U.S. v. Easter

• Decision Date: 26 April 1977
• Docket Number: No. 76-1854,76-1854
• Citation: 552 F.2d 230
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Joseph Ward EASTER, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 230

552 F.2d 230

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Joseph Ward EASTER, Appellant.

No. 76-1854.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Jan. 10, 1977.

Decided March 25, 1977.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied April 26, 1977.

Thomas P. Roberts, Clayton, Mo., for appellant.

Frank A. Bussmann, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Louis, Mo., for appellee; Barry A. Short, U. S. Atty., St. Louis, Mo., on brief.

Before HEANEY and STEPHENSON, Circuit Judges, and STUART, ^* District Judge.

STEPHENSON, Circuit Judge.

Defendant appeals from a jury conviction on a two-count indictment charging him with illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861(d) and 5871. ¹ The principal issues on this appeal are whether the trial court committed reversible error in denying defendant's (1) motion to suppress evidence allegedly obtained as a result of an illegal search and seizure, and (2) motion for a new trial because of evidence allegedly suppressed by the prosecution. We affirm.

This is defendant's second conviction on the instant charge. This court reversed the first conviction on the ground that defendant was deprived of a fair trial because counsel's failure "to question the search and to object to the evidence was so derelict that the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel must be sustained." United States v. Easter, 539 F.2d 663, 665 (8th Cir. 1976).

In the present case defendant's counsel promptly moved to suppress the sawed-off shotgun obtained from his home without an arrest warrant or a search warrant on the ground it constituted an illegal search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. After conducting an evidentiary hearing the trial court denied the motion to suppress. During the course of the trial defendant renewed his objection to the introduction of the shotgun into evidence, which was again denied.

The record of the pretrial suppression hearing discloses that at approximately 4:30 p. m. on June 16, 1975, the St. Louis Police Department received a telephone call reporting an armed robbery. A couple minutes later officers Sloan and Lineback received a call "for a holdup at Shreve and Lee." They proceeded in their patrol car to that address, where they met a person standing by a telephone at a service station who identified himself as Victor and reported that he had just been robbed at Newstead and Lee (approximately three blocks from there) by two subjects, one armed with a sawed-off shotgun, and the other with a revolver. He had followed the subjects, who left in a yellow Volkswagen, to where they parked in front of a residence on Lee, which they entered carrying the described weapons.

The police officers immediately drove about three blocks to the residence described by Victor. He was placed in the back seat of the patrol car where he was directed to remain for his own safety. The officers radioed their dispatcher for assistance and indicated the robbery subjects were inside the house at 4706 Lee Avenue. Several officers responded to the call. Officer Lineback testified that seven or eight officers had arrived at the scene prior to entry into the house. ² Sergeant Blackman and Detective Brogan knocked on the door, announced their presence, identified themselves and their purpose. They were told to wait a minute, that someone had to get a key. The knocking was repeated but with no results. After four to five minutes, at the direction of Sergeant Blackman, Detective Brogan forced the door.

Upon entry, Frederick Easter, defendant's brother, was observed dressed in a bathrobe standing in the rear of the middle of the room directly opposite the entrance. The officers heard a noise in a room off to the side. The door was opened and defendant was observed holding a sawed-off shotgun. He was placed under arrest and the weapon seized. When Officers Sloan and Lineback returned to their patrol car the alleged robbery victim, Victor, was gone. He did not testify at either the suppression hearing or the subsequent trials.

Defendant Joseph Easter testified at the suppression hearing substantially as follows: he had met a man named Victor who conformed to the general description given by the police officers; prior to the incident in question he had had a disagreement with Victor; on June 16th he had an argument with Victor over money defendant did not like the drugs sold to him by Victor and refused to pay Victor money he claimed was due; when defendant left after the dispute he saw Victor at the service station while defendant was purchasing cigarettes; defendant casually walked home; he denied robbing Victor. ³

