State v. Field

• Citation: 379 A.2d 393
• Parties: STATE of Maine v. Frederick R. FIELD.
• Decision Date: 08 November 1977
• Court: Supreme Judicial Court of Maine (US)

Page 393

379 A.2d 393

STATE of Maine v. Frederick R. FIELD.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Nov. 8, 1977.

Thomas E. Delahanty, II, Dist. Atty., M. Kelly Matzen, Herbert Bunker, Asst. Dist. Attys., Auburn, for plaintiff.

Hamilton & Hardy by John L. Hamilton, Lewiston, for defendant.

Before DUFRESNE, C. J., and POMEROY, WERNICK, ARCHIBALD and GODFREY, JJ.

WERNICK, Justice.

A two-count indictment was returned against defendant, Frederick R. Field in the Superior Court (Androscoggin County) on June 29, 1976. The first count charged that on or about June 22, 1976 defendant committed the crime of Burglary against the Diamond Lunch Restaurant, property of one Juliette Bonsaint, situated in Lewiston, Maine (17-A M.R.S.A. § 401). The other count alleged that on the same day defendant committed the crime of Theft of personal property of Juliette Bonsaint worth in excess of $25.00 (17-A M.R.S.A. § 353).

In a trial held on August 3, 4, 1976, the jury found defendant not guilty of Burglary but guilty of Theft. Defendant has appealed from the judgment of conviction entered against him.

We deny the appeal.

One of two points defendant asserts on appeal is that various articles of meat were erroneously admitted as evidence against him at his trial. Defendant contends these articles should have been excluded as evidence because they had been seized by government officials from defendant's refrigerator in violation of defendant's rights under the 4th-14th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

The point was adequately saved for appellate cognizance in ordinary course insofar as prior to trial the Court had denied a motion of defendant to suppress as evidence against him various items among which were included the meat articles admitted in evidence at the trial. State v. Hazelton, Me., 330 A.2d 919 (1975).

The meat admitted in evidence had been seized in execution of a search warrant. Defendant contends that the issuance of the warrant was in violation of constitutional requirements because the affidavits tendered in support of the officer's request for the warrant failed to establish probable cause to believe that defendant's apartment contained property stolen from the Diamond Lunch Restaurant.

We disagree with defendant's contention.

The affidavits revealed the following factual information. In the course of investigating the crimes reported to have been committed at the Diamond Lunch Restaurant, Detective Laurent Gilbert of the Lewiston Police Department received a tip that the culprit was the defendant Field. Accordingly, Detective Gilbert made contact with defendant. He asked defendant if he knew anything about the "Diamond Lunch" break and the meat stolen in the break. Defendant denied any knowledge of the incident. In response to another question defendant stated that there was no meat in the refrigerator at his apartment. After defendant freely consented to having his apartment searched, Detective Gilbert undertook the search and found in defendant's refrigerator a substantial amount of meat similar to much of the meat described as stolen from the Diamond Lunch Restaurant. In a trash can in defendant's kitchen Detective Gilbert observed some food packaging labels. Shortly thereafter Detective Gilbert ascertained that these labels were like those on the packages of chicken parts stolen from the Diamond Lunch Restaurant. He also ascertained that defendant had given him a false explanation as to how it happened that defendant was in possession of the labels seen in his kitchen trash can.

All of these facts appearing in the affidavits were sufficient to justify a finding by the Magistrate that there was probable cause to believe that the meat in defendant's refrigerator resembling that stolen from the Diamond Lunch Restaurant was in fact some of the meat thus stolen. Hence, consistently with the 4th-14th Amendments to the federal Constitution, this meat in defendant's refrigerator was subject to seizure, pursuant to a warrant, as evidence of the crime committed at the Diamond Lunch Restaurant. Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 18 L.Ed.2d 782 (1967);...