Amin v. State

695 P.2d 1021, 1985 Wyo. LEXIS 449
Wyoming Supreme Court·Decided February 21, 1985·No. 84-24·Published·Cited by 47 cases

Opinions

BROWN, Justice.

Appellant, Abdula Amin, was convicted by a Laramie County jury of aiding and abetting aggravated robbery. The case against Abdula Amin was consolidated for trial with the companion case of State v. Valerie Yvonne Amin, appellant’s wife. According to appellant the issues are:

I.“Whether appellant’s consent to the search of his car cannot be said to have been voluntary where he was not informed that he was a suspect in another matter and the search would be used to gather evidence linking him to that crime.
II.“Whether it was prejudicial error for the trial court to permit joinder and allow evidence to be admitted against appellant in violation of Section 1-12-104, W.S.1977.
III. “Whether the trial court’s refusal to allow appellant’s trial counsel a full and effective cross-examination of Valerie Amin deprived appellant of his constitutional right to confront witnesses against him.
IV. “Whether the trial court’s decision not to instruct the jury on lesser-included offenses was error.
V.“Whether during the hearing on Appellant’s status as an habitual criminal, he was denied his constitutional right to confront witnesses against him.”

We will affirm.

During the early morning hours of July 10, 1983, Valerie Yvonne Amin was engaged in prostitution in the environs of the Lamp Lounge, a Cheyenne alehouse. At this time she approached James Whitehead, and offered her services for a modest fee. According to Whitehead he declined the proposition stating his reasons. At that point he was abducted by Mrs. Amin at gun point and forced to drive his car to a remote area about six blocks from the lounge. In this isolated area Whitehead testified that he was beaten and robbed by a man, later identified as Abdula Amin. According to Mrs. Amin, Whitehead accepted her offer, but then demanded a refund and attempted to forceably recoup the fee he had paid her. Mrs. Amin stated that her husband was in a car nearby but did nothing more than extricate her from Whitehead’s car; however, she said another man who was with appellant approached Whitehead’s car, but Mrs. Amin did not know what happened after that.

I

In his first assignment of error appellant alleges that the search of his car was ille[1024] gal. Eleven days after Whitehead was robbed appellant was in custody in connection with a sexual assault charge, an offense not related to the July 10 robbery. At that time he was questioned by Cheyenne police officer, Donna Riekens. She told appellant the police “had a report from a male who had indicated that Mr. Amin had taken him to a secluded area and had sexually assaulted him,” and “also informed him [appellant] that in the report the victim stated that he had used a weapon, a gun.” Appellant denied the allegations and denied that he had any weapon. Riekens then asked for permission to search Amin’s car and “may have said that I [she] wanted to look for a weapon.” Appellant gave oral permission for a search and then signed a form entitled, “Waiver of Search Warrant.” After Officer Riekens had obtained the consent to search, Detective Mel Fleharty told her that appellant was a suspect in an armed robbery incident that occurred July 10.

Appellant complains that the consent to search his car was vitiated because it “was obtained by guile and trickery.” He cites Gouled v. United States, 255 U.S. 298, 41 S.Ct. 261, 65 L.Ed. 647 (1921) in support of this contention. Appellant does not contend that the police officers exceeded the limits of the “Waiver of Search Warrant.” The only expressed limitations of the waiver form were that the search be made by police officers, and only on appellant’s vehicle. Otherwise, the waiver was unrestricted. The second paragraph of the waiver provided:

“I further authorize and grant permission to the said officers to seize any letters, papers, materials, or any other articles whatsoever which they may desire to seize, and I agree that the said officers may retain such letters, papers, materials or other article whatsoever for use as evidence in any criminal action that may be instituted against me.” (Emphasis added.)

At the suppression hearing appellant testified that he did not read the waiver and that he signed it only because he was told the police “were looking for a gun and gun only.” Officer Riekens testified that she did not say that she was only looking for a weapon.

Appellant speculates that at the time Officer Riekens questioned him about the sexual assault charge she also knew that he was a suspect in the July 10 aggravated robbery case and that she was also trying to collect evidence for the robbery case. This suspicion is not borne out by the record. So far as the record reveals, Riek-ens learned that appellant was a robbery suspect when Detective Fleharty told her, after she had obtained the waiver of search warrant from appellant. It is not significant that Detective Fleharty speculated that Riekens knew that appellant was a robbery suspect before he told her.

The test for determining whether the consent for a search is valid was established in Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973), and has been followed by this court in Stamper v. State, Wyo., 662 P.2d 82 (1983), and Parkhurst v. State, Wyo., 628 P.2d 1369 (1981). Specifically, the test requires an inquiry into the “voluntariness” of the consent in light of “the totality of the circumstances.” Stamper v. State, supra.

To determine whether a consent was given voluntarily the totality of the circumstances must be considered, such as absence of coercion by the interrogating officer in obtaining consent and a valid reason for the search. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, supra. If a defendant permits a warrantless search in the mistaken belief there is nothing to incriminate him where the search will take place, the search is voluntary. United States v. Smith, 308 F.2d 657 (2nd Cir.1962). The state has the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that the consent to search was voluntary. Stamper v. State, supra. Such determination is a question of fact to be decided in light of all the circumstances of the case. United States ex rel. Harris v. Hendricks, 423 F.2d 1096 (3rd Cir.1970).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Amin v. State, 695 P.2d 1021, 1985 Wyo. LEXIS 449 (Wyo. 1985).

695 P.2d 1021 (Amin v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Johnson v. State
2009 WY 104 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2009)
McClelland v. State
2007 WY 57 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2007)
Amin v. State
2006 WY 84 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2006)
Grant v. State
2004 WY 45 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2004)
Nixon v. State
2001 WY 15 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2001)
State v. Helow
15 P.3d 103 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2000)
Burgos-Seberos v. State
969 P.2d 1131 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1998)
Morris v. State
908 P.2d 931 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1995)
Mickelson v. State
906 P.2d 1020 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1995)
Porth v. State
868 P.2d 236 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1994)
State v. Keffer
860 P.2d 1118 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1993)
Stagner v. State
842 P.2d 520 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1992)
Warren v. State
835 P.2d 304 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1992)
Engberg v. Meyer
820 P.2d 70 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1991)
City of Laramie v. Hysong
808 P.2d 199 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1991)
Pena v. State
792 P.2d 1352 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1990)
Stauffer Chemical Co. v. Curry
778 P.2d 1083 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1989)
Loomer v. State
768 P.2d 1042 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1989)
Velos v. State
752 P.2d 411 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1988)
Lee v. State
743 P.2d 296 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1987)