Caffey v. State

661 P.2d 897
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 6, 1983
DocketF-81-622
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 661 P.2d 897 (Caffey v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Caffey v. State, 661 P.2d 897 (Okla. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinions

OPINION

CORNISH, Judge:

The appellant was convicted in the District Court of Tulsa County, of Robbery With a Dangerous Weapon, After Former Conviction of Two or More Felonies, and was sentenced to eighty (80) years’ imprisonment.

Evidence at trial showed that on January 20, 1980, while Kenneth Brown and Pete Annex, part-time security officers for Casa Bonita, Inc., were picking up the previous day’s proceeds at Casa Bonita in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Annex was shot and wounded by a man wearing a gray-hooded sweatshirt. Annex identified the appellant as the man who assailed him and robbed him of approximately $15,000 in proceeds. Just prior to the assault, Annex’s attention had been momentarily diverted by a young woman asking for directions.

A recreational vehicle (R.V.) with a white Volkswagen attached to it was seen at the time in the parking lot where the incident occurred. On January 25, 1980, Robert Garten, a Salina, Kansas, police officer, recognized an R.V. and Volkswagen meeting this description parked at a truck stop. As he contacted the police dispatcher for a status report on the investigation, the appellant and a woman exited the R.V. and walked toward a nearby restaurant. Police apprehended the two individuals and seized $1,241 in cash from the appellant and $2,050 from the woman.

After obtaining a search warrant the officers entered the vehicles and found a suitcase containing $3,226 in small denominations, a gray-hooded sweatshirt, a box of .38 caliber ammunition, and purchase receipts from a Tulsa Safeway store dated January 19, 1980.

The defense called one witness, Dr. Terrence Luce, a professor of psychology at the University of Tulsa. Dr. Luce stated he had completed extensive research on human visual capabilities and eyewitness identification. In his opinion Pete Annex could not [900]*900have made an accurate identification of his assailant, because one’s perceptual capabilities tend to diminish during a stressful situation.

I

The appellant contends that the police lacked probable cause to arrest him for armed robbery, thus requiring the exclusion of all items seized pursuant to that arrest.

We find that at the time of arrest, the arresting officer had reasonably trustworthy information sufficient to warrant belief that the accused had committed a felony. See Little v. State, 627 P.2d 445 (Okl.Cr.1981). The officer knew that an armed robbery had been committed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by an individual meeting the description of the appellant and that an R.V. towing a white Volkswagen had been observed at the scene just prior to the robbery. The officer noticed an R.V. and Volkswagen in Salina, Kansas, five days later; and also learned from a police dispatcher that the tags on both vehicles were reported as either missing or stolen. We therefore find no error.

II

The appellant next alleges that State’s Exhibits 3 through 21 should have been suppressed as fruits of an illegal search of the vehicles.

In describing events leading up to the arrest, Officer Garten stated, “I exited, came back on 81, went over and parked behind some parked vehicles and peeked inside the camper.” There is neither allegation nor indication on the record that the officer observed anything more than what was already exposed to the view of the general public. There being no showing of an expectation of privacy on which to predicate a Fourth Amendment claim, the contention that this viewing was illegal is without merit. See, Dick v. State, 596 P.2d 1265 (Okl.Cr.1979).

The fact that two officers briefly entered the R.V. without a search warrant subsequent to appellant’s arrest was also inoffensive to Fourth Amendment rights as it was reasonable as a protective sweep for other occupants. Furthermore, the record indicates that no evidence was derived from this cursory inspection. Even the supporting affidavit for the subsequent search warrant does not rely on any information obtained as a result of this entry and examination. And, since the officers had reasonable cause to believe the vehicles were involved in the commission of a felony, the police had authority to impound the vehicles. See Lee v. State, 628 P.2d 1172 (Okl.Cr.1981).

We also find no merit in appellant’s contention that the affidavit was constitutionally insufficient to provide the probable cause necessary to issue a search warrant. He claims that Officer Johnson’s reliability and credibility must be shown on the face of the affidavit, because he has the status of an unknown informant to Officer Hind-man, the affiant-officer. However, when the affidavit is based upon specific factual information given by a named and known informant, and not the tip of an undisclosed informant, details reflecting his reliability and the credibility of his information are unnecessary. McFatridge v. State, 632 P.2d 1226 (Okl.Cr.1981); Wright v. State, 552 P.2d 1157 (Okl.Cr.1976). Not only is Officer Johnson’s name clearly evident on the face of the affidavit, but the affidavit is also supported by information received from the Kansas police officer, Robert Garten.

The appellant also urges that State v. McLemore, 561 P.2d 1367 (Okl.Cr.1977), mandates a reversal of his conviction, because the search warrant relies in part upon his possession of money discovered at the time of arrest, thereby making the search warrant dependent upon the fruits of his arrest. The instant case, however, is not governed by the ruling in McLemore, since the money was seized pursuant to the valid arrest.

Next, we are asked to condemn the search warrant as a “general warrant.” Search warrants must describe with specificity and particularity the place to be [901]*901searched and the items to be seized. This is to ensure that a search does not extend beyond its authorized purpose, and that law enforcement officers do not engage in exploratory rummaging through personal belongings. Jones v. State, 632 P.2d 1249 (Okl.Cr.1981).

The items listed in the search warrant were:

“$15,000.00 to $20,000.00 in currency and checks, papers, money bags, receipts from Taco Bueno or Crystals business in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a .38 caliber revolver, Smith & Wesson 357 Mag., model 65, S.N. ID 8103, gray, hooded sweatshirt, ski cap.”

The search warrant described with specificity the articles to be seized; therefore, the warrant was not general. The fact that articles outside of the scope of the warrant were seized does not convert it into a general warrant. Those items which were improperly seized and introduced were a box of ammunition, a briefcase, as well as photographs of these two items; a Tulsa Safeway receipt dated January 20, 1980; and a label from a package of brownies. In light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt, the average juror would not have found the State’s case significantly less persuasive had this evidence been excluded. We therefore find the error to be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See Robinson v. State, 560 P.2d 1034 (Okl.Cr.1977).

III

At the time of the arrest approximately $1,241 in small denominations was found on the appellant’s person; $3,226 was discovered in the mobile home subsequent to the arrest.

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Aldridge v. State
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Caffey v. State
661 P.2d 897 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
661 P.2d 897, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caffey-v-state-oklacrimapp-1983.