State v. Daniels

• Citation: 614 So.2d 97
• Decision Date: 20 January 1993
• Docket Number: No. 24451-KA,24451-KA
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Randy L. DANIELS, Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana (US)

Page 97

614 So.2d 97

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Randy L. DANIELS, Appellant.

No. 24451-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana Second Circuit.

Jan. 20, 1993.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 18, 1993.

Hunter, Scott, Blue, Johnson & Ross, Robert C. Johnson, Monroe, for appellant.

Jerry L. Jones, Dist. Atty., H. Stephens Winters, Asst. Dist. Atty., Monroe, for appellee.

Before SEXTON, LINDSAY and STEWART, JJ.

STEWART, Judge.

Defendant, Randy L. Daniels, was charged via bill of information with one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967. A 10-2 jury found him guilty on a responsive verdict of attempted possession with intent to distribute, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:27 and 40:967. He was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison, pursuant to the Louisiana sentencing guidelines. Daniels appeals his conviction and sentence asserting insufficiency of the evidence, excessiveness of sentence, and errors in admission of certain testimony and other evidence. Finding no merit to Daniels' assignments of error, we affirm.

Factual Background

On November 7, 1990, Officer Kurt Manasco of the Monroe Police Department stopped Randy L. Daniels at a convenience store for not having a valid motor vehicle inspection sticker. The sticker had been applied after having been removed, and had the word "void" or "invalid" among the markings which appeared upon its removal. An unnamed passenger had gone into the store when Manasco pulled up, and was not involved further. Manasco placed Daniels under arrest for driving with an invalid inspection sticker. Daniels became belligerent and Manasco called for additional police officers. After the other officers arrived, Manasco asked to see Daniels' registration and proof of insurance. Daniels could not produce the required documents and was cited for driving without insurance. Manasco asked Daniels if there was someone he could call to drive his car. When Daniels said no, Manasco called for a tow truck and announced his intention to conduct an inventory search of the car. He looked into the car through a window and saw a pill bottle, in plain view, in the car's ashtray. He asked Officer Kramel to look at the pill bottle. Daniels fled. Officers Manasco and Kramel caught him a block away. He was advised of his rights and blurted out that the charge would not stick because they did not have probable cause to search his car. The pill bottle contained 35 pieces of crack cocaine.

Daniels was charged by bill of information with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. A 12-person jury found Daniels guilty of attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. After pre-sentence investigation, the trial court sentenced Daniels to 108 months at hard labor. Daniels appeals his conviction and sentence, asserting that various testimony and physical evidence were improperly admitted, and that his sentence is excessive. We disagree.

Motion to Suppress

Daniels urges several bases for his contention that the trial court erred in denying his pre-trial motion to suppress his statements and to suppress the contraband obtained from the car. In determining whether a ruling on a motion to suppress is correct, an appellate court is not limited to evidence adduced at the hearing on the motion but may also consider pertinent evidence given at trial. State v. Harris, 444 So.2d 257 (La.App. 1st Cir.1983), writ denied, 445 So.2d 1234 (1984).

The initial stop.

One of Daniels' assertions is that Officer Manasco lacked probable cause or reasonable suspicion to make the initial stop, and therefore all evidence subsequently obtained should have been suppressed.

The right of law enforcement officers to temporarily detain and interrogate persons reasonably suspected of criminal activity is well established. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); State v. Fauria, 393 So.2d 688 (La.1981); State v. Taylor, 363 So.2d 699 (La.1978); LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 215.1. The officer must be able to articulate specific facts which warrant the intrusion. State v. Flowers, 441 So.2d 707 (La.1983), cert. denied, sub nom. Flowers v. Louisiana, 466 U.S. 945, 104 S.Ct. 1931, 80 L.Ed.2d 476 (1984).

Officer Manasco described the markings which appear on a motor vehicle inspection (MVI) sticker when it is removed from a windshield:

Q. Can you tell the jury what the invalid inspection sticker looked like from your position?

A. When a ... an inspection sticker is invalid if it has been pulled off and then placed back on the window. Part of the print on the actual sticker peals [sic] off and it makes a zigzag type of pattern on the inspection sticker and it also prints out ... comes out invalid. It states across the inspection sticker invalid.

