Woods v. State

• Decision Date: 27 September 1996
• Docket Number: CR-95-0453
• Citation: 695 So.2d 636
• Parties: Winfred Lynn WOODS v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 636

695 So.2d 636

Winfred Lynn WOODS v. STATE.

CR-95-0453.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Sept. 27, 1996.

Rodney B. Slusher, Florence, for Appellant.

Jeff Sessions, Atty. Gen., and Cedric Colvin, Asst. Atty. Gen., for Appellee.

COBB, Judge.

The appellant, Winfred Lynn Woods, was convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a violation of § 13A-12-212, Ala.Code 1975. He was sentenced as a habitual felony offender to 15 years in the penitentiary.

I.

The appellant contends that the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence of the heroin seized by a police officer during a warrantless search of the appellant while the appellant was being treated for a drug overdose in the emergency room of the Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital was reversible error. The following facts were adduced from the evidence presented at the hearing on the appellant's motion to suppress and at trial.

Harry McGee, a deputy sheriff in the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department, testified that at approximately 8:00 p.m. on March 28, 1994, he responded to a police dispatch requesting assistance at the appellant's residence. He was informed by the dispatcher that the appellant was comatose as the result of a possible drug overdose. Officer Lee Short and Investigator Junior Witt arrived at the appellant's house at approximately the same time as McGee. The appellant's girlfriend was also at the scene and his sister arrived soon after. McGee stated that he knew the appellant but McGee was not asked whether the appellant had a reputation for drug use. McGee stated that when he arrived the appellant was lying on the back porch and that the appellant appeared dead. The ambulance arrived and Phillip Richardson, a member of the ambulance crew, worked for 10 or 15 minutes reviving the appellant before taking him to the hospital. In the ambulance Richardson gave the appellant the drug called Narcan, which "totally reverses the effect of [a] narcotic" such as heroin. R. 100. In less than a minute after the drug was administered, the appellant woke up. Initially, the appellant was "combative," according to Richardson, a natural response for someone who regains consciousness while intubated. Upon awaking, the appellant told Richardson that he had not taken any medications; however, he confirmed that he had taken heroin. R. 101.

McGee remained at the appellant's house for a few minutes after the ambulance left. During that time, an anonymous telephone caller informed the appellant's sister that the appellant had taken heroin. She relayed this information to Investigator Witt who apparently relayed it to McGee. R. 44. McGee stated that he did not know if this information was accurate. The ambulance crew was informed of this information. McGee followed the ambulance to the hospital and went into the emergency room with the ambulance crew. Richardson told McGee that the appellant "admitted to him in the ambulance that he had taken heroin." R. 13-14.

The appellant was lying on his back in a bay room in the emergency room but he "had come around somewhat" and was able to respond to the doctors. R. 12, 14. However, McGee also stated that he could not say "that [the appellant] was alert," only that the appellant was conscious. R. 18. When asked why he did not ask the appellant to empty his pockets McGee stated that hospital personnel were "working on him" trying to start an IV, a cardiac monitor, and a blood pressure monitor. R. 16, 26. As hospital personnel began to remove the appellant's clothes, McGee asked Richardson whether Richardson "had searched through the patient's pockets, and [Richardson] said he had not." R. 18. McGee asked the hospital personnel at that time if the belongings in the appellant's pockets had been secured. R. 12. He was informed they had not. McGee stated that there was nothing about the appellant at this time that led him to believe the appellant ought to be placed under arrest and he did not he have any intentions of arresting the appellant. R. 15. However, McGee testified that at this time he "turned [the appellant] up enough where [he] could reach in [the appellant's back] pocket." He removed an envelope while the appellant was being "worked on" by nurses. R. 16, 19. McGee stated that, "the purpose of my searching him was to do an inventory of his belongings and to make sure that there were no weapons of any kind, and to give his personal belongings to his family." R. 16. Asked if it was the hospital's job to inventory the appellant's belongings (given that the appellant was not under arrest, was not suspected of wrongdoing, and was under the hospital's care), McGee answered, "possibly." R. 21, 22.