The Search and Seizure of the Shotgun

In assessing the legality of the search we start with the well established proposition "that searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions." Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 514, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967) (footnotes omitted); United States v. Kelly,529 F.2d 1365, 1371 (8th Cir. 1976). The "plain view" doctrine is one of these exceptions, but it comes into operation only if the officers have a right to be in the position where they obtain the view of the object seized. Harris v. United States, 390 U.S. 234, 236, 88 S.Ct. 992, 19 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1967). The shotgun, of course, was not in the plain view of the officers outside the house. Thus, the crucial issue in this case is whether the officers legally entered the Easter home. United States v. Blake, 484 F.2d 50, 54-57 (8th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 417 U.S. 949, 94 S.Ct. 3076, 41 L.Ed.2d 669 (1974); Root v. Gauper, 438 F.2d 361, 364-65 (8th Cir. 1971). This in turn is dependent on whether the officers had sufficient probable cause to make a warrantless arrest of the robbery suspects alleged to be inside the house. The burden was on the government to establish that the warrantless entry was justified under the emergency or exigency doctrine. Root v. Gauper, supra, 438 F.2d at 365.

Appellant argues that the evidence adduced during the hearing on his motion to suppress and during his trial shows that the police lacked probable cause for their warrantless search of his home. Appellant points out that: the officers spoke with "Victor" less than a minute; they never asked him for his last name or address; they had no prior knowledge indicating reliability; Victor's story was not reasonably credible he claimed he was held up in broad daylight at a busy intersection and that he was able to observe the robbers travel in a yellow automobile for approximately a half-mile, although he apparently was on foot; and no questions were asked by the police concerning what was obtained from him during the robbery. In summary appellant urges that the officers had no reasonable grounds for believing Victor was telling the truth.

The government contends to the contrary that the record demonstrates the police had sufficient probable cause to make the warrantless arrest and subsequent seizure. The initial call was received at the Police Department. Two officers nearby in a patrol car spoke to Victor at the place he was supposed to meet them. He indicated that the robbery took place about three blocks away. Officer Sloan observed: "He was excited" Officer Lineback: "He appeared somewhat scared." He stated that he followed subjects in a yellow Volkswagen which they parked in front of 4706 Lee (approximately six blocks from the alleged robbery). He saw subjects enter the residence one carrying a sawed-off shotgun and the other a revolver. He was placed in the back seat of the patrol car and they proceeded to 4706 Lee where the yellow Volkswagen was parked. The officers knocked on the door, announced who they were and what they wanted they were told to wait a minute, that someone had to get a key. This was repeated. After four to five minutes the officers forced the door which is permitted by Missouri law. ⁴ Once inside they promptly arrested Frederick Easter, one of the suspects. Noise in the adjoining bedroom prompted entry by the officers and the arrest of appellant, who was holding the sawed-off shotgun. The shotgun was properly seized and thereafter admitted into evidence. In summary, the government contends that the officers had reasonable grounds for believing the robbery complaint by the victim, and were justified in acting on it immediately. We agree.

Where the informant is the victim of armed robbery, more often than not his reliability will be unknown. Where, as here, the suspects are armed and alleged to be nearby, the police officers must make a judgment and act with dispatch. In McCreary v. Sigler, 406 F.2d 1264 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 984, 89 S.Ct. 2149, 23 L.Ed.2d 773 (1969), this court recognized that where the informant is an "eyewitness" to a crime (or victim) the essence of reliability may be found in his statement of facts.

Furthermore, the underlying circumstance even without corroboration may have built-in credibility guides to the informant's reliability. The essence of reliability may be found in an informant's statement of facts rather than an allegation of mere conclusory suspicion. An informant who alleges he is an "eyewitness" to an actual crime perpetrated demonstrates sufficient "reliability" of the person. In direct accord, see e. g., Coyne v. Watson, 282 F.Supp. 235 (S.D.Ohio 1967), aff'd 392 F.2d 585 (6 Cir. 1968). These facts provide a similar standard in determining probable cause for arrest without a warrant. Probable cause for an arrest may exist where an unknown citizen makes complaints, as a victim or eyewitness to a crime, where the underlying circumstances demonstrate his first-hand personal knowledge. Cf. Trimble v. United States, 125 U.S.App.D.C. 173, 369 F.2d 950 (1966); United States v. Traceski, 271 F.Supp. 883 (D.Conn.1967).

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