He testified that he observed these distinctive markings on the instant MVI sticker. Manasco articulated the specific facts which formed the basis for his reasonable suspicion that an offense had been committed. We find nothing improper regarding the initial stop.

Defendant's statements.

Daniels also complains that he made inculpatory statements about the MVI sticker without having been advised of his Miranda rights. The evidence reveals that Officer Manasco inquired about the MVI sticker and Daniels told Officer Manasco that the sticker belonged to the car but had been transferred from the car's previous windshield which had been replaced with a new one.

Miranda warnings are not a prerequisite to admissibility of statements taken during a noncustodial, general, on-the-scene investigation, conducted to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding a possible crime, absent a showing that the investigation has passed the investigatory stage and has focused on the defendant. State v. White, 399 So.2d 172 (La.1981). The statements about the windshield were made during the initial stage of the investigatory stop, before Manasco had decided to arrest Daniels. Thus, Miranda warnings were not necessary.

The relevance of this argument is negligible because the traffic offense was not an issue before the jury. Daniels makes no showing that admission of these statements was prejudicial to him, or affected the outcome of the trial. The statements show background for how the police became involved, but they do not inculpate Daniels in the drug charge. This portion of the assignment is without merit.

Another of Daniels' contentions is that statements he made in the following context should have been suppressed: Officers apprehended Daniels after he fled the scene. Daniels told them that the charge would not stick because they did not have enough probable cause to search the vehicle. Daniels also indicated that the contraband was not his.

Spontaneous and voluntary statements, not given as a result of police interrogation or compelling influence, are admissible into evidence without Miranda warnings even when the defendant is in custody. State v. Robinson, 384 So.2d 332 (La.1980); State v. Reed, 499 So.2d 132 (La.App. 2d Cir.1986). The record reveals that Daniels blurted out the remark without prompting from or questioning by the police. Accordingly, this portion of the assignment is without merit.

The contraband seized from the car.

Finally, Daniels challenges the admissibility of the pill bottle which contained the cocaine. Officers searched the car to inventory its contents. They had neither Daniels' consent to search nor a search warrant. Daniels contends that the search of his car was illegal and that any evidence seized therefrom should have been suppressed. The only evidence seized from the car and admitted at trial is the plastic pill bottle containing the cocaine.

Evidence regarding the search is as follows: Officer Manasco placed Daniels under arrest for operating a vehicle with a switched inspection sticker and asked Daniels if anyone could come to pick up the car. Daniels indicated there was no one who could pick it up. According to the evidence, it was normal procedure to make arrests for switched MVI sticker, as well as to ask an arrested person if they could call someone to pick up their car. Manasco followed routine procedure and called for a tow truck.

Manasco asked Daniels if he had any proof of insurance and registration. Daniels got papers from the glove compartment. They stood at the rear of the car looking through the papers to find the requested documents. Back-up Officers Kramel and Tramble began an inventory of the car to account for any valuable property. Manasco looked into the car through the rear window and saw a medicine bottle protruding from the ashtray. When Manasco asked Kramel to look at the bottle, Daniels fled. Manasco and Kramel chased Daniels. Manasco captured him, and advised him of his Miranda rights. As he was being returned to the car he said something to the effect of: "It won't stick. Y'all didn't have enough probable cause to go in my car."

Tramble had recovered the pill bottle while Manasco and Kramel pursued Daniels. Tramble held the bottle up and could see its contents through the translucent plastic. He then looked inside the bottle and observed that it contained about 30 pieces of suspected cocaine. When the other two officers returned with Daniels, Tramble gave the bottle to Manasco. Manasco looked inside the bottle and saw that it contained 30 to 40 rocks of what appeared to be crack cocaine.

Officer Manasco advised Daniels that he was also under arrest for additional charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and resisting an officer by flight. The officers completed the inventory and found no other drugs or paraphernalia. They also found no valuables in the car or on Daniels, who carried about $40.

When a warrantless search occurs, the state has the burden of showing the search was justified as an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment. Two such exceptions are (1) the "plain view doctrine" and (2) an inventory search.

The plain...