State v. Skaggs
Decision Date | 01 October 2004 |
Parties | STATE of Alabama v. Marcus Alan SKAGGS. |
Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Troy King, atty. gen., and Andy Scott Poole, asst. atty. gen., for appellant.
Mary Angela Turner Roberts, Tuscaloosa, for appellee.
Alabama Supreme Court 1040035.
Marcus Alan Skaggs was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation of § 13A-12-213, Ala. Code 1975. Skaggs filed a pretrial motion to suppress evidence seized as the result of a traffic stop, namely, a cigar laced with marijuana found in his vehicle in a compartment located near the steering wheel. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court granted Skaggs's motion. Pursuant to Rule 15.7, Ala.R.Crim.P., the State appeals the circuit court's grant of Skaggs's motion to suppress.
The evidence presented at the suppression hearing established the following: On April 10, 2003, Alabama State Trooper Michael Harris stopped Skaggs's vehicle because Skaggs was speeding. Harris then radioed Skaggs's information to his dispatcher, who reported that Skaggs's driver's license had been suspended and that he had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear. Upon learning this information, Harris informed Skaggs that he was placing him under arrest, and he proceeded to pat Skaggs down, handcuff him, and place him in his patrol vehicle. Additionally, Harris radioed his dispatcher and asked her to contact the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Department so that it could take custody of Skaggs. Harris then asked Skaggs if he wanted to telephone someone to pick up his vehicle instead of having it towed. Harris called a relative to pick up the vehicle.
Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Deputy Tim Johns arrived shortly after Skaggs was arrested and transferred Skaggs from Harris's patrol vehicle to his. After completing this task, Harris and Johns searched Skaggs's vehicle incident to his being placed under arrest. During this search, Deputy Johns located a cigar containing marijuana in a small compartment located on the driver's side near the steering wheel. Teresa Patton, the grandmother of Skaggs's fiancée, then arrived to pick up his vehicle.
The State contends that the circuit court erred when it granted Skaggs's motion to suppress the evidence found when searching Skaggs's vehicle incident to his arrest. We agree.
This Court reviews de novo a circuit court's decision on a motion to suppress evidence when the facts are not in dispute. See State v. Hill, 690 So.2d 1201, 1203 (Ala.1996); State v. Otwell, 733 So.2d 950, 952 (Ala.Crim.App.1999). Here, the facts are uncontested; the only issue is the circuit court's application of the law to those facts.
In State v. Gargus, 855 So.2d 587, 590-591 (Ala.Crim.App.2003), this Court stated:
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