Cooley v. State

682 N.E.2d 1277, 1997 Ind. LEXIS 92, 1997 WL 356941
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJune 27, 1997
Docket18S02-9706-CR-385
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 682 N.E.2d 1277 (Cooley v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cooley v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1277, 1997 Ind. LEXIS 92, 1997 WL 356941 (Ind. 1997).

Opinion

ON PETITION TO TRANSFER

SULLIVAN, Justice.

Defendant appealed his conviction for Dealing in Cocaine, a Class A felony 1 and the Court of Appeals, in an unpublished opinion, affirmed the trial court. We grant transfer and affirm the trial court.

Background

Defendant James Cooley was tried jointly with co-defendant, Gregory Lampkins, on July 10,1995. 2 Both were convicted of Dealing in Cocaine, a Class A felony. Lampkins appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the trial court. In a separate opinion issued today, we vacate the decision of the Court of Appeals and affirm Lampkins’s conviction. Lampkins v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1268 (Ind.1997). Many of defendant’s issues on appeal here are similar to those discussed in Lampkins.

Discussion

I

The trial court denied defendant’s motion to suppress evidence discovered after police stopped the automobile in which defendant and Lampkins were riding and defendant consented to a search of the vehicle. Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress for two reasons: (i) the police did not have reasonable suspicion necessary to make an investigatory stop; and (ii) defendant’s consent to a search of his vehicle was invalid because he was not presented first with an opportunity to consult an attorney.

Lampkins raised the first issue in his appeal and we concluded that reasonable suspicion existed to justify a valid investigatory stop; we discuss that issue in detail in that opinion. 682 N.E.2d at 1271. For the same reasons set forth in Lampkins, we hold that the investigatory stop here was valid.

Defendant claims that he should have been offered an opportunity to consult counsel before he consented to a search of his car. 3 Because he was not offered the opportunity to consult counsel, defendant claims, the trial court was obligated to grant his motion to suppress evidence obtained during the search of his car. Defendant cites Pirtle v. State, 263 Ind. 16, 323 N.E.2d 634 (1975), to support his claim.

In Pirtle, defendant Robert Pirtle was arrested for possession of a stolen ear. At the police station, after Pirtle had requested an attorney but before he could consult with that attorney, Pirtle was questioned and consented to a search of his apartment. During the search of his apartment, officers found evidence linking Pirtle to a prior homicide. Pirtle was charged with and convicted of Murder. Pirtle argued on appeal that his consent to the search of his apartment was not validly obtained because he was denied an opportunity to consult counsel before consenting to a search. 263 Ind. at 23, 323 N.E.2d at 637. We agreed with Pirtle and reversed his conviction. In so holding, we stated:

[A] person who is asked to give consent to search while in police custody is entitled to the presence and advice of counsel prior *1279 to making the decision whether to give such consent. This right, of course, may be waived, but the burden will be upon the State to show that such waiver is explicit, and, as in Miranda, the State will be required to show that the waiver was not occasioned by the defendant’s lack of funds.

263 Ind. at 29, 323 N.E.2d at 640. See also Sims v. State, 274 Ind. 495, 413 N.E.2d 556 (Ind.1980), overruled on other grounds by Wright v. State, 658 N.E.2d 563, 570 (Ind.1995) (a person in police custody must be informed of the right to consult with counsel before consenting to a search).

We recently applied the Pirtle and Sims eases to a case similar to the one at issue here. Jones v. State, 655 N.E.2d 49 (Ind.1995). In Jones, officer Fautz pulled defendant Larry Jones over for a minor traffic violation. Officer Fautz had already received a tip from a confidential informant that Jones was carrying crack cocaine in the gas cap compartment of his car. After officer Fautz pulled Jones over, two other police officers pulled up and exited their cars. Officer Fautz asked Jones if the car belonged to him and Jones replied that it did. He also asked Jones if he would consent to a search of his ear and Jones consented. One of the officers then opened Jones’s gas cap compartment and found bags of crack cocaine. Jones was later convicted of Dealing in cocaine, a Class A felony.

On appeal, Jones claimed that the cocaine seized from his ear was inadmissible at trial because he had not given a valid consent to the search. He argued that under Pirtle, he was entitled to be warned of the right to counsel before being asked to consent to a search. We held that while it was true that under Pirtle and Sims, “a person in custody must be informed of the right to consult with counsel about the possibility of consenting to a search before a valid consent can be given,” Jones, 655 N.E.2d at 54, Jones was not in custody when he consented to the search of his automobile and so that the rules enunciated in Pirtle and Sims did not apply. Id. at 56. We stated “[t]he instant case contrasts starkly to Pirtle, in which the defendant was asked for consent to search his home while he was in jail, detained for more than twelve hours, and after his right to counsel had been denied.” Id. We also noted that:

the procedure governing the stop obligated Fautz not to detain Jones any longer than necessary, but not to recite his Miranda rights. Ind.Code Ann. § 34-4-32-2 (West 1983). Had Jones refused to give the police permission to search, he would have been given two citations and been free to leave. The police had no right even ‘to frisk’ the vehicle without Jones’ consent, and they would have had no option but to cease detaining him. Thus, we conclude that at the moment Jones was asked for permission to search his car, the prosecu-torial process had not yet begun against him and Pirtle and Sims rights had not attached.

Id.

As in Jones, we conclude here that defendant was not yet in custody when he consented to a search of his car and that therefore his consent was valid. This case also contrasts greatly from that of Pirtle, in that Pirtle was in jail and had been detained for many hours before the consent was obtained. Here, defendant was not handcuffed or confined when he was asked to search his car. See Torres v. State,

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

Related

Stephen Turner v. KLS Services, LLC
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2025
Kelly L Gillespie v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2024
Trondo L. Humphrey v. State of Indiana
73 N.E.3d 677 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2017)
Peter Griffith v. State of Indiana
31 N.E.3d 965 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2015)
John McLaughlin v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014
Thomas Walker v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014
Kevin Pendleton v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
Meredith v. State
906 N.E.2d 867 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2009)
Clarke v. State
868 N.E.2d 1114 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2007)
Clark v. State
808 N.E.2d 1183 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2004)
West v. State
755 N.E.2d 173 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2001)
Appleton v. State
740 N.E.2d 122 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2001)
Vehorn v. State
717 N.E.2d 869 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1999)
Smith v. State
713 N.E.2d 338 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1999)
Wrinkles v. State
690 N.E.2d 1156 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1997)
Roche v. State
690 N.E.2d 1115 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1997)
Lampkins v. State
682 N.E.2d 1268 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
682 N.E.2d 1277, 1997 Ind. LEXIS 92, 1997 WL 356941, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cooley-v-state-ind-1997.