Davis v. State

1982 OK CR 14, 640 P.2d 573, 1982 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 215
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 5, 1982
DocketF-80-372
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 1982 OK CR 14 (Davis 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
Davis v. State, 1982 OK CR 14, 640 P.2d 573, 1982 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 215 (Okla. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

OPINION

BRETT, Presiding Judge:

The appellant was convicted in Rogers County District Court Case No. CRF-79-207 of Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon, After Former Conviction of a Felony, and sentenced to fifteen (15) years’ imprisonment.

On June 25, 1979, Patricia Pulliam was working as a cashier at a convenience store in Claremore, Oklahoma, when a man wearing a jacket, hat and sunglasses came into the store. He pointed a gun at her and demanded the money in both the cash register and her purse. After she complied with these demands, he ordered her to drive him in her car to a pickup parked on the side of the 7-11 building. He took some clothes out of the pickup, ordered her out of the car and left the scene in her car.

On June 29, 1981, Officer Dowden and two other men went to Mr. Jack Dick’s grandmother’s home. They were looking for Mr. Dick and Mr. Davis, the appellant, as they considered them to be suspects in the robbery. When the two suspects came outside, they were asked to accompany the officers to the police station but were told they were not under arrest. The men agreed to go with the officers. They were *575 questioned at the Claremore Police Station for approximately two hours.

Mr. Dick testified that while he was at the police station he was not constantly guarded by police officers. Officer Dowden testified that Mr. Dick and the appellant had been read their rights twice. The appellant, however, declined to sign a rights waiver form.

A search of the Dick’s residence produced a jacket matching the one described by the 7-11 cashier. In the jacket pockets was a pair of sunglasses and a bottle of makeup. A hat, on which makeup stains were found was also discovered rolled up inside of the jacket.

I.

The appellant first contends that although the words, “You are under arrest,” were not spoken to him until after the lineup, he was in fact under arrest prior to the lineup. Consequently, he contends his arrest was illegal for lack of probable cause. In Scott v. State, 617 P.2d 240 (Okl.Cr.1980), this Court adopted the following definition of arrest:

[T]he taking, seizing, or detaining the person of another either by touching, or by any act which indicates an intention to take him into custody and subject the person arrested to the actual control and will of the person making the arrest, or any deprivation of the liberty of one person by another or any detention of him, for however short a time, without his consent, and against his will, whether it was by actual violence, threats, or otherwise. ...

Therefore, if a person voluntarily cooperates with the police and is free to leave, he is not under arrest. On the other hand, a person who is involuntarily taken to the police station, subjected to interrogation and is not free to leave is under arrest whether or not the words, “You are under arrest,” are spoken to him. Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 99 S.Ct. 2248, 60 L.Ed.2d 824 (1979). Accordingly, the requirement of probable cause must be met prior to such an involuntary detention.

In the instant case, the trial court ruled in response to a motion to suppress the lineup that the appellant had voluntarily accompanied the officers to the police station and participated in the lineup on a voluntary basis. After studying the entire record, we find that although the evidence is susceptible to conflicting interpretations, there was sufficient evidence at the preliminary hearing and the motion hearing to support the trial court’s determination of voluntariness. The appellant’s contention that he was under arrest illegally prior to the lineup therefore is found to be without merit.

II.

Next the appellant contends that the search of the Dick’s residence was illegal as the officers allegedly lacked probable cause to conduct the search and had illegally obtained the consent to search from Mr. Dick. The appellant first bases his contention on the fact that the officers had told Mr. Dick that if he didn’t consent, a search warrant would be issued. Such a statement alone does not in and of itself negate the voluntariness of the consent. Bell v. State, 512 P.2d 226 (Okl.Cr.1973). Voluntariness is a question of fact to be determined from the totality of circumstances. Holmes v. State, 568 P.2d 317 (Okl.Cr.1977).

In a case such as this, where the consent is obtained after lengthy questioning by the police, however, there must be clear testimony that the consent was indeed voluntary. At trial, Mr. Dick clearly and positively testified that he had given his consent freely and voluntarily. A review of the evidence supports his testimony.

As Mr. Dick voluntarily consented to his residence being searched, the appellant’s contention the search was improper as the officers lacked probable cause is without merit. It is well settled that one of the exceptions to the requirement for probable cause before a search may be conducted is when a search is conducted pursuant to voluntary consent. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973).

*576 The appellant also contends that the consent was a “fruit of an illegal arrest” and thus should have been suppressed. As Mr. Dick was not arrested, either in fact or formally, this contention is without merit.

III.

The appellant next attacks an in-court identification of him on the basis of the victim’s unreliable memory and the taint resulting from an impermissibly suggestive lineup. First, this Court finds that the lower court correctly ruled that the lineup was properly conducted and was not impermissibly suggestive. This ruling was made by the lower court after it had personally interviewed all of the participants in the lineup during an in-camera hearing. Keeping in mind that the appellant was not under arrest when he participated in the lineup, this Court finds the lineup was conducted in substantial compliance with Thompson v. State, 438 P.2d 287 (Okl.Cr. 1968). Lee v. State, 600 P.2d 344 (Okl.Cr. 1979).

As the lineup was properly conducted, the contention that the lineup tainted the in-court identification is without merit. This Court reiterates its recommendation to trial courts, however, which it made in Thompson v. State, supra, to conduct an in-camera hearing with the identifier whenever the procedure of a lineup is brought into issue in order to determine if the identifier can make an in-court identification independent of the lineup experience.

As to the reliability of the in-court identification, this is an issue which must be tested on the basis of the totality of the circumstances surrounding the identifier’s opportunity to view the accused during the crime and in light of the subsequent identifications and descriptions made by the identifier. Hays v. State, 617 P.2d 223 (Okl.Cr. 1980). In the instant case, the reliability of the in-court identification is sufficiently established.

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Related

Johnson v. State
1988 OK CR 246 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1988)
Hayes v. State
1987 OK CR 106 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1987)
Binder v. State
1986 OK CR 50 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1986)
Hightower v. State
1983 OK CR 162 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1983)
Wilson v. State
1983 OK CR 132 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
1982 OK CR 14, 640 P.2d 573, 1982 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-state-oklacrimapp-1982.