State v. Caldwell, 48949
Decision Date | 20 August 1985 |
Docket Number | No. 48949,48949 |
Citation | 698 S.W.2d 566 |
Parties | STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. William B. CALDWELL, Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
William L. Webster, Atty. Gen., T. Chad Farris, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for plaintiff-respondent.
Robert J. Maurer, Asst. Public Defender, Clayton, for defendant-appellant.
William B. Caldwell, defendant herein, was found guilty by a jury of one count for unlawful use of a weapon in violation of § 571.030 RSMo 1978 and four counts of possession of controlled substances in violation of § 195.020 RSMo 1978. Defendant was sentenced as a prior offender to serve a term of five years for the weapon offense and twelve years on each of the four counts for drug possession, all sentences to be served concurrently.
On appeal defendant contends the trial court erred in: (1) overruling his motion to suppress evidence that was seized in a warrantless search of his hotel room; (2) overruling objections to questions asked on cross-examination; (3) permitting the introduction of a hotel registration form because it was not a business record and violated the best evidence and hearsay rules; and (4) overruling the motions for a directed verdict of acquittal because the state failed to make a submissible case. We affirm.
The following evidence was presented at trial. At approximately 2:00 a.m. on October 18, 1981, Officer Kissell of the Berkeley Police Department observed a car driven by defendant exit the parking lot of a Ramada Inn. The car had no front license plate prompting the officer to follow the car and to radio a dispatcher for a check on the vehicle's registration. Upon learning that it was not on file, Officer Kissell stopped the car and approached the driver's side of the car. A back-up officer also arrived on the scene and approached defendant's car from the rear passenger side.
At Officer Kissell's request defendant got out of the car and accompanied him to the rear. Positioned in the middle of both officers, defendant was informed that he had been stopped because of his license plate, and was asked to produce his driver's license. When Officer Kissell learned defendant had no driver's license, he informed defendant he was under arrest and told him to turn around and place his hands on the car's trunk. Instead, defendant turned, reached into his jacket pocket, retrieved a .38 calibre derringer, pointed it at Officer Kissell, and tried to shoot him; however, the gun did not discharge. Officer Kissell struck defendant when he saw the gun and a struggle ensued. During the struggle, defendant dropped a pouch containing $1,422.00 in cash. Defendant was finally subdued and handcuffed during the arrest; his gun, cash, and a Ramada Inn room key were seized.
When the officers arrived at the police station they called a detective to check the car which had been brought to the station for an inventory search. Upon observing what appeared to be bone fragments and bloodstains in the front passenger area of the car, the police became concerned that some violence had occurred in the vehicle very recently. The detective spoke to the night manager and the security officer of the Ramada Inn who related that defendant had been staying there with a woman. The security officer had seen defendant coming and going during the past twelve hours, but not his female companion. The detective then called an assistant prosecutor, informed him of their suspicions and of their intention to investigate the hotel room to locate the female companion, possibly seriously injured. The officers did not obtain a search warrant.
Around 5:00 a.m. the officers telephoned the room and knocked on the door of room 105 of the Ramada Inn. Hearing no response, the detective and several other officers entered with a passkey. Upon entering, they began looking for someone possibly needing medical assistance. One officer looked under the bed and saw a large plastic bag of marijuana, a metal strong box, its lid partially open, with a bag of marijuana and a white, powdered substance hanging out. These and numerous other items, later identified as controlled substances and drug paraphernalia, were seized from the room. Some of the defendant's personal items found in close proximity to the drugs were photographed and seized along with the other items.
While the officers were in the room, defendant's female companion entered the hotel lobby. The hotel security guard noticed her and called the detective who reached the hotel lobby in time to observe her attempting to hide a gun between two telephone books. The detective searched her, discovered pills and marijuana in her purse, and subsequently arrested her.
Defendant's first point states the trial court erred in overruling his pre-trial motion and objection at trial to suppress evidence of the items taken from the hotel room because the search of the room violated his federal and state constitutional rights. Defendant's point raises two issues: first, whether the entry was valid; second, whether the scope of the search and seizure was exceeded.
