State v. Tucker
| Decision Date | 18 October 1993 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 92-KO-2093,92-K-2130,s. 92-KO-2093 |
| Citation | 626 So.2d 720 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, v. Clarence TUCKER. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
On Writ of Certiorari to the Court of Appeal, Second Circuit, Parish of Caddo, State of Louisiana.
Richard P. Ieyoub, Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, Paul Carmouche, Dist. Atty., Catherine M. Estopinal, Powell A. Layton, Shreveport, for applicant.
Richard E. Hiller, John M. Lawrence, Shreveport, Robert S. Glass, New Orleans, for respondent.
Clarence Tucker, pro se.
On June 25, 1993 we granted rehearing in this matter 1 with the following order:
Rehearing granted. Counsel will be appointed for the defendant who has heretofore been unrepresented in this court after his appointed counsel was purportedly relieved of representation by the defendant. This case will be scheduled for reargument.
Following our reevaluation of this case as presented in brief and oral argument by the defendant's newly appointed counsel, we adopt our original opinion in this matter and reinstate it as the opinion on rehearing, 626 So.2d 707. Although we now reaffirm our original opinion in this matter, because of the unusual procedural posture of this case, counsel will not be precluded from again seeking rehearing within the applicable time delay. Sup.Ct. Rule IX, Sec. 5.
WATSON, J., concurs and assigns reasons.
CALOGERO, C.J., dissents for reasons given in dissent on original hearing.
DENNIS, J., dissents for the reasons assigned originally.
WATSON, Justice concurring in reinstating the original opinion.
A suspect is not constitutionally "seized" if the suspect is still moving away from the authorities despite instructions to stop. Obviously Tucker initially felt free to walk away from the approaching officers because he did just that. Since Tucker threw down illegal substances while moving away from Officers Wilson and Jackson, and before he obeyed their instructions to halt and "prone out," he abandoned the drugs prior to seizure. As quoted in the majority opinion, "the defendant could not expect to carry contraband and drop it with impunity when he sees an approaching police officer." State v. Ryan, 358 So.2d 1274, 1276 (La.1978).
While the procedures employed in Operation Thor pose serious constitutional questions, the sad fact is that there are neighborhoods in our cities where police, encountering suspected drug persons, feel required to order "prone out"...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Dappemont
...and seizure entails. State v. Tucker, 604 So.2d 600 (La.App. 2 Cir.1992), affirmed in part, reversed in part on other grounds, 626 So.2d 720 (La.1993); State v. Washington, 621 So.2d 114 (La.App. 2 Cir.1993), writ denied, 626 So.2d 1177 (La.1993). The intrusiveness of a search is not measur......
-
State v. Lawrence
...and seizure entails. State v. Tucker, 604 So.2d 600 (La.App. 2 Cir.1992), affirmed in part, reversed in part on other grounds, 626 So.2d 720 (La.1993); State v. Washington, 621 So.2d 114 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1993), writ denied, 626 So.2d 1177 (La. 1993). The intrusiveness of a search is not meas......
-
96-2781 La.App. 4 Cir. 11/26/97, State v. Benjamin
...the police as a direct result of an unconstitutional seizure may not be used in a resulting prosecution against the citizen. State v. Tucker, 626 So.2d 707 (La.1993); State v. Chopin, 372 So.2d 1222 (La.1979). When the citizen is stopped without reasonable cause or when a stop without reaso......
-
State v. Broussard
...of police officers involved in the encounter. State v. Tucker, 626 So.2d 707, 712-713 (La.1993),opinion reinstated on rehearing by626 So.2d 720 (La.1993). In Tucker, id., acting on repeated complaints of drug-related activity, the police conducted a drug sweep in certain high-crime areas. T......