State v. Patterson

• Decision Date: 15 February 1991
• Docket Number: No. 89-1390,89-1390
• Citation: 237 Neb. 198,465 N.W.2d 743
• Parties: STATE of Nebraska, Appellee, v. Henry E. PATTERSON, Appellant.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

Page 743

465 N.W.2d 743

237 Neb. 198

STATE of Nebraska, Appellee, v. Henry E. PATTERSON, Appellant.

No. 89-1390.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

Feb. 15, 1991.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Prisoners: Moot Question: Sentences: Time: Appeal and Error. A prisoner's appeal is not moot if he has fully served his sentence before his appeal reaches the court and there was no way the prisoner, using all reasonable methods, could have brought his case to the court before expiration of his sentence, or if the prisoner may suffer future state or federal penalties or disabilities as a result of the judgment.

2. Motions to Suppress: Appeal and Error. A trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress is to be upheld on appeal unless its findings are clearly erroneous. In determining whether the court's ruling was erroneous, this court takes into consideration that the trial court has observed the witnesses testifying.

3. Criminal Law: Police Officers and Sheriffs: Investigative Stops: Probable Cause: Arrests. When a police officer suspects that criminal activity may be afoot, he may approach a person for purposes of investigating criminal behavior, even though there is no probable cause to make an arrest. The investigatory stop must be justified by a determination that the person stopped has been, or is about to be, engaged in criminal activity. Consideration must be given to the totality of the circumstances in determining whether there is sufficient cause to stop the individual.

Thomas M. Kenney, Douglas County Public Defender, and Brian S. Munnelly, Omaha, for appellant.

Robert M. Spire, Atty. Gen., and Barry Waid, Gering, for appellee.

HASTINGS, C.J., and BOSLAUGH, WHITE, CAPORALE, SHANAHAN, GRANT, and FAHRNBRUCH, JJ.

WHITE, Justice.

Henry E. Patterson appeals his conviction for possession of cocaine. Patterson was initially charged with unlawful possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, pursuant to Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-416(1)(a) (Cum.Supp.1988), but was convicted by a jury on September 7, 1989, of the lesser-included offense of possession of a controlled substance. Patterson was sentenced to a term of 320 days in the Douglas County Correctional Center. He has served his sentence and has been released free of restriction.

On April 27, 1989, Omaha Police Officer Mark Langan received information from a confidential informant that Patterson was selling cocaine in the north Omaha area. The informant had supplied information to the police for several years and, in the weeks before the arrest of Patterson, had supplied information which resulted in the arrest of at least two persons on drug-related charges. The informant also made several controlled "buys" of cocaine for police. The informant was paid for all information supplied in Patterson's case.

The informant advised Officer Langan that he had purchased cocaine from Patterson on several occasions in the past. The informant also told the officer that Patterson drove a black Ford Escort and that he knew Patterson's telephone number, but not his address. The informant told the officer he had seen Patterson with cocaine in the Escort within the last 24 hours. Half an hour later, the informant called Langan back and said he had just spoken to Patterson and that Patterson would be leaving his house that night in the Escort to sell cocaine from the vehicle in the north Omaha area. The informant said that Patterson told the informant he would be able to buy cocaine from Patterson that night.

The police verified that the telephone number furnished by the informant was assigned to S.V. Patterson of 3839 Parker Street and that a black Ford Escort was registered to Patterson at that address. Patterson later testified that he lived with his mother at that address. At 7 p.m. on April 27, an Omaha police officer saw the Escort pull up to 3839 Parker and a black male enter the house. At 7:28 p.m., the same individual left the house and departed in the same vehicle. The black male driving the Escort matched the description of Patterson given by the confidential informant.

Officer Langan and another police officer, in an unmarked vehicle, attempted to stop the black Escort as it drove away, by pulling in front of it at a stop sign. The officers were wearing jackets that identified them as police officers, but were otherwise dressed in civilian clothes. Officer Langan shouted to the driver of the Escort that he was a police officer and instructed the driver to turn off the car. Instead of stopping, the driver of the vehicle pulled away from the scene and drove through a field. Langan testified that he then began to run alongside the Escort, yelling, "[P]olice," and instructing the driver to stop the car. After the driver failed to stop, Langan returned to the police cruiser and began to pursue the Escort. The officers pursued the vehicle for three or four blocks, at which time the driver stopped the car of his own accord. The driver of the vehicle was later identified as Patterson.