In support of his first point, defendant cites Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 98 S.Ct. 2408, 57 L.Ed.2d 290 (1978) as controlling. Defendant's reliance upon Mincey is misplaced. In Mincey, during a drug raid by several officers of an apartment, an undercover officer in the apartment was shot and killed. After the shooting, the narcotics agents, thinking others in the apartment might have been injured, looked about quickly for other victims. Mincey and a young woman in the bedroom and another person in the living room were discovered wounded. The agents guarded the suspects while waiting for the requested medical assistance to arrive. They conducted no search because a police department directive prohibited police officers from investigating incidents in which they were involved. Within ten minutes, however, homicide detectives arrived, supervised the removal of the dead agent and wounded suspects, and took charge of the investigation. The homicide officers then conducted a protracted search, lasting four days. Every item in the apartment was closely examined and inventoried; 200 to 300 objects were seized. In short, Mincey's apartment was subjected to an exhaustive and intensive search without a warrant.
On appeal, the Arizona Supreme Court reaffirmed previous decisions in which it had held that the warrantless search of the scene of a homicide or of a serious personal injury with likelihood of death where there is reason to suspect foul play is constitutionally permissible. State v. Mincey, 115 Ariz. 472, 566 P.2d 273, 283-84 (banc 1977). The United States Supreme Court disagreed in Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 391, 98 S.Ct. 2408, 2412, 57 L.Ed.2d 290 (1978). While it recognized that police who come upon the scene of a homicide may make a prompt warrantless search of the area to see if there are other victims or if the killer is still on the premises and they may seize any evidence in plain view during the course of their legitimate emergency activities, the Supreme Court emphasized that "a warrantless search must be strictly circumscribed by the exigencies which justify its initiation." Id. at 394, 98 S.Ct. at 2414. The Supreme Court concluded that "a four day search that included opening dresser drawers and ripping up carpets can hardly be rationalized in terms of the legitimate concerns that justify an emergency search." Id.
We are unpersuaded that Mincey is controlling. Although the general rule is that an entry and search without a warrant are deemed unreasonable under the fourth amendment, the exigency exception is one which has been long recognized. McDonald v. United States, 335 U.S. 451, 69 S.Ct. 191, 93 L.Ed. 153 (1948); State v. Epperson, 571 S.W.2d 260 (Mo. banc 1978); State v. Sutton, 454 S.W.2d 481 (Mo.1970). We are guided by our Missouri Supreme Court which has held that exigent circumstances may establish probable cause for the police to believe that a crime had been committed to justify a search without a warrant. State v. Epperson, 571 S.W.2d 260, 264 (Mo. banc 1978).
The critical facts in Epperson were: (1) defendant's wife and children had been missing several days; (2) defendant had given false and inconsistent explanations for their absence; (3) defendant's manner was nervous and unusual; (4) an odor of decomposed flesh had been detected in the house; and (5) defendant disappeared with no explanation shortly before the police arrived at the house. Furthermore, the officer on duty testified at trial he really did not know what the circumstances were, whether the family had left town or were in immediate need of help to prevent death. Id. at 265. Judged by an objective standard the facts were held sufficient to justify the officers' initial entry into the defendant's home, despite the ambiguous testimony as to their subjective belief. Id.
Applying this objective standard to the record before us, we find exigent circumstances established probable cause for the police to believe a crime had been committed to justify their warrantless entry and subsequent search and seizure. Defendant had left the hotel in an unregistered car with no front license plate and, when pulled over by police for this seemingly minor traffic infraction, had tried to shoot one of the officers. He had no operator's license and gave a false name and age to the police at his arrest. During his booking, an inventory search of the automobile disclosed what appeared to be human blood and bone fragments in the front seat of the car. The detective learned from hotel personnel that defendant and a woman were staying together in a room at the hotel and that defendant had been observed leaving and entering room 105 for the past week or so in the company of this woman; however, she had not been seen for the last...
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