Gannaway v. State

448 So. 2d 409, 1983 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4555
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMay 31, 1983
Docket7 Div. 944
StatusPublished

This text of 448 So. 2d 409 (Gannaway v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gannaway v. State, 448 So. 2d 409, 1983 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4555 (Ala. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

LEIGH M. CLARK, Retired Circuit Judge.

A jury found defendant (appellant) guilty on a trial under an indictment that charged in pertinent part:

“Lewis L. Gannaway ... did knowingly and unlawfully possess cannabis, a controlled substance, in excess of one kilogram or 2.2 pounds, to-wit: 3,235.46 grams, contrary to and in violation of the Alabama Uniform Controlled Substance Act, in violation of Section 20-2-80 of the Code of Alabama.”

In addition to the fine of $25,000.00 assessed by the jury by its verdict, the trial court fixed defendant’s punishment at imprisonment for six years.

Code of Alabama 1975, § 20-2-80 provides:

“Except as authorized in chapter 2, Title 20:
“(1) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, in excess of one kilo or 2.2 pounds of cannabis is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as ‘trafficking in cannabis.’ If the quantity of cannabis involved;
“a. is in excess of one kilo or 2.2 pounds, but less than 2,000 pounds, such person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of $25,000.00.”

The first of two issues presented by appellant is thus stated in appellant’s brief:

“Whether the overruling of appellant’s motion to suppress based on the failure of the officers to comply with the requisites of the knock and announce statute while executing the search warrant herein was reversible error.”

“Ala.Code §§ 15-5-9, 28-1-2 (1975); U.S. Const. amends. IV, V, XIV; Ala. Const. Art. I, § 5; Daniels v. State, 391 So.2d 1021 (Ala.1980); Reynolds v. State, 46 Ala.App. 77, 238 So.2d 557 (1970).”

By a profound discussion and thorough consideration of numerous pertinent authorities, the Alabama Supreme Court in the cited opinion of Daniels v. State, per Justice Beatty, paved the way for a correct decision of the first issue presented by appellant in the instant case. In Daniels v. State and in the instant case, Code 1975, § 15-5-9, was and is the focal point of the applicable law, which provides:

“To execute a search warrant, an officer may break open any door or window of a house, any part of a house or anything therein if after notice of his authority and purpose he is refused admittance.”

Clearly applicable to the evidence in the instant case of the circumstances of the execution of the search warrant is the following statement in Daniels v. State, at 391 So.2d 1023:

“... In executing a search warrant, circumstances may exist which justify an unannounced and immediate entry. See, e.g., United States v. Singleton, 439 F.2d 381 (3rd Cir.1971); United States v. Garcia, 437 F.2d 85 (5th Cir.1971); Gilbert v. United States, 366 F.2d 923 (9th Cir.1966); see generally, Annot., 21 A.L. R.Fed. 820 (1974). Likewise, exigencies may justify a forcible entry after waiting only a brief time after announcement. See, e.g., United States v. Allende, 486 F.2d 1351 (9th Cir.1973); United States v. Cruz, 265 F.Supp. 15 (W.D.Tex.1967); United States v. Poppit, 227 F.Supp. 73 (D.Del.1964). Therefore, what constitutes a sufficient compliance with the announcement statute is necessarily dependent upon the peculiar circumstances confronting the executing officer. Laffitte v. State, 370 So.2d 1108 (Ala.Cr. App.1979)....”

Evidence bearing on the question of the validity of the execution of the search warrant was presented in three separate phas[411]*411es of the case, i.e., (1) on the hearing of the motion to suppress the evidence obtained by the search, (2) evidence presented after the trial of the ease commenced but out of the presence of the jury, and (3) evidence presented in the presence of the jury. As to (1), the evidence consisted of the testimo--ny of Mrs. Gannaway, defendant’s wife, and Officer Michael Hembree of the Anni-ston Police Department. As to (2), the witnesses named as to (1) and the defendant testified. As to (3), the witnesses were Deputy John Alexander of the Calhoun County Sheriffs Department, Agent Don Walden of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, Narcotics Div., and Sgt. Dryden of the Anniston Police Department.

There was some difference between the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Gannaway and the testimony of the officers as to the circumstances immediately preceding the execution of the search warrant, but there was little, if any, essential difference. The undisputed evidence shows that the heretofore named law enforcement officers converged on the home of defendant, his wife and their two young children, while the four were at home at approximately 3:45 P.M. on June 12, 1981; that two of the officers went to the front entrance and two of them went to the rear door of the residence. Entry at the front entrance was made a few moments before the rear door was entered. There seems to be no dispute as to the validity of the entrance into the rear door. Mrs. Gannaway opened that door for the officers to enter, and they did so. The issue between the parties is as to the entrance into the front part of the house by Deputy Alexander and Officer Hembree. The residence was a modest frame building with a small screened-in front porch with space therein for about two chairs, which were on the porch at the time. There were concrete block steps from the front yard to the screen door, which opened outwardly and had an outside knob. The screen door was closed at the time the officers arrived. The wooden door into the living room of the house was open. When the officers arrived at the front of the house, two children were in the screened-in porch. Upon their being asked where their father was, “One of them said something about he was in the house; and one of them, I believe, went back into the living room.” The following is found in the testimony of Officer Hembree:

“Q. And then what happened?
“A. It was just about the same time that we could see him [defendant] coming across the. living room to the threshold or the front door.
“Q. How far was he when you first saw him from you?
“A. It was, I guess, maybe five or six feet across the porch and then maybe ten feet on in the living room when we saw him.
“Q. And what direction did he proceed there in the living room?
“A. He was coming from the rear of the house, which was back toward the bathroom and kitchen area. He came across the living room to the front door. “Q. Now, when you saw the children there on the front porch did you knock at that time?
“A. No, sir; it was already somebody there to talk to.
“Q.

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Related

Jesse James Gilbert v. United States
366 F.2d 923 (Ninth Circuit, 1966)
United States v. Alejandro Garcia Mendez
437 F.2d 85 (Fifth Circuit, 1971)
Reynolds v. State
238 So. 2d 557 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1970)
United States v. Cruz
265 F. Supp. 15 (W.D. Texas, 1967)
Daniels v. State
391 So. 2d 1021 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1980)
Dickerson v. State
414 So. 2d 998 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1982)
United States v. Poppitt
227 F. Supp. 73 (D. Delaware, 1964)
Laffitte v. State
370 So. 2d 1108 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
448 So. 2d 409, 1983 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4555, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gannaway-v-state-alacrimapp-1983.