State v. Adams

• Decision Date: 24 April 2001
• Citation: 51 S.W.3d 94
• Parties: (Mo.App. E.D. 2001) State of Missouri, Respondent, v. Mae Etta Adams, Appellant. ED77553 0
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

51 S.W.3d 94 (Mo.App. E.D. 2001)

State of Missouri, Respondent, v. Mae Etta Adams, Appellant.

ED77553

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District

04/24/2001

Appeal From: Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Hon. Maura B. McShane Counsel for Appellant: Emmett D. Queener

Counsel for Respondent: Stacy L. Anderson

Opinion Summary: Mae Etta Adams was convicted of kidnapping and armed criminal action on February 23, 2000. She was sentenced to concurrent terms of twenty years' imprisonment for kidnapping and five years for armed criminal action. Adams appeals, alleging that the court erred: (1) in denying her motion to suppress evidence after officers made a warrantless entry of her property, arrested her and seized evidence from her home and a shed in the backyard; and (2) in limiting her cross examination of the victim.

Division Two holds: (1) The trial court did not err in admitting evidence from a warrantless entry on Adams's property because the police had reliable information that a kidnapping involving a firearm had recently occurred, that Adams was the perpetrator and that if not apprehended quickly, she was likely to escape.

(2) The protective sweep of Adams's home after she was arrested was justified because officers had reasonable grounds to believe that a second suspect remained in the house and was armed.

(3) The search of Adams's coat and sweater were reasonably related to the purpose of the protective search in that the officers had probable cause to believe that Adams kept a gun in the coat and the officers felt what appeared to be bullets in the pocket of the sweater.

(4) The search of her purse was justified because it was in plain view and officers had a reasonable belief that it may have belonged to the victim, and thus evidence of her presence in the house.

(5) The trial court did not err precluding cross-examination of the witness regarding her history of using weapons, gang membership and other bad acts because the credibility of a witness cannot be attacked by specific acts of immorality or a showing that her general moral character is bad.

Ahrens, P.J., and Crandall Jr., J., concur.

James R. Dowd, Judge

Mae Etta Adams was convicted of kidnapping, section 565.110 RSMo 1994, and armed criminal action, section 571.015, RSMo 1994, on February 23, 2000. She was sentenced to concurrent terms of twenty years' imprisonment for kidnapping and five years for armed criminal action. Adams appeals, alleging that the court erred in denying her motion to suppress and in limiting her cross examination of the victim. We affirm.

Because Adams was convicted on both counts of the information, all the evidence and the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom must be considered in the light most favorable to the state, and all inferences and evidence to the contrary must be disregarded. State v. McIntosh, 559 S.W.2d 606, 607 (Mo.App. 1977).

On November 6, 1997, an employee at a Richmond Heights dentist office called the police and reported that an obviously pregnant and "delirious" person was in their office claiming she had been kidnapped. Officer Craig Mueller responded to the call and interviewed the victim, 17 year-old Angela Washington. Washington appeared to be upset and incoherent. Officer Mueller noticed a rectangular indentation over her mouth and a sticky residue on her face. Washington told officer Mueller that a woman who called herself "Michelle," but who was later identified as Adams, had phoned Washington's former residence and told Washington's sister, Atonya, that she represented a pregnancy counseling center and wished to speak to Washington. Atonya gave Adams her new number. Several days later Adams, claiming to be "Michelle," called Washington and they agreed to meet at a local McDonald's. Adams promised that she would then help Washington purchase various baby supplies. Washington told Mueller that after she met Adams at McDonald's, they drove to a couple places in search of baby supplies, and then Adams abducted her at gunpoint, stuffed her in the trunk of a car and drove her to a residence with a shed in the backyard. Washington said that Adams handcuffed her to a pole in the shed, gave her some blankets, bound her mouth with duct tape, and left her there overnight.

Officer Mueller, suspecting that Washington may be suffering from mental problems, called her sister, Atonya, who told him that Washington was not mentally disturbed, and confirmed Washington's story that she had received a call from a woman calling herself "Michelle" claiming to be a pregnancy counselor. Mueller then returned to Washington, who told him that "Michelle" said that she and her husband (Leonard) were going to hold her until she gave birth to the baby, take the baby, and then kill her.¹ Washington said that after she escaped from the shed, she climbed over a fence, left the duct tape and a blue dress by the fence, and ran to the dentist's office.

