Williams v. State
| Decision Date | 17 October 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 49S00-8705-CR-469,49S00-8705-CR-469 |
| Parties | Willie B. WILLIAMS, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
George K. Shields, Indianapolis, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Amy Schaeffer Good, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
After a bench trial, appellant Willie B. Williams was convicted of possession of heroin with intent to deal, a class A felony, Ind.Code Sec. 35-48-4-1(2) (Burns 1985 Repl.), and conspiracy to deal heroin, a class A felony, Ind.Code Sec. 35-41-5-2 (Burns 1985 Repl.). The trial court sentenced Williams to concurrent thirty year terms and suspended six years because of his age.
Williams raises three issues on direct appeal:
I. Whether the warrantless search of Williams and the vehicle in which he was riding violated the Fourth Amendment;
II. Whether the trial court erred in denying Williams' motion for in camera questioning of the confidential informants; and
III. Whether the evidence is sufficient to support the convictions.
The evidence shows that on January 16, 1986, a confidential and reliable informant told Indianapolis Police Detective Tommie Terrell that three men were going to Chicago to buy heroin. Terrell later received a call from a Chicago informant that the men had entered and left a known drug distribution house and were heading toward Indianapolis. The informants gave Terrell the make, color and license number of the suspect vehicle.
Terrell and several other police officers set up surveillance along Interstate 65 near Zionsville, Indiana. At approximately 1:30 a.m., the officers spotted the suspect vehicle heading south on I-65. The officers pursued and stopped the vehicle after it exited I-65 at Northwestern Avenue. When a police officer approached the car with his badge displayed, the driver, Victor O'Bannon, tried to run him over. The officer jumped out of the way and shot one of the vehicle's tires.
Police officers observed both passengers in the car, Williams and M.J. Chambers, tear open plastic bags full of brown powder and throw them out the window. O'Bannon drove his car off the road and stopped. Police arrested all three men and searched them for weapons. When police opened the car door, they discovered a two-gram package of heroin. One police officer also retrieved a 5.5-gram package of heroin which he had seen thrown from the car.
Detective Robert Fisher searched each subject. He found two packages of heroin totalling approximately nine grams in Williams' right front pocket.
Williams argues that the trial court should have sustained his motion to suppress evidence found in the car. He asserts that the police had no search warrant and no probable cause or exigent circumstances to justify a warrantless search.
The constitutional validity of this same search was affirmed in the appeal of another participant in the crime. Chambers v. State (1988), Ind., 526 N.E.2d 1176. For reasons stated in that case, the evidence found in the car was admissible.
Additionally, Williams contends that Detective Fisher planted the heroin on him and therefore it should not be admissible. O'Bannon stated that he heard Williams tell Fisher not to plant any drugs on him, but that he never saw Fisher place any drugs in Williams' clothes. Fisher described the strip search in detail and denied placing any packages of heroin in Williams' clothing. The trial judge believed Fisher, and we will not reweigh the conflicting testimony. The evidence found on Williams was admissible.
Williams argues that the trial court erred in denying his request for an in camera interview of the confidential informants. He asserts that this decision violates his constitutional right to confront and cross-examine his accusers.
Williams has the burden to demonstrate an exception to the informant's established privilege to remain anonymous. To carry this burden, Williams must demonstrate that the identity of the informant or the content of his communication is relevant and helpful to Williams' defense or is essential to a fair determination of the cause. Randall v. State (1985), Ind., 474 N.E.2d 76.
In Randall, the informant's information alone did not constitute sufficient probable cause for the police to arrest. Further surveillance, however, as in the case at bar, revealed other facts sufficient for probable cause. We held that the defendant in Randall did not meet his burden of proof; balancing Randall's interests with the respective interests of the State did not mandate disclosure. Id.
Detective Terrell testified that revealing the identity of the informants would threaten their lives and render them useless to the police in the future. Williams did not show a more compelling interest and therefore did not meet his burden. The trial court did not err in denying Williams' request for an in camera interview of the informants.
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