Officer Langan ordered Patterson out of the car and advised him that he was under arrest for obstructing the administration of law and for possession of a controlled substance. Patterson's car was driven, with his permission, to a carwash bay, where it was searched without a warrant. A small bag of marijuana was found during the search. Patterson was taken to the police station and strip searched. A baggie of crack cocaine was found in his underwear. After being given a Miranda warning, Patterson admitted his intent to sell a portion of the crack cocaine. At the trial, Patterson testified that he did use cocaine and that the cocaine found in his underwear belonged to him, but denied intending to sell the cocaine.

Prior to trial, Patterson moved to suppress the cocaine as the fruit of an illegal arrest under the fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The district court overruled the motion, and evidence of the cocaine was admitted at trial over objection. Patterson assigns as error the district court's decision to admit evidence of the cocaine, as well as statements he made to police following his arrest.

Patterson has served his 320-day sentence at the Douglas County Correctional Center and has been released free of restriction. Therefore, we must consider first whether his direct appeal to this court is now moot.

In St. Pierre v. United States, 319 U.S. 41, 63 S.Ct. 910, 87 L.Ed. 1199 (1943), the U.S. Supreme Court held that because the petitioner had fully served his sentence before his appeal reached the Court, the case had become moot because there no longer existed a subject matter on which judgment of the Court could be found. The Court in St. Pierre stated that "reversal of the judgment below cannot operate to undo what has been done or restore to petitioner the penalty of the term of imprisonment which he has served." 319 U.S. at 42-43, 63 S.Ct. at 911. However, the Court recognized that if the petitioner was able to show that further penalties or disabilities could be imposed on him as a result of the prior judgment, then the case was not moot. St. Pierre, supra.

In Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 88 S.Ct. 1889, 20 L.Ed.2d 917 (1968), the Supreme Court again dealt with the issue of whether or not the petitioner's appeal was moot because he had completely served his sentence. The Court stated that mere release of the prisoner does not automatically foreclose consideration of the merits of the case by the Court, provided the case falls under one or both of the exceptions to the "doctrine of mootness" recognized by the Court in St. Pierre, supra. First, the Court held that the State may not effectively deny the prisoner access to the appellate courts until he has been released and then argue that his case has become moot. The Court stated that there was no way Sibron could have brought his case before the Court during the pendency of his 6-month sentence due to the overcrowding of the court system in New York, despite the fact that he took all steps to perfect his appeal in a prompt, diligent, and timely manner. He was also precluded by statute in New York from posting bail pending appeal. The Court stated that if Sibron were unable to have his case heard simply because he received a short sentence, then he would be rendered remediless and defenseless against unconstitutional conduct.

The second exception recognized in St. Pierre permits adjudication of the merits of a criminal case where the petitioner may suffer future state or federal penalties or disabilities as a result of the judgment. This exception has been expanded to include a wide array of "penalties or disabilities." See, Fiswick v. United States, 329 U.S. 211, 67 S.Ct. 224, 91 L.Ed. 196 (1946) (case was not moot because the petitioner might later be subject to deportation for committing a crime of moral turpitude); United States v. Morgan, 346 U.S. 502, 74 S.Ct. 247, 98 L.Ed. 248 (1954) (petitioner's case was not moot because subsequent convictions might carry heavier penalties and civil rights might be affected); Pollard v. United States, 352 U.S. 354, 77 S.Ct. 481, 1 L.Ed.2d 393 (1957) (the mere possibility of consequences collateral to the imposition of sentence is enough to justify hearing the merits of the case); Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629, 88 S.Ct. 1274, 20 L.Ed.2d 195 (1968) (the possibility that the appellant's license to engage in the luncheonette business might be revoked because of a criminal conviction was enough to bring the case within this second exception).

The Court in Sibron, supra, held that a criminal case is moot only if it is shown that there is no possibility that any collateral legal consequences will be imposed on the basis of the challenged conviction. Since Sibron's credibility as a witness would be subject to impeachment by use of the conviction and the conviction might be considered by a court in sentencing in the future, the Court concluded that Sibron would suffer...