman Woods, in pro. per., for appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Atty. Gen., William E. James, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

GRIFFIN, Justice.

Defendant and appellant was charged in one count with possession of heroin and morphine on November 4, 1954, in violation of section 11500 of the Health and Safety Code; and in a second count with bringing a narcotic into a jail, in violation of Penal Code section 4573.

Three prior convictions of felony were charged and admitted, to wit, burglary, possession of narcotics, and smuggling opium, for which he served separate terms of imprisonment.

On a motion to set aside the information the court granted it as to the second count, and denied it as to the first. Defendant was represented by counsel. A trial by the court resulted in a conviction on the first count. A new trial was denied and defendant was committed to state' prison. In propria persona he filed an opening brief on appeal. He does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to show possession of a narcotic. However, he does challenge the judgment rendered on the ground that he was denied due process of law in that he claims evidence was obtained from his person in violation of his constitutional guarantees and in violation of the exclusionary rule announced in People v. Cahan, 44 Cal.2d 434, 282 P.2d 905. In support of the argument he relies principally upon Rochin v. People of California, 342 U.S. 165, 72 S.Ct. 205, 96 L.Ed. 183; and People v. Martinez, 130 Cal.App.2d 54, 278 P.2d 26.

The evidence shows that one of the sheriff's officers on the narcotics detail saw defendant at about 8:50 p. m. on November 4, 1954, when he was brought into the main sheriff's office in San Diego; that he examined him for the possibility that he was then under the influence of a narcotic, and informed defendant that he was going to summon a doctor to examine him to determine the matter. He testified that the defendant told him that he had previously that day gone to Tijuana with a Negro companion and while there he had purchased a narcotic and had snuffed it into his nostrils; that he then told defendant he had reason to believe he might have a narcotic secreted on his person, and asked him to remove his trousers and bend over for an examination; that he voluntarily did so; that by the aid of a flashlight he examined his rectum; that he saw a greasy substance around the anus and it had a rough, reddish appearance; that he then told defendant that should he have any narcotic secreted there it would be a felony to take it into jail, and that defendant stated he had none; that he then told defendant he was calling a doctor, which he did, to determine whether defendant was under the influence of a narcotic; that when the doctor arrived he examined defendant's eyes, arms and nostrils, and by the aid of a swab removed some substance from defendant's nose which he gave to the officer and stated in defendant's presence that in his opinion defendant was under the influence of a narcotic; that he again cautioned defendant, before taking him to jail, about taking any narcotic with him in any way and that defendant again stated he had none in his possession; that he took him to jail and into the jail clinic with the doctor; that he requested defendant again to remove his trousers and bend over, and that defendant stated: 'I want you to know that I am going to do this under protest', and that he told defendant: 'All right, it will be done under protest'; that Woods removed his trousers and the doctor put a rubber glove on his hand; that defendant bent over and the doctor inserted a finger into defendant's rectum and said: 'There is an object in his rectum'; that when defendant, at that time, reached around with his left hand, he told him there was no point in interfering with the doctor; that he and another officer then took hold of defendant's hands to prevent him from interfering with the doctor, and that the doctor removed a rubber finger stall with one gram of powdered substance containing morphine and heroin. It was offered in evidence and objection was made on the ground it was obtained from the person of defendant, in violation of his constitutional rights, under the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution, and Article I, section 13 of the California Constitution. The objection was overruled. The officer testified that thereafter, in the sheriff's office, he questioned defendant and told him he was going to charge him with the felony of smuggling the narcotic into jail, and that defendant then admitted he had purchased it in Tijuana that day and placed it there for the purpose of transporting it into the United States.

The doctor testified in more detail as to his examination of defendant and concluded he was under the influence of a narcotic before he was taken into the jail. His testimony as to the rectal examination was substantially the same as that related by the officer. He testified there was nothing unusual about this type of examination, and there was very little, if any, pain in connection with it.

After the people rested their case defendant's counsel moved to strike the evidence on the grounds stated in the objections to its admission. The motion was denied.

Defendant then testified that the officer first examined him, as he stated, to determine if he was under the influence of a narcotic, tested his eyes, and looked at his arms, but did not examine his rectum and did not ask him to remove his trousers, but did call the doctor who there examined his eyes, arms, blood pressure, and heart, but made no examination of his rectum; that he was then taken into the jail dispensary and the officer asked him to remove his trousers; that he inquired as to the reason and was told it was for the purpose of making some form of examination upon his rectum; that he was told to eject the substance contained therein if he had it secreted there but he told them he had none and the officer said then he should have no objection to submitting to the probing activities of the doctor; that he told them: 'I had no objections to it'; that 'I was not afraid of anything being found that would criminally incriminate me'; that since the officer informed him that it would not be possible for him to go into the jail with something hidden upon his person and they were going to perform the examination anyway, he announced that they were proceeding under his protest; that they held his hands and that he felt considerable pain; that the doctor removed the object and it was the heroin there in evidence; and that he placed it in his rectum in Tijuana to transport it across the border.

The court, in summing up the evidence, remarked that the testimony of defendant, particularly as to any claimed harsh or brutal treatment, was not worthy of belief, as opposed to the testimony of the officer and the doctor. Defendant's motion for new trial was denied and judgment was imposed. Counsel for defendant also file an opening brief and presents about the same contentions made by defendant.

It is respondent's position that the heroin (the possession of which defendant admits) was not obtained in a manner which shocks the conscience or offends our concept of liberty; that this case is factually distinguishable from the Rochin case, supra, and that there was no evidence obtained as a result of an unreasonable search and seizure; that accordingly the Cahan case is not applicable; that the evidence was obtained by a medically approved method and in accordance with law; and that the resulting judgment of conviction should be affirmed.

The main question is whether the facts in the instant case bring it within the rule laid down in the cases relied upon by defendant. In the Rochin case, 1952, where deputy sheriffs having some information that accused was selling narcotics, entered the open door of a dwelling house, forced open a door to accused's bedroom, and forcibly attempted to extract capsules which accused swallowed, and at a hospital a physician, at deputy sheriff's direction, forced an emetic solution through a tube into the accused's stomach against his will and this 'stomach pumping' produced vomiting, and in the vomited matter were found two capsules containing morphine. It was held under the facts of that case that the use of capsules to obtain the conviction of the defendant for illegal possession of morphine violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; that a state's conviction cannot be brought about by methods which offend the sense of justice, and that involuntary verbal confessions are inadmissible in state criminal trials under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, even though statements contained in them may be independently established as true. Justice Douglas, in a concurring opinion, although conceding that evidence obtained from the accused's stomach would be admissible in the majority of states where the question has been raised, he was of the opinion that the evidence would not be admissible because of the provisions of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and that a person is compelled to be a witness against himself when evidence is forcibly taken from him.

Since the trial of the instant case and since these decisions were rendered, our Supreme Court, in 1955, People v. Cahan, 44 Cal.2d 434, 282 P.2d 905, has invoked new rules in reference to the admissibility of evidence obtained in violation of the constitutional guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure.

In People v....