Mueller and Washington then drove to where Washington had climbed the fence and found the duct tape and blue dress. From a parking lot adjacent to the fence, Washington pointed to a shed behind the fence and told Mueller that she had been held captive there. Mueller asked Washington if she could describe "Michelle" and Leonard. Washington had never seen Leonard, but described "Michelle" as a middle-aged black woman with a chubby face and a long, black ponytail. Washington also told Mueller that "Michelle" had a .25 caliber silver handgun with a black handle that she kept in a blue coat.

Mueller then jumped the fence and looked through the door of the shed. Inside the shed he saw handcuffs and blankets under a pole, just as Washington had described. Mueller returned to the car and called for support. Mueller's supervisor, Sargent Cromer, was the first to arrive. Cromer and Mueller believed that the suspects may have already, or would soon discover that Washington had escaped and then flee or destroy evidence. So they elected to enter the property and secure the area without a warrant. Mueller climbed back over the fence and Cromer called for backup before driving around to the front of the house, where other officers were arriving.

As Mueller approached the house from the rear he saw a woman matching "Michelle's" description through a window. He pulled his weapon and ordered her to come to the back door. She appeared at the screen door, but failed to come out. Mueller then opened the screen door and arrested Adams. Mueller escorted her to the driveway along the side of the house and notified the others that "Michelle" had been apprehended, but that he had not located Leonard or the firearm. Mueller handed Adams over to another officer, returned to his car and brought Washington to the front of the house, where she identified Adams as "Michelle."

While Mueller was doing this, Cromer and other officers decided to do a "protective sweep" of the house in the event that Leonard might be inside and armed. Upon entering the house, Cromer noticed a blue coat matching the description given by Washington hanging from a chair. He patted it down and found a handgun. On top of the coat was a sweater, which Cromer also patted down. In the sweater pocket he felt what he believed could be bullets. He then removed the following items from the sweater pocket: handcuff keys, a motel key, two dollars in change, a bottle labeled "Prozac" and a receipt for duct tape.

Other officers, while searching the house for Leonard, noticed an open black purse in a bedroom. Uncertain whether it belonged to the victim, they looked inside. At the top of the purse was a slip of paper with Washington's name printed alongside a list of other names. Beneath the slip of paper were two pieces of identification. They removed both and discovered that they bore the name "Mae Etta Adams," alongside pictures of the woman known as "Michelle."

A grand jury indicted Adams on December 11, 1997, for kidnapping Washington for the purpose of terrorizing her and for armed criminal action. The state filed a superceding indictment on May 10, 1999, alleging alternative bases for the kidnapping charge; namely, for the purpose of holding Washington to give birth and deliver the baby to Adams, or alternatively, for the purpose of terrorizing Washington. Armed criminal action was charged with each alternative kidnapping indictment.

Adams objected to the inclusion of evidence seized during the warrantless search of her home. The trial court received briefs on the motion to suppress, considered the arguments and denied the motion. Trial proceeded and Adams was convicted of kidnapping and armed criminal action. She was sentenced to concurrent terms of twenty years' imprisonment for kidnapping and five years' imprisonment for armed criminal action. Adams now appeals.

In her first point, Adams argues that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress evidence. She contends that the warrantless entry onto her property, the protective sweep of her house and the subsequent seizure of evidence violated her right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 10 and 15 of the Missouri Constitution.

The Fourth Amendment protects an individual only from "unreasonable" searches and seizures. Missouri's constitutional protection is co-extensive with that provided under the United States Constitution. State v. Deck, 994 S.W.2d 527, 534 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, __ U.S. __, 120 S.Ct. 508 (1999). As a general rule, a search conducted outside of the judicial process, without prior approval by a judge or magistrate is per se unreasonable. State v. Tackett, 12 S.W.3d 332, 337 (Mo.App. W.D. 2000). But the state may introduce evidence gathered from an extra-judicial search...