Pollard v. State
| Citation | 233 So.2d 792 |
| Decision Date | 06 April 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 45748,45748 |
| Parties | William T. POLLARD v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi |
John W. Whitten, Jr., Sumner, for appellant.
A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by Guy N. Rogers, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Timmie Hancock, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
The appellant, William T. Pollard, was indicted for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and murder. He was found guilty of simple assault by a jury in the Circuit Court of Tate County, Mississippi, and was sentenced to a jail term of six months.
The appellant, 57 years old, was born and reared in Quitman County, Mississippi. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, 21 years ago and has worked for the DuPont Company there continuously since. He and his wife are the parents of five children, two of them still minors and living at home. He had never been arrested before.
On the afternoon of February 26, 1968, the appellant left Memphis for the Sardis Reservoir to check on the water pipes of his trailer located there. Just before dark he stopped at a truckstop off of Interstate 55 for a cup of coffee. He was not feeling well and put his head down on the steering wheel to rest.
Mrs. Sullivan, a waitress in the restaurant, noticed the appellant in this position through the plate glass window. When Sid Steele, a deputy sheriff of two months, came into the restaurant a short time later, Mrs. Sullivan asked him to check on appellant because she thought he might be ill. Although Steele was not on duty at the time and was dressed in sports clothes to attend a social function, he remarked: 'We will lock him up and let him sleep it off just as soon as I get through with this sandwich.'
Mrs. Sullivan noticed that the appellant was leaving the parking area and told Steele, who immediately started after appellant in his own car, a 1960 Pontiac Bonneville. This was an unmarked car; however, there were two red lights located about the middle of the front grille. Deputy Steele pursued the appellant up the ramp to the interstate, and then south on Interstate 55. During the chase several pistol shots were exchanged between Steele and appellant. The appellant later stopped, was pulled out of his car and placed under arrest.
The testimony of appellant and Deputy Steele as to what actually happened after Steele began his pursuit is conflicting. However, these facts are not material to a decision of this case.
On the threshold lies the question of whether Steele when he began his pursuit to arrest the appellant had probable cause. At the time Steele made the remark that he would lock him up and let him sleep it off, he had never observed the appellant. The waitress in Tracy's Restaurant had stated that the man had been in the car for some time and that she feared he might be ill. Steele's pursuit was based entirely upon this statement.
This Court is committed to the rule that an arrest begins when the pursuit to make the arrest begins. See Ford v. City of Jackson, 153 Miss. 616, 121 So. 278 (1929). Unless Deputy Steele had probable cause to arrest the appellant when he began his pursuit from the parking lot at Tracy's Restaurant, the arrest would be illegal, and evidence obtained thereby would not be admissible in evidence.
We stated this rule in Smith v. State, 240 Miss. 738, 128 So.2d 857 (1961):
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Mitchell v. State
...an arrest." ¶ 47. Mitchell argues that his arrest began when McKaig spoke to Mitchell in his backyard, in accordance with Pollard v. State, 233 So.2d 792 (Miss.1970); Terry v. State, 252 Miss. 479, 173 So.2d 889 (1965); and Smith v. State, 240 Miss. 738, 128 So.2d 857 (1961). However this p......
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Hill v. State, 53795
...search warrant is inadmissible. 3 Likewise, evidence obtained as a result of an illegal arrest is inadmissible. See Pollard v. State, 233 So.2d 792 (Miss.1970); and Terry v. State, 252 Miss. 479, 173 So.2d 889 In Dover v. State, 227 So.2d 296 (Miss.1969), the Sheriff of Quitman County obtai......
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Haddox v. State, 91-KA-00652
...that detention, as fruit of the poisonous tree, it must be suppressed. See Rooks v. State, 529 So.2d 546, 551 (Miss.1988); Pollard v. State, 233 So.2d 792 (Miss.1970) (defendant's acts in resisting unlawful arrest held inadmissible). "An arrest is not consummated until there has been a taki......
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Penick v. State
...Court is thoroughly committed to the proposition that an illegal arrest renders a subsequent search inadmissible. See: Pollard v. State, 233 So.2d 792 (Miss.1970); Terry v. State, 252 Miss. 479, 173 So.2d 889 (1965); Smith v. State, 228 Miss. 476, 87 So.2d 917 (1956); Lewis, et al v. State,......