The envelope removed from the appellant's back pocket had been closed and folded several times, but it was not sealed. McGee testified that there was nothing about the envelope to indicate that it contained drugs but because he felt a bulge inside the envelope he opened it to see what was inside. R. 23. When asked why opening the envelope was part of his "physical inventory," McGee answered, "It just was. I felt that bulge in there, and I opened it to see what it was." R. 23. McGee stated that it was "professional curiosity" that prompted him to open the envelope. R. 23. McGee had not been told that the appellant was in possession of heroin. The appellant's sister and his girlfriend, with whom he lived, were at the emergency room and could have received the contents of his pockets from hospital personnel. An officer did turn over the contents of the appellant's pockets, except for the envelope, to the appellant's girlfriend while she was at the emergency room. The hospital allowed the appellant to go home approximately eight hours later, at about 4:30 a.m.

The trial court denied the appellant's motion to suppress. The evidence presented at trial was not significantly different from that presented at the hearing on the motion to suppress. The heroin was admitted into evidence at trial over the appellant's objection. R. 115-16.

The hospital policy concerning inventorying patients belongings is not contained in the record. However, we do not see how the police acquired responsibility for the appellant's belongings. In South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 96 S.Ct. 3092, 49 L.Ed.2d 1000 (1976), the United States Supreme Court allowed such inventory searches where intended to (1) protect the owner's property while it was in police custody, (2) protect the police against claims or disputes over lost or stolen property, and (3) protect the police from potential danger. At the time of the alleged inventory the appellant was not in police custody. He was a patient in the hospital emergency room. Under the circumstances, we do not see on whose authority or for whose benefit McGee inventoried the contents of the appellant's pockets. The warrantless search of the appellant's pockets was not a valid inventory search. ¹ Additionally McGee stated that his professional curiosity prompted his opening the envelope--not the desire to conduct an inventory of the appellant's pockets.

Also, at the time of the search the appellant's identity was known, he was accompanied by family, he was being cared for by emergency room personnel, and there was no suggestion that he was dangerous or armed; this is not an "instance[ ] in which the nature of a police officer's duty require[d] that he engage in [a] search[ ] for reasons other than obtaining evidence of criminal activity." Wagner v. Hedrick, 181 W.Va. 482, 383 S.E.2d 286 (1989) (evidence of crime discovered during officer's good faith search of accident victim's pants for victim's identification was admissible). ² Therefore, the warrantless search of the appellant must be justified under some exception to the warrant requirement.

"Warrantless searches and seizures are 'per se unreasonable.' ... To validate the seizure of one's person or property by such means, the search and seizure must fall within one of the well-recognized exceptions, which are: (1) plain view; (2) voluntary, intelligent, and knowing consent; (3) incident to a lawful arrest; (4) hot pursuit or emergency situations; (5) exigent circumstances coupled with probable cause; and (6) stop and frisk situations."

Cowart v. State, 579 So.2d 1, 3 (Ala.Cr.App.1990) (citations omitted). "The burden is on the State to make such a showing that the warrantless search meets an exception." Sawyer v. State, 456 So.2d 114, 115 (Ala.Cr.App.1984). The State argues that the warrantless search of the appellant's person was justified under the probable-cause-coupled-with-exigent-circumstances exception to the warrant requirement. "[B]ecause the test for determining probable cause is an objective and not a subjective test, this court may ' "find probable cause in spite of an officer's judgment that none exists." ' " Hopkins v. State, 661 So.2d 774, 779 (Ala.Cr.App.1994) (citations omitted). Therefore, in determining whether probable cause existed we are not constrained by McGee's testimony that he had no suspicions concerning the appellant. "As long as the police officer is doing only what is objectively authorized and legally permitted, the officers subjective intent in doing it is irrelevant." Hutcherson v. State. 677 So.2d 1174 (Ala.Cr.App.1994) (an objective test is used for determining whether an arrest is pretextual), rev'd on other grounds 677 So.2d 1205 (Ala.1996).

"Whether there is probable cause of merit a warrantless search and seizure is to be determined by the totality of the circumstances. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). 'Probable cause exists where all the facts and circumstances within the officer's knowledge are sufficient to warrant a person of reasonable caution to conclude that an offense has been or is being committed and that contraband would be found in the place to be searched.' Sheridan v. State, 591 So.2d 129, 130 (Ala.Crim.App.1991)."

State...