State v. Hatfield

• Decision Date: 13 November 1978
• Docket Number: No. 62125,62125
• Citation: 364 So.2d 578
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Quinn Odell HATFIELD.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 578

364 So.2d 578

STATE of Louisiana v. Quinn Odell HATFIELD.

No. 62125.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Nov. 13, 1978.

Louis A. Heyd, Jr., John M. Standridge, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara B. Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ossie B. Brown, Dist. Atty., Marilyn C. Castle, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

MARCUS, Justice.

Quinn Odell Hatfield and Audrey Harrington were charged in the same information with possession with intent to distribute marijuana in violation of La.R.S. 40:966A. They were jointly tried by jury. Hatfield was found guilty as charged and sentenced to serve six years at hard labor. On appeal, he relies on six assignments of error for reversal of his conviction and sentence. Finding merit in one of the assigned errors, we need not consider the other five.

Defendant contends the trial judge erred in denying his motion to suppress physical evidence. He argues that the evidence was seized as a result of an unconstitutional search of an automobile.

A pretrial hearing was held on the motion to suppress. Defendant called three witnesses to testify at this hearing: Trooper Otis Jones, Sgt. Roy David Gilfour and Audrey Harrington. Their testimony reveals the following circumstances surrounding the search of the automobile and the seizure of the evidence at issue. ¹

At about 12:15 a. m. on December 2, 1976, Trooper Jones, in the course of his regular traffic patrol, clocked a vehicle traveling on Interstate 10 at a speed of 73 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour speed zone. After the vehicle was stopped on the shoulder of the highway, Trooper Jones ordered the driver (defendant) out of the car. A check of his driver's license revealed that it was suspended. Trooper Jones then called a private wrecker service to tow defendant's vehicle and placed defendant under arrest for driving with a suspended license. Upon instructions from his supervisor, Sgt. Gilfour, over the patrol car radio, Trooper Jones then ascertained whether the passenger, Ms. Harrington, could take custody of the vehicle. In accordance with police policy, Trooper Jones determined that he could not release the vehicle to Ms. Harrington since she was not related to defendant and possessed an expired driver's license. At this point, Sgt. Gilfour arrived on the scene to assist Trooper Jones. Ms. Harrington, who was also out of the vehicle at this time, accepted an offer by the police officers to ride with them to a place where she could telephone and make arrangements to be picked up. Upon their request, both defendant and Ms. Harrington received permission to retrieve their personal belongings from the vehicle. Defendant returned with a shoulder bag and Ms. Harrington returned with her purse. The police officers informed them that, in accordance with police policy, the bags would have to be searched for weapons before either could ride in the patrol car. The subsequent search of defendant's shoulder bag disclosed a corncob pipe containing what appeared to be marijuana residue; Ms. Harrington's purse was found to contain a pipe and a Sucrets box with burnt marijuana cigarettes in it. At this point, defendant was additionally charged with possession of marijuana and Ms. Harrington was placed under arrest for said offense.

Thereafter, a tow truck arrived and, pursuant to a standard inventory form, the officers "went to the car and started looking to find anything of value." On the floor board of the front of the vehicle, the officers found a marijuana cigarette. Nothing else was found in the interior of the car. Unable to find the key to the locked trunk, the officers questioned defendant and Ms. Harrington as to its whereabouts. Both replied that they did not know where the key was. Ms. Harrington's purse was again searched and the key was found therein. Opening the trunk, Sgt. Gilfour discovered four plastic garbage bags. Based on his prior experience, Sgt. Gilfour surmised that the bags contained bricks of marijuana and thus ordered the vehicle to be towed to police headquarters for completion of the search. At the police station, the bags were opened and found to contain approximately ninety-nine pounds of marijuana. Defendant and Ms. Harrington were then formally placed under arrest for possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

The inventory form listing all items found in the vehicle was eventually completed at the police station. However, both officers testified that they did not ask defendant for consent to search the vehicle; nor was he asked if he would consent to waive his rights against the department in the event no search was undertaken. Defendant was asked if the car contained anything of value, to which he responded that he had already retrieved his personal belongings from the car. Furthermore, the officers each testified that, although they suspected that they would find contraband in the vehicle, they would have conducted the inventory search in any event in accordance with standard police procedure. Sgt. Gilfour candidly admitted that, while it was common knowledge among policemen that "inventory forms are used as a means to check the vehicles for any contraband or any illegal weapons or whatnot," the main purpose was to protect the valuables belonging to the occupants. He concluded by stating: "Specifically, it's to protect the people's valuables, but also, I cannot deny that it's general knowledge that it's a means of checking the vehicle without a search warrant."

Through the testimony at the suppression hearing, defendant made an initial showing that a warrantless search and seizure occurred. Hence, the burden of proof shifted to the state to show affirmatively that the search and seizure were justified under one of the well-recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement of the fourth amendment to the federal constitution. State v. Schmidt, 359 So.2d 133 (La.1978); State v. Braud, 357 So.2d 545 (La.1978); State v. Franklin, 353 So.2d 1315 (La.1977). The state does not contend, nor do we find, that the search and seizure were justified under the exceptions of consent, probable cause plus exigent circumstances, or search incident to a lawful arrest. Rather, the state argues that the evidence was seized pursuant to a valid inventory search. We do not agree.

In South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 96 S.Ct. 3092, 49 L.Ed.2d 1000 (1976), the United States Supreme Court upheld police intrusions into automobiles impounded or otherwise in lawful...