State v. Padavano, A--897

• Decision Date: 27 November 1963
• Docket Number: No. A--897,A--897
• Citation: 195 A.2d 499,81 N.J.Super. 321
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. John PADAVANO, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

Page 321

81 N.J.Super. 321

195 A.2d 499

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. John PADAVANO, Defendant-Appellant.

No. A--897.

Superior Court of New Jersey

Appellate Division.

Argued Nov. 4, 1963.

Decided Nov. 27, 1963.

Leonard Meyerson, Jersey City, for defendant (Abraham Miller, Jersey City, attorney).

William A. O'Brien, Asst. Pros., for plaintiff (James A. Tumulty, Jr., Hudson County Pros., attorney).

Before Judges GAULKIN, FOLEY and LEWIS.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

GAULKIN, S.J.A.D.

Defendant moved to suppress 'the admission of certain slips of paper which were removed from a 1955 Oldsmobile Automobile of the defendant, without a search warrant.' After hearing the State's witnesses (the defendant presented no evidence), the county judge denied the motion, and defendant appeals.

The judge announced the following findings of fact and conclusions of law at the end of the hearing:

'I find the facts to be that police officers while at a certain intersection in the town of Kearny observed the vehicle operated by the defendant in this case make a fast and wide turn around the corner from Columbia Avenue onto Chestnut Street. Noticing this the officers instituted pursuit and apprehended the driver, the defendant in this case, John Padavano, about a half block away. When he was stopped he was asked for his license. He produced same, both the driver's license and owner's card. And it was subsequently noted that a discrepancy appeared in relation to the address. While this was going on one of the officers noted two parking tickets, and without any statements made by anybody the driver of the car reached for the parking tickets and handed them to the officer. In connection with the parking tickets the officers questioned the driver as to whether or not there were any more and the driver said, 'Go ahead and check if you want to.' The police decided to make the arrest after the discrepancies appeared in the registration and driver's license address information.

Subsequent to that decision to make an arrest both police officers got into the front seat of the car and the defendant Padavano was put in the rear seat of the car. Detective Crookall decided to start up the car and push back the seat. And it was obvious to me why he would have to do that, because of his much heavier build which he has compared to the driver of the car. While in the act of pushing back the seat he testified that he looked down and there under his eyes he noted the yellow sheets of paper and he recognized certain numbers thereon. He subsequently testified that he was aware from his experience as a member of the gambling squad, with which group he had worked for the past five years, that this constituted gambling paraphernalia. And, of course, the defendant subsequently was charged as a result therewith.

It is my opinion that the initial arrest made by the police officers was a valid one.

It is also my opinion that the finding of the numbers slips was purely inadvertent or accidental and has nothing to do with the question of unreasonable search and seizure, and therefore there has been no violation of either the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution or Article I, Paragraph 7, of the New Jersey Constitution.'

Defendant challenges these findings. He contends that the detectives stopped his automobile and arrested him on the mere pretext that he had violated the Motor Vehicle Act, their real purpose being to search the automobile, and that they then made a thorough search of the automobile which resulted in the finding of the lottery slips.

Our task is not to weigh the evidence, but to determine whether the findings of the trial judge have sufficient support in the testimony, bearing in mind that the trial judge saw and heard the witnesses. State v. Taylor, 81 N.J.Super. 296, 195 A.2d 485 (App.Div.1963); Ker v. California, 374 U.S. 23, 31--32, 83 S.Ct. 1623, 10 L.Ed.2d 726 (1963). Cf. State v. Zuzulock, 39 N.J. 276, 281, 188 A.2d 403 (1963).

The testimony was that Detectives Crookall and Wyllie had received an anonymous 'tip,' as a result of which they stationed themselves in a squad car in the vicinity of Chestnut Street and Columbia Avenue and waited for defendant. After about 20 to 25 minutes defendant appeared, driving his automobile on Columbia Avenue. The officers testified that the car was traveling 'at a fast rate of speed,' veered to the wrong side of the street as it swung into Chestnut Street, and continued at a high speed on Chestnut Street. Crookall said to Wyllie, 'What shall we do now? Look at him,' to which Wyllie replied, 'Well, let's take him for his manner of driving.' Crookall testified that they pursued defendant's automobile, not because they intended to search defendant or because they suspected him of gambling, but only because 'of the careless manner' in which he was driving his automobile. N.J.S.A. 39:4--97 provides that 'A person who drives * * * carelessly, or without due caution and circumspection * * * shall be guilty of careless driving.'

The detectives overtook defendant, brought him to a halt, and asked him for his license and registration. When he produced them, one listed his address at 48 Columbia Avenue and the other as 239 Middlesex Street, both in Harrison. According to Crookall, defendant said 'that he had moved.' R.S. 39:3--36, N.J.S.A., requires owners and operators to 'notify the commissioner, in writing, of a change in his residence within one week after the change is made.' The trial judge found that 'The police decided to make the arrest after the discrepancies appeared in the registration and driver's license address information.'

We deem it unnecessary to relate the balance of the testimony, for it is adequately summarized in the judge's findings, and some of it will be commented upon more fully later in this opinion.

Defendant does not deny that N.J.S.A. 39:5--25 gives a police officer the authority to arrest without a warrant any person who, in the presence of the officer, violates the Motor Vehicle Act. However, defendant contends that he was not guilty of careless driving, and the failure to notify the Commissioner of his change of address was so minor an offense that the police would never have arrested him for that if they were not intent...