Cook v. State

466 S.W.2d 530, 3 Tenn. Crim. App. 685, 1971 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 427
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 5, 1971
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 466 S.W.2d 530 (Cook v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cook v. State, 466 S.W.2d 530, 3 Tenn. Crim. App. 685, 1971 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 427 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

OPINION

GALBREATH, Judge.

Clarence Jerry Cook, represented by retained counsel at his trial and here, together with Jerry Hefferman, an indigent represented by the Public Defender, appeal their convictions for armed robbery and resulting sentences of forty-five (45) years in the penitentiary and assign numerous errors to the action of the Shelby County Criminal Court in overruling their motions for new trials. A third defendant, Danny Ray Hopper, negotiated a settlement on pleas of guilty and was sentenced to three years confinement.

A number of the assignments assail the sufficiency of the evidence. They are overruled. Convincing eyewitness testimony supported the findings of the jury that on the 3rd of October, 1969, shortly before the closing time, the plaintiffs in error, defendants below, rushed into Normal Drug Store near Memphis State University in Memphis and under the threat of pistols forced the manager, a Mr. Larry J. Parker, two female clerks, and two female customers to the rear of the store where they were all locked in the ladies rest room. Later the bandits took Mr. Parker from the rest room and forced him to *689 open two safes from which they took a quantity of money which, along with a quantity of drugs, they dumped into a pillow case. After binding and gagging the manager, they fled through the rear door of the store. When arrested the next day the defendants were in possession of a pillow case, money and drugs such as were taken from the store.

Under the factual situation described there is no doubt that the defendants have failed to carry their burden on appeal to demonstrate that the evidence preponderates against the verdict. See McBee v. State, 213 Tenn. 15, 372 S.W.2d 173.

An assignment complaining that Mr. Parker was allowed to testify as to the amount of money located in the safes when he admitted he had no personal knowledge of the exact sums has no merit. Mr. Parker was quite positive that substantial sums of money and drugs were stolen, and the value of the property taken by placing the person assaulted in fear is not a gravamen of the offense. The gist of the offense of robbery consists in taking property of value from the person of another by force or intimidation, and the value of the property taken is immaterial.

The morning following the robbery the defendants were arrested in a car driven by the non-appealing defendant after a high speed chase that was prompted by efforts to elude members of the Sheriff’s patrol who noticed that the vehicle in which the three were riding had no license tags on its front and rear. After a chase during which speeds of approximately 100 miles per hour were reached, the driver of the car in which the defendants *690 were lost control, and the officers approached the halted vehicle with pistols drawn. The defendants got out of the car and the officers placed them under arrest and searched them for weapons. While doing so the officers observed, through the open doors of the automobile, syringes and bottles of the type drugs are packaged in and the pillow case which, on inspection, was found to contain money and what appeared to be prescription drugs. The next day the two defendants appealing here were placed in a line up and identified by witnesses who had been in the drug store when it was robbed as the bandits. Appropriate assignments of error challenge the legality of the arrest, search, and line up procedure.

The arrest, in view of the serious traffic violations witnessed by the officers, was most reasonable; it would have been most unreasonable not to have arrested the driver under the circumstances. Following the arrest officers observed without a search what plainly appeared to them to be drugs, and the resulting seizure was also reasonable since they had probable cause to believe the possession of such obvious contraband involved a violation of the criminal laws. Once they had this probable cause a full scale search of the automobile was justified without a warrant as incident to a lawful arrest. A detailed review of the law of search and seizure as it pertains to automobiles both on the highway and in police custody may be found in the recent United States Supreme Court decision of Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 26 L.Ed.2d 419, which hold that even after the automobile has been impounded and the occupants jailed it may be searched if at the time of the arrest a valid search incident thereto could have been made. *691 We need not go that far however in this case but may rely on the authority of Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct 280, 69 L.Ed. 543, which holds a search warrant unnecessary where there is probable cause to search an automobile stopped on the highway; the car is movable, the occupants are alerted, and the car’s contents may never be found again if a warrant must be obtained. In such instances the highest court has ruled an immediate search is constitutionally permissible. See Chambers v. Maroney, 90 S.Ct. at 1981. The State further contends, and we agree, that if the officers could see the property seized and in view of the public, there was actually no search involved. See Raynor v. State, Tenn.Cr.App., 447 S.W.2d 391.

From the record before us the line up complained of seems to have been conducted with all of the safeguards outlined in United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149. Both the defendants were advised of their right to have counsel attend and observe the line up and both requested that counsel of their choice be notified, Mr. J. Fred Freidman of the Shelby County Bar for Cook and Mr. Cordell Hull Sloan for Hefferman. For some reason not apparent in the record Mr. Sloan did not attend, but Mr. Freidman did and discussed with Hefferman the fact that Mr. Sloan was not present. Mr. Freidman said he did not represent Hefferman at the line up but that he did observe everything that went on on behalf of Cook at the same time Hefferman was exhibited to the witnesses. No one contends that anything improper or unfair occurred that would taint the line up identifications.

Officers conducting the line up thought Mr. *692 Freidman was representing both defendants at the time. Sloan made no objection to proceeding after he conferred with Mr. Freidman. Whether Mr. Freidman was retained or requested to represent Hefferman at the line up he was there in a representative capacity for one with exactly the same interests as Hefferman, and it must be assumed that whatever inhibiting effect his presence had on the police to insure against unfair suggestions in aid of identification inured to the benefit of both subjects equally. It is strongly suggested in Wade that when one’s own counsel cannot attend a fine up another lawyer may substitute for him. In footnote 27 Mr. Justice Brennan says:

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Bluebook (online)
466 S.W.2d 530, 3 Tenn. Crim. App. 685, 1971 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-state-tenncrimapp-1971.