Powell v. State
| Citation | 184 So.2d 866 |
| Decision Date | 04 April 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 43877,43877 |
| Parties | James Hoyt POWELL v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi |
Albert Sidney Johnston, III, Pascagoula, for appellant.
Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by R. Hugo Newcomb, Sr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
James Hoyt Powell appealed from a conviction of unlawful possession of narcotic drugs. Over the objection of defendant, the State offered in evidence certain vials and bottles containing morphine, demerol, and other narcotic drugs. The sole question is whether the narcotics were obtained by the officers as the result of an illegal search. We hold that the narcotics were lawfully seized.
Deputy Sheriff T. E. Huntley of Jackson County was on duty in the City of Pascagoula when he received a call to investigate a disturbance at Troy's Truck Stop located on Highway 90 about four miles east of Pascagoula. When he arrived at the truck stop, Officer Huntley saw defendant and Robert Emerson White standing in front of a 1965 Model Dodge automobile. James L. D'Artois was standing beside the automobile with a .38 caliber snub nose Smith and Wesson pointed upward at a 45-degree angle. Huntley took the gun from D'Artois and told al three men they were under arrest. He told D'Artois to get into the patrol car, which D'Artois did, and, after speaking to the operator of the truck stop, he again passed by the Dodge automobile and noticed another gun partially concealed by a pillow. He then took possession of that gun. Huntley told D'Artois he could get into the car with his buddies (White and defendant), and they could follow him to the courthouse where the guns would be checked out. With White driving the Dodge, the three men started towards Mobile. Huntley followed and stopped the Dodge and again told them to follow him to the courthouse. Huntley then used his radio to call other officers to assist him, and as a result, County Patrolman Doty came in behind the three men in the Dodge. Constable Stewart got the call and drove in behind Patrolman Doty. When they stopped at a stop light, the automobiles were lined up as follows: Officer Huntley's patrol car, the Dodge automobile occupied by defendant and his companions, County Patrolman Doty's patrol car, and Constable Stewart's patrol car. Captain Champeaux of the City Police was in the vicinity, and also got the call. When the light turned green and Huntley proceeded through the intersection, White turned the Dodge to the right in an attempt to escape. The two patrol cars followed and stopped the Dodge. After having been caught in traffic, Huntley made no further contact with the Dodge or the three men until they were brought to the courthouse. Patrolman Doty placed the three men, including defendant, under arrest, and took them to the courthouse. They had already been placed under arrest by Officer Huntley at the truck stop, but apparently, Doty did not know of this. When Captain Champeaux arrived, Officer Doty and Constable Stewart were placing defendant and his two companions in Doty's patrol car, and Champeaux took charge of the 1965 Dodge. He looked in the Dodge and saw a woman's hand bag or beach bag on the front floorboard on the right side. A search of the bag revealed that it contained various narcotics and a Western Union receipt acknowledging receipt of $10 from James Hoyt Powell, Cabana Apartments, Huntsville, Alabama, for remittance to a person in North Carolina. These items were properly marked by the officers who found and kept them until they were offered in evidence.
The proof does not show who owned the automobile, but there was testimony that neither of the three men was the owner. White was the only one seen driving it. Defendant denied he owned the bag containing the narcotics; however, he rode on the right side of the front seat from the truck stop until Officer Doty stopped them and took them to the courthouse.
Defendant's argument that the narcotics were seized during an illegal search has two main points of...
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Howell v. State
...his possession. This Court has consistently held that the 'eye cannot trespass'. Wilson v. State, 186 So.2d 208 (1966); Powell v. State, 184 So.2d 866 (Miss.1966); Corn v. State, 250 Miss. 157, 164 So.2d 777 (1964); Bone v. State, 207 Miss. 868, 43 So.2d 571 The United States Supreme Court ......
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Bradshaw v. State
...admission into evidence. He was neither the owner nor driver of the car, and any search of it, as to him, was not unlawful. Powell v. State, 184 So.2d 866 (Miss.1966); Johnson v. State, 246 Miss. 182, 145 So.2d 156 (1962), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 702, 83 S.Ct. 1018, 10 L.Ed.2d 125 (1963); He......