Clark v. State

551 So. 2d 1081, 1986 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 6965, 1986 WL 98
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedOctober 28, 1986
Docket1 Div. 576
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 551 So. 2d 1081 (Clark 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
Clark v. State, 551 So. 2d 1081, 1986 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 6965, 1986 WL 98 (Ala. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinions

LEIGH M. CLARK, Retired Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction and sentence on a jury trial on an indictment that charged in pertinent part that “on, to-wit: December 31, 1977, Richard Clark did unlawfully possess marihuana, one of the controlled substances set out in the Alabama Uniform Controlled Substances Act.” The court sentenced him to imprisonment for fifteen years.

The “STATEMENT OF THE CASE” contained in brief of counsel for appellant is accepted in the brief of counsel for appellee as “substantially correct.” We now quote the first two paragraphs of said STATEMENT OF THE CASE:

“The Appellant, Richard E. Clark, was arrested on the morning of December 31, 1977, in or near the engine room of the 44’ motor trawler, the ‘Island Girl’, while that vessel was at rest in State waters near Bear Point Marina located near Gulf Shores, Alabama. After the arrest of Mr. Clark and one other occupant of the motor vessel, a sailing vessel, located one mile distant was boarded by a party led by Baldwin County deputies and an admitted exploratory warrantless search was conducted. The sailboat was berthed against a bank, had no occupants on board and was also located in State waters.
“Mr. Clark was indicted by the grand jury of Baldwin County on a charge of possession of marihuana based on contraband discovered during a warrantless search of the sailboat. No contraband of any type was ever located aboard the motor vessel on which he was arrested.”

[1083]*1083We note from the court reporter’s transcript of the evidence, as well as from the briefs of counsel for the respective parties, that the date of the incident involved, the places of travel of the two boats or ships involved, the motor trawler named the “Island Girl” and the sailing vessel, as well as some but not all of the people thereon were substantially the same as those found in the case of O’Leary v. State, 417 So.2d 219 (Ala.Cr.App.1981) and Ex parte, O’Leary, 417 So.2d 232 (Ala.1982), in which the judgment of conviction and sentence of the trial court was affirmed. We think we need not repeat the lengthy facts recited in the opinions of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court in the cited O’Leary case but limit our recital of the evidence on the trial of the instant case to the additional or different facts shown by the record in the case now under consideration that may be pertinent to any of the issues presented on appeal.

I.

The first issue presented in brief of counsel for appellant is divided into two parts. In the first part, it is stated that the warrantless search and seizure of the sailboat was predicated on “mere suspicion” and was without probable cause. As to this part of the contention made in appellant’s brief as to the first issue, we repeat substantially what was said in the opinion by this Court in O’Leary v. State, supra, at 417 So.2d 222, 223:

“The Cher [the sailboat involved] had been preceded at varying distances by a pleasure yacht by the name of ‘Island Girl’ from the Ft. Morgan area to the area of the Bear Point Marina. It then went only a short distance farther in a generally easterly direction and stopped without coming to land. Soon thereafter, both of the vessels were boarded by some of the law enforcement officers. Those boarding the Cher found the marihuana; those boarding the Island Girl found no marihuana or other controlled substance. On the Island Girl were the defendant (appellant) and another man. They were both arrested on the occasion. On the same occasion persons who had landed from the Cher were arrested; soon after the marihuana was discovered, and all arrested, including defendant (appellant), were transported to the Baldwin County Jail.”

For similar reasons to those set forth in O’Leary v. State, supra, we hold that the trial court did not err “in failing to grant the Motion to Suppress, Motion to Exclude, and Motion for Judgment of Acquittal” as contended by counsel for appellant. In both cases the defendants-appellants were seen only on the Island Girl; they were not on the Cher, on which more than four thousand pounds of baled marihuana was found and seized.

In the second part of the first issue presented by appellant, the contention is made that “the provisions of 19 U.S:C. 1581 are unconstitutional for failure to impose geographical limits or restraints on the expansive language of that statute.” The first and fifth paragraphs of the cited statute, as shown by United States Code Annotated Tit. 19, § 1581, are as follows:

“(a) Any officer of the customs may at the time go on board of any vessel or vehicle at any place in the United States or within the customs waters or, as he may be authorized, within a customs-én-forcement area established under the Anti-Smuggling Act, or at any other authorized place, without as well as within his district, and examine the manifest and other documents and papers and examine, inspect, and search the vessel or vehicle and every part thereof and any person, trunk, package, or cargo on board, and to this end may hail and stop such vessel or vehicle, and use all necessary force to compel compliance.
“(e) If upon the examination of any vessel or vehicle it shall appear that a breach of the laws of the United States is being or has been committed so as to render such vessel or vehicle, or the merchandise, or any part thereof, on board of, or brought into the United States by, such vessel or vehicle, liable to forfeiture or to secure any fine or penalty, the same shall be seized and any person who [1084]*1084has engaged in such breach shall be arrested.”

In support of the second part of Issue I, counsel for appellant relies upon Almeida-Sanchez v. United States, 413 U.S. 266, 93 S.Ct. 2535, 37 L.Ed.2d 596 (1973) in which in a five to four opinion of the Supreme Court it was held that in the absence of probable cause or consent, the warrantless search of defendant’s automobile violated his Fourth Amendment rights, and that the search could not be justified either as a functional equivalent of a border search or under the Supreme Court's earlier decisions authorizing warrantless searches of automobiles and warrantless administrative inspections. We believe that the instant case is distinguishable from Almeida-Sanchez v. United States, in that the Supreme Court held in said case that there was an absence of probable cause for believing that defendant had committed a violation of the law. The search was made in order to determine whether there was an illegal alien in the automobile. There was no illegal alien in the automobile, but marihuana was found therein. In other cases cited by counsel for appellant, United States v. Jones, 528 F.2d 303, 304 (9th Cir.1975), United States v. Brennan, 538,F.2d 711, 715 (5th Cir.1976), United States v. Tilton, 534 F.2d 1363 (9th Cir.1976) and United States v. Vigil, 448 F.2d 1250

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

Related

Dixon v. State
55 So. 3d 1250 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2008)
Ex Parte Dobyne
805 So. 2d 763 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2001)
Clark v. State
551 So. 2d 1091 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1989)
Clark v. State
551 So. 2d 1091 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
551 So. 2d 1081, 1986 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 6965, 1986 WL 98, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clark-v-state-alacrimapp-1986.