Coomes v. State

537 A.2d 1208, 74 Md. App. 377, 1988 Md. App. LEXIS 64
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedMarch 3, 1988
Docket650, September Term, 1987
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 537 A.2d 1208 (Coomes v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coomes v. State, 537 A.2d 1208, 74 Md. App. 377, 1988 Md. App. LEXIS 64 (Md. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

ROBERT M. BELL, Judge.

Brenda M. Coomes, appellant, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Cecil County of possession of marijua *380 na, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession of paraphernalia. The possession of marijuana charge having been merged into the intent to distribute charge, she was sentenced to a total of four years imprisonment. On this appeal from the judgments thus entered, she raises but one question: Did the trial court err in denying appellant’s pretrial motion to suppress?

The facts out of which this appeal arose are rather interesting. Appellant and a male companion were arrested in connection with a breaking and entering that occurred in Havre de Grace, Maryland. While they were in custody, the police obtained a warrant authorizing the search for, and seizure of, a small black handgun 1 , which witnesses reported was brandished by the male member of the duo during the breaking and entering. The application and affidavit in support of the warrant described the places to be searched as:

the premises and the premises as completely described above and a vehicle described as a 1984 Ford Bronco, Maryland registration # 037950.

It also disclosed the reasons for the police focus on appellant, her male companion, and the premises described therein. Detective Corporal Downey learned from witnesses to the breaking and entering that the perpetrators were a white male and female. The white male, who was waving a black handgun in the air, punched out the front door window and entered the house, followed by the white female. When they exited the house, the man and woman entered a 1984 Ford Bronco, either blue or beige, with a damaged mirror and Maryland tag No. 037950. The description of the vehicle and its occupants was broadcast, which resulted in the location of the suspect vehicle at 208 McGlothlin Road in Conowingo, Cecil County, Maryland by the Maryland State Police. The vehicle having been secured and the area surrounded, the State Police approached the subjects and *381 the white female admitted that she and her male companion had committed the breaking and entering. The white female was identified as appellant.

Notwithstanding the request in the application, the warrant only authorized the search of

“the premises known as 208 McGOUTHIN Road, Conowingo, Cecil County, Maryland, described as one story “L” shaped brick rancher with a shingle roof, with a cement wall in the rear of the house with decending [sic] steps to a sliding glass door which is the main entrance to the house.” 2

While appellant was still in custody, the police executed the warrant. They searched the premises at 208 McGlothlin Road and a 1986 Ford Bronco that was parked in front of the house. Recovered in the search, from various places in both the house and the vehicle, were suspected marijuana and controlled paraphernalia. Appellant was then charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, and possession of paraphernalia.

Appellant filed a pretrial motion to suppress the introduction of the marijuana and paraphernalia into evidence at her trial, claiming numerous deficiencies in the warrant and its mode of service.

At the hearing on appellant’s motion, the warrant was admitted into evidence, along with the return of the warrant, which described the items seized and the location from which they were seized. The return of the warrant noted the address of the premises as 208 McGlothlin Road. 3 Detective Downey testified to the circumstances leading to the issuance of the warrant and to the subsequent search of the house and the Bronco. He also testified that the return of the warrant accurately reflected the items found and the *382 locations from which they were seized. On cross-examination, he acknowledged that the warrant did not specifically authorize the search of the Ford Bronco and that the warrant and the return of warrant specified different street names. Downey also conceded on cross-examination that, although he located the marijuana in the Bronco and pointed it out to other officers, who actually seized it, he was not present when some of the items in the house were seized. Indeed, he could not recall whether he or someone else found those items. Finally, Downey recalled that appellant told him that the automobile she was driving that day was an '86 Ford Bronco and stated that he believed that appellant told him it belonged to her husband. Downey was not asked, and he did not volunteer, what, if any, training or expertise he had in the identification of marijuana and controlled paraphernalia.

At trial, appellant made several arguments in support of her motion to suppress. First, she called attention to the fact that the street name of the premises was misspelled in the application for warrant and in the warrant itself, urging the court to find that deficiency to be fatal. Second, concluding that the police were on a “fishing expedition”, i.e., they were not looking for a gun, she argued that the police should have gotten a specific warrant for controlled dangerous substances once controlled dangerous substances, and not a handgun, were discovered. Appellant also argued that, inasmuch as the warrant authorized only the search of the house, the search of the Bronco was illegal, rendering the controlled dangerous substances recovered in the Bronco inadmissible. Appellant further expressed concern that some of the items seized were not illegal and did not result in charges being brought against her. The State’s rejoinder was two-fold. As to the house, it argued that the legality of the seizure of the marijuana and paraphernalia followed from the court’s finding that the warrant was validly issued on probable cause, and, as to the Bronco, the State’s position was that appellant had no standing to contest the search. The latter argument was *383 advanced by the State for the first time during its argument on the motion to suppress, after the evidence on the merits of the search had been presented and appellant had argued the point.

The trial judge denied the motion to suppress. He ruled: All right. I’m going to rule that—I’m going to deny the motion to suppress as to the goods found in the house. I think there’s certainly, in looking at the four corners of the search, the application and warrant, there certainly was ample evidence and grounds to issue the search warrant for the house.
Now, I realize that the Bronco, although it mentioned the year erroneously numerous times in the application of search warrant was not included in the actual search warrant itself, however I’m going to deny the motion to suppress on the items found in the Bronco at this point on the basis that the Defendant, Mrs. Coomes, by the testimony in the case had no possessory or ownership interest in the Bronco, and obviously Mr. Smith has none either. So I’m going to deny them on this basis.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
537 A.2d 1208, 74 Md. App. 377, 1988 Md. App. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coomes-v-state-mdctspecapp-1988.