State v. Wallace, 49574
| Decision Date | 09 June 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 49574,49574 |
| Citation | 224 So.2d 461,254 La. 477 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Herman WALLACE et al. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Alvin B. Jones, New Orleans, for appellants.
Jack P. F. Gremillion, Atty. Gen., William P. Schuler, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jim Garrison, Dist. Atty., Louise Korns, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.
The State charged Herman Wallace, Arthur Holland, and John Thompson with four counts of armed robbery. After conviction, the trial judge sentenced them to a term of 50 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary: They have appealed, relying upon Bill of Exceptions No. 2 for a reversal.
The defendants allege the trial court committed prejudicial error by admitting in evidence pistols taken from them at the time of their arrest.
At the trial Sergeant Frederick Williams of the New Orleans Police Department testified he arrested Holland and Thompson on January 15, 1967. He searched Holland for weapons and found a revolver. At this point, defense counsel intervened and sought to produce evidence that the arrest and search were illegal, for the purpose of excluding this pistol from evidence under the rule of Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081, 84 A.L.R.2d 933. Relying upon Article 703 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure, the trial judge refused to entertain a motion to suppress the pistol.
Article 703, C.Cr.P., provides:
* * *'
The general rule requires a defendant aggrieved by an unconstitutional search or seizure to file a motion to suppress at least three judicial days before trial. The salutary purpose of this requirement is to prevent interruption of trials, avoid the effort and expense of useless trials, and protect juries from exposure to inadmissible evidence. See State v. Rasheed, 248 La. 309, 178 So.2d 261 (1965), cert. denied, Rasheed v. Louisiana, 384 U.S. 1012, 86 S.Ct. 1962, 16 L.Ed.2d 1031; State v. Davidson, 248 La. 161, 177 So.2d 273 (1965).
In the present case, the sequence of events demonstrates the defendants were aware of the circumstances surrounding the seizure of the pistol and had ample opportunity to file a motion to suppress it before trial. The seizure of the pistol took place on January 15, 1967. The following day defendants retained an attorney. A month later, the State filed a Bill of Information, charging the defendants committed the robbery while armed with two pistols. The case came to trial on April 5, 1967.
It is true the trial judge has the discretion under the codal article to...
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State v. Doucet
...that the defendant is required to file and try his motion to suppress before the trial. See, La. C.Cr.P. art. 703; State v. Wallace, 254 La. 477, 224 So.2d 461 (1969). For these reasons we reach a conclusion similar to the second circuit federal court of appeals. Assuming that the State has......
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State v. Cryer
...on an infirmity in the search or seizure. LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 703; State v. Royal, 255 La. 617, 232 So.2d 292 (1970); State v. Wallace, 254 La. 477, 224 So.2d 461 (1969). The defendants filed no motion to suppress the letter. Hence, the objection founded on the seizure is The State concedes th......
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State v. Womack
...Art. 703; State v. Cryer, 262 La. 575, 263 So.2d 895 (1972); State v. Royal, 255 La. 617, 232 So.2d 292 (1970); State v. Wallace, 254 La. 477, 224 So.2d 461 (1969). Since no pre-trial motion to suppress was filed in the present case, the objection based on the alleged unlawful seizure of th......
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State v. Williams
... ... Cryer, 262 La. 575, 263 So.2d 895 (1972); State v. Lawrence, 260 La. 169, 255 So.2d 729 (1971); State v. Wallace, 254 La. 477, 224 So.2d 461 (1969). Since no motion to suppress was filed in the present case, defendant's objection to the admission of the jacket ... ...