Dedo v. State

660 A.2d 959, 105 Md. App. 438, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 124
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJune 29, 1995
DocketNo. 1512
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 660 A.2d 959 (Dedo 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
Dedo v. State, 660 A.2d 959, 105 Md. App. 438, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 124 (Md. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

HARRELL, Judge.

On 15 June 1994, appellant, Robert Dedo, was convicted, on an agreed statement of facts, by the Circuit Court for Wicomico County (Simpson, J.) of one count of felonious possession of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Appellant was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.1 A timely appeal was noted to this Court.

ISSUES

I. Did the [suppression hearing] judge err in refusing to suppress evidence seized in the course of an illegal search of appellant’s truck?

[444]*444II. Did the trial judge err in accepting appellant’s waiver of his right to a jury trial without a showing on the record that the waiver was made knowingly and voluntarily?

III. Is appellant’s sentence illegal because the trial court refused to award credit for some time spent on home detention?

TV. Must the docket entries and the commitment record be corrected to reflect the two-year sentence the lower court imposed?

FACTS

On 15 August 1993, Corporal James Wilson of the Maryland Natural Resources Police was assigned to “cover” the annual turtle race at Cedar Hill Park in Wicomico County. Corporal Wilson testified that, at approximately 12:00 p.m., he was approached by an informant who advised him that appellant was “involved in distributing LSD on the park grounds.” The informant explained that appellant was “wearing a flowered shirt, multi-colored, brown khaki shorts, and that the LSD that he was, in fact, distributing was in his shirt pocket.” Corporal Wilson relayed this information to Wicomico County Sheriffs Deputies Mike Nicholas and Claude Holland, who were stationed near the park gate. He also described for them a truck appellant had been observed driving (a blue Chevrolet S-10 pickup with distinctive rims).2

Deputy Holland testified that, several minutes after talking to Corporal Wilson, he observed appellant’s truck near the entrance to the park. Deputy Holland explained that as he and Sergeant Nicholas3 approached the vehicle there was “a lot of movement in the inside.” According to Deputy Holland, when he conveyed to appellant the information he had received from Corporal Wilson, appellant began “acting very [445]*445nervous, sweating profusely, [and] would not make eye contact.” Appellant denied selling LSD. Deputy Holland testified that he did not believe appellant was telling the truth and requested consent to search the vehicle. Appellant declined. The officers then asked him to step out of the truck, whereupon he was searched. Finding no contraband, Deputy Holland explained that he noticed the shirt described by Corporal Wilson “laying on the seat of the pickup truck.” Sergeant Nicholas conducted a search of the shirt and again recovered no contraband. Sergeant Nicholas then searched the vehicle—removing the key from the ignition to open the glove compartment—and recovered, in a plastic baggy, a piece of white paper, with blue flowers printed on it, that was perforated so that it could be torn into eighteen, quarter inch square pieces. It was later determined to be impregnated with LSD.

Appellant was charged with one count of felonious possession of LSD, one count of possession of LSD, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. On 22 October 1993, appellant filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized from his vehicle, claiming that the officers did not have probable cause to search his truck. The judge who heard the motion denied it. Thereafter, appellant elected a court trial and was convicted of one count of felonious possession of LSD. The State nol prossed the remaining counts.

DISCUSSION

I.

Appellant argues that the circuit court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence recovered from his vehicle. Specifically, appellant contends that, “because the officers did not adequately demonstrate the [informant’s] reliability in the past or independently corroborate any of the incriminating information the [informant] reported on the day in question, they lacked probable cause for the search.” We disagree.

[446]*446In reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress under Maryland Rule 4-252, we look only to the record of the suppression hearing. We do not consider the record of the trial. Trusty v. State, 308 Md. 658, 670, 521 A.2d 749 (1987) (citing Jackson v. State, 52 Md.App. 327, 332 n. 5, 449 A.2d 438, cert. denied, 294 Md. 652 (1982)); Rice v. State, 89 Md.App. 133, 138-39, 597 A.2d 1001 (1991), cert. denied, 325 Md. 397, 601 A.2d 130 (1992). In considering the evidence presented at the suppression hearing, we extend great deference to the fact finding of the suppression hearing judge with respect to determining the credibility of witnesses and to weighing and determining first-level facts. State v. Jones, 103 Md.App. 548, 653 A.2d 1040 (1995); Watson v. State, 282 Md. 73, 84, 382 A.2d 574, cert. denied, 437 U.S. 908, 98 S.Ct. 3100, 57 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1978); Perkins v. State, 83 Md.App. 341, 346, 574 A.2d 356 (1990). When conflicting evidence is presented, we accept the facts as found by the hearing judge unless it is shown that his findings are clearly erroneous. Riddick v. State, 319 Md. 180, 183, 571 A.2d 1239 (1990); McMillian v. State, 325 Md. 272, 281-82, 600 A.2d 430 (1992). When a motion to suppress is denied, an appellate court should consider those facts developed during the suppression hearing that are “most favorable to the State as the prevailing party on the motion.” Riddick, 319 Md. at 183, 571 A.2d 1239 (citing Simpler v. State, 318 Md. 311, 312, 568 A.2d 22 (1990)). But, as to the ultimate, conclusionary fact of whether a. search was valid, we must make our own independent constitutional appraisal by reviewing the law and applying it to the facts of the case. See id. at 183, 571 A.2d 1239; Perkins, 83 Md.App. at 346, 574 A.2d 356.

In making our independent constitutional review of whether probable cause existed sufficient to validate the warrantless search of appellant’s vehicle, we observe that a search “conducted without the benefit of a warrant supported by probable cause is per se unreasonable under the fourth amendment, subject to only a few exceptions.” Gamble v. State, 318 Md. 120, 123, 567 A.2d 95 (1989) (citing Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 Ú.S. 218, 219, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 2043-44, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 [447]*447(1973)). “However case law recognizes public policy exceptions to the warrant requirement, as in the case of automobile searches.” Malcolm v. State, 314 Md. 221, 226, 550 A.2d 670 (1988) (citing Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1925)).

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

Related

Lawson v. State
975 A.2d 357 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2009)
Zylanz v. State
883 A.2d 257 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2005)
Dutton v. State
862 A.2d 1075 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2004)
Brown v. State
752 A.2d 620 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2000)
Douglas v. State
747 A.2d 752 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2000)
Partee v. State
708 A.2d 1113 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1998)
Bell v. State
701 A.2d 1183 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1997)
Dedo v. State
680 A.2d 464 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
660 A.2d 959, 105 Md. App. 438, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 124, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dedo-v-state-mdctspecapp-1995.