Fields v. State

1973 OK CR 280, 511 P.2d 1116, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 520
Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma·Decided June 13, 1973·No. A-17128·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

' OPINION

BLISS, Presiding Judge:

In the District Court of Oklahoma County, Case No. CRF-71-997, appellant, James William Fields, Jr., hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted for the offense of Possession of Amphetamine, After Former Conviction of Possession of Amphetamines. His punishment was fixed at seventeen (17) months and fifteen (15) days imprisonment. From that judgment and sentence he has perfected his timely appeal to this Court.

At the trial Officer Jerry Legg, of the Oklahoma City Police Department, testified that on March 14, 1971, at approximately 9:45 p.m. he and his partner, C. A. Acox, observed defendant walking on the north side of the 2400 block of west Main Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Defendant was staggering and appeared to be under the influence of intoxicants. Legg testified he stopped him and after a short conversation, noticed defendant’s eyes were dilated, his speech was slurred, and he was unsteady on his feet. Legg testified he placed defendant under arrest for public intoxication and searched his person. The search revealed defendant had an Excedrin bottle in his pocket containing seventeen (17) capsules. The bottle and contents were marked as State’s Exhibit 1 and 2.

Officer C. A. Acox, of the Oklahoma City Police Department, testified he was Legg’s partner on the above date and at the above time and was present when defendant was observed. Acox further testified he observed Legg remove the Excedrin bottle from defendant’s clothing and examine its content. Finally Acox testi *1118 fied that at a point in time after defendant’s arrest, it was decided defendant was probably not under the influence of alcohol, but under the influence of pills and for that reason, they decided not to pursue a prosecution for public intoxication.

John McAuliff, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation chemist, testified he examined State’s Exhibit 2 and determined the capsules in question contained an amphetamine substance referred to on the commercial market as dexedrine. McAuliff testified the manufacturer classified this capsule as a ten milligram amphetamine and this capsule was generally classified as a central nervous system stimulant. Thereafter, the State rested.

The defendant’s mother, Mary Louise Fields, testified she, her family, and defendant, who temporarily was residing at her residence, were at her home on the evening in question. Shortly after 9:00 p. m. defendant left her home and did not return until the following day. Further she stated defendant was not under the influence of intoxicants when he left the home nor did she observe him with a bottle of pills in his possession. Finally, she stated defendant’s demeanor was not unusual when he left her home.

Teresa Luster, defendant’s sister, testified she was at her mother’s home on the date in question. She stated that prior to the defendant leaving the home on that evening, she did not observe him drink an alcoholic beverage nor take any pills nor did he leave in an intoxicated condition. Thereafter, the defense rested.

In defense counsel’s first proposition error is assigned in the trial court denying appellant a hearing on his pretrial motion to suppress. We have carefully studied defense counsel’s arguments and concur with his contention that the trial court erred in not granting this hearing. However, in an order dated February 5, 1973, this Court directed the trial court to conduct an evidentiary hearing on defendant’s pretrial motion to suppress. In compliance with that order, Judge Clarence Mills, on February 22, 1973, conducted an evidentiary hearing upon defendant’s pretrial motion to suppress. As a result of that hearing, coupled with the transcript of trial, there is sufficient record before this Court to study the issues presented in regard to defendant’s objection to the search of his person at the time of his arrest. For that reason, we are of the opinion the defendant has not been prejudiced by the trial court’s denying a pretrial motion to suppress hearing and consequently the error arising out of this set of circumstances alone is harmless.

Although not specifically argued in counsel’s brief, the question of whether the search of defendant’s person was a lawful search is properly before this Court. At the preliminary hearing defense counsel objected to the search and seizure of the contraband for the reason the arrest of the defendant for the offense of public intoxication did not culminate in a prosecution for that offense. Consequently, defense counsel’s position on the search and seizure is clearly manifested as he contends the failure to prosecute the defendant for the offense of public intoxication clearly gives rise to a subterfuge. It is this Court’s opinion that the existence or non-existence of subterfuge in effecting an arrest of the accused is a matter which is not established by any one independent factor, but is established by the evidence surrounding the arrest considered in its entirety. This court has held the mere fact a misdemean- or offense committed in the presence of an officer, which gave rise to a search which revealed evidence of a collateral offense, did not render the evidence obtained in the search inadmissible when the misdemeanor offense for which the defendant was originally arrested did not culminate in a conviction. State v. Holden, Okl.Cr., 344 P.2d 595 (1959). It logically follows if the record manifests sufficient evidence of an offense for which the accused is arrested, the mere fact the arresting officers for good cause shown later did not pursue a prosecution for the original offense, the record does not necessarily show a subter *1119 fuge per se. In the instant case, the officers testified defendant appeared to be intoxicated, further relating evidence of his conduct which supported their conclusion. The officers testified they did not appear in court and prosecute or pursue this offense of public intoxication as upon their finding the capsules upon defendant’s person, they concluded that at the time he was probably under the influence of some form of drug rather than under the influence of an alcoholic beverage. It is this Court’s opinion the evidence and circumstances surrounding the arrest of defendant were sufficient to justify a prudent officer’s conclusion defendant was under the influence of intoxicants. Therefore, the arrest affected upon his observations was a lawful arrest. Incidental to a lawful arrest, an officer may make, without a warrant, a contemporaneous search of the person of the accused for weapons or for the fruits or implements used to commit the apparent offense. Preston v. United States, 376 U. S. 364, 84 S.Ct. 881, 11 L.Ed.2d 777 (1964). The search of defendant’s person was a proper search contemporaneous to a lawful arrest and consequently the contraband revealed from this search was properly admitted into evidence in this prosecution.

In defense counsel’s second proposition he asserts his demurrer to the evidence should have been sustained as the proof received from the state chemist’s testimony does not establish the capsules contained as a part of State’s Exhibit 2 had a stimulating effect on the central nervous system. Title 63 O.S.1961, § 465.11(b) states as follows:

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Fields v. State, 1973 OK CR 280, 511 P.2d 1116, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 520 (Okla. Ct. App. 1973).

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