Bassett v. State

275 So. 2d 713, 49 Ala. App. 733, 1972 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 857
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedAugust 15, 1972
Docket4 Div. 102
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 275 So. 2d 713 (Bassett v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bassett v. State, 275 So. 2d 713, 49 Ala. App. 733, 1972 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 857 (Ala. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinions

TYSON, Judge.

The indictment charges the appellant with possessing'or transporting marijuana, and also possessing or transporting lysergic acid dielhylaminde (LSD-25), contrary to the law. Verdict and judgment of guilty were entered for possessing or transporting lysergic acid dielhylaminde, which resulted in a sentence of eight years in the penitentiary.

On the night of July 16, 1970, Officers Baxter and Doty of the Enterprise Police Department were on duty patrolling the streets of the city in their police cruiser. About 11:00 p. m., they received an alert over their police band radio that an armed robbery had occurred in nearby Dothan, Alabama. This radio report alerted them to a description of the robbery suspects.

Subsequent to this alert, in the early morning hours, the two officers spotted two men who appeared to fit the descriptions of the robbery suspects, one of whom was the appellant, at the Cannon Oil Station in Enterprise, Alabama. At that time the appellant was standing outside his car in what was described as a well-lighted area.

When appellant and his companion left the gas station, they were followed by the two officers in their patrol car. At this time Officer Baxter called in the tag number and a description of the car to the police station.

After travelling a short distance in the direction opposite Dothan, Officer Baxter signaled by a blinking blue light for them to stop. Officer Baxter approached appellant's car and asked to sec his driver’s li[736]*736cense, after which he asked appellant to get out of the car. At that time, while the other occupant remained in the car, Officer Baxter made a search of the driver’s side of the vehicle, the console between the bucket seats, and the glove compartment.

During this search, Officer Baxter observed in the console a plastic bag containing a substance which he suspected as being marijuana. The officer also observed a plastic bag containing small yellow tablets. At the officer’s request, the appellant opened the trunk, the officer shined a flashlight therein, and luggage was observed. The officers noted that the appellant had quite a bit of money on his person. No seizure was made at this time.

The appellant and the other suspect consented to be and were thereafter taken to the police station in Officer Baxter’s car. At the same time, Lieutenant McDaniel, who had arrived on the scene shortly after the appellant was stopped, drove appellant’s automobile to the parking lot at the police station.

Upon arrival at the station, the appellant and his companion were placed in a cell, at their request, in order to get some rest. No charges were filed against the two men at this time. At around 3:00 a. m., Officer Baxter, another policeman, and a State narcotics agent searched appellant’s car under the auspices of what the State concedes was a defective search warrant.1 The search revealed illegally possessed marijuana and LSD, some of each being taken from the console and some from the trunk of the vehicle.

Sometime after the search, the robbery victim arrived from Dothan and stated that the appellant and his companion were not the robbers. It was subsequent to these events that the appellant was placed under arrest for transporting and possessing the drugs in question.

Before his arraignment, appellant filed motions to suppress the evidence and to quash the indictment. There was a full hearing on the motion to suppress, resulting in its denial. The motion to quash the indictment was also denied. Appellant was subsequently tried and convicted; hence this appeal.

The principal question in this case involves the admissibility of evidence seized from the appellant’s automobile.

Appellant argues that the search of his car on the street and the subsequent search and seizure of various illegally possessed drugs from his automobile at the police station were illegal, thus rendering such drugs inadmissible into evidence at the trial.

The evidence clearly established that a “search” was made of appellant’s car when initially stopped on the street in Enterprise. However, there was absolutely no evidence to indicate that a “seizure” was made at that time. Consequently, appellant’s motions to suppress the evidence and quash the indictment, when directed to this initial search, were properly denied.

We next turn our attention to the search of appellant’s car made at the police station. It is the fruits of this search which form the basis of appellant’s conviction. The State concedes that the search was made without a valid search warrant, but asserts that it was not in violation of the appellant’s Fourth Amendment rights because it was made with probable cause.

We believe that probable cause existed for both searches. In relation to the initial search of appellant’s car on the street, the case of Dyke v. Taylor Implement Manufacturing Co., 391 U.S. 216, 88 S.Ct. 1472, 20 L.Ed.2d 538, is in point. There, the court stated that a warrantless search of an automobile may be made where “officers conducting the search have ‘reasonable or probable cause’ to believe that they will find the instrumentality of a crime or evidence pertaining to a crime.”

[737]*737The police officers who initially stopped and searched the appellant’s car were acting on the basis of information transmitted to them on their police radio that an armed robbery had occurred in the nearby city of Dothan, Alabama. It was the testimony of the two officers that the suspects were described to them as two white males of medium build; that one was described as “just over six foot” and having “long sideburns, dark colored hair and not bushy”; that the other suspect was described as being short, approximately five feet eight inches to five feet ten inches, and having “sandy colored hair bushy; no distinctive hair style, beard and mustache”; that one suspect was reportedly wearing dark work clothes, and the other light colored clothing; and that the mode of transportation was unknown.

The two officers testified that the appellant and his companion, when spotted at the Cannon Gas Station in Enterprise, closely fit the description given in the radio report of the robbery. Officer Baxter testified at trial as follows:

“Q Now, where was this defendant when you first saw him?
“A He was right under the lights at the gas station.
“Q Was he inside the automobile or outside ?
“A No, sir, he was standing outside.
“Q Was there anyone with him?
“A Yes, sir.
“Q What was the general appearance of this defendant at that time with regard to his build, his height, the condition of his hair and or beard, and so forth?
“A Very closely resembled from the message we had received on the radio.
“MR. ROWE: We object to that, to the message received on the radio.
“THE COURT: I sustain the similarity.
“MR. ROWE: And I move to exclude that from the jury.
“THE COURT: Yes, that is excluded, gentlemen.
“Q (Mr.

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Related

Vogel v. State
426 So. 2d 863 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1980)
Williams v. State
332 So. 2d 405 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1976)
Devaney v. State
316 So. 2d 239 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1975)
Bassett v. State
275 So. 2d 720 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1973)
Bassett v. State
275 So. 2d 713 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
275 So. 2d 713, 49 Ala. App. 733, 1972 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 857, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bassett-v-state-alacrimapp-1972.