Gaston v. State

1969 OK CR 208, 457 P.2d 807
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJuly 2, 1969
DocketA-15007
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 1969 OK CR 208 (Gaston 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
Gaston v. State, 1969 OK CR 208, 457 P.2d 807 (Okla. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinions

BUSSEY, Judge.

Gary L. Gaston, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court of Woodward County, with the crime of Possession of Marijuana, and from the judgment and sentence fixing his punishment at one year imprisonment in the State Penitentiary, he appeals.

Briefly stated, the pertinent facts are that at 8:00 p. m. on the 3rd day of February, 1968, two of the State’s witnesses observed the defendant in a black Cadillac, bearing California license plates at the Sonic Drive-In in Woodward, Oklahoma, and heard him talking to a young man about marijuana. The gist of the conversation was that he (the defendant) was on marijuana and that the youth should try it sometime. These witnesses reported the incident to the police, gave them a description of the defendant and the automobile, and the defendant was later stopped in the downtown district of Woodward by officers who observed a pistol in the open glove compartment.

The arrest was made at approximately 9:00 p. m. on a Saturday evening, in a public thoroughfare where the traffic was heavy and the lighting poor. The appearance of the defendant, whose hair was long and uncut and wearing a bushy beard, together with the traffic conditions, caused a crowd to gather and rendered it impracticable to conduct a thorough search of the automobile at the scene. The automobile was locked and the defendant was taken to the police station where he refused to answer routine questions, swallowed an unknown substance, and a struggle ensued. The officers placed the defendant in a cell, obtained an invalid search warrant, brought the automobile to the police station, where they continued the search and found marijuana in the trunk of the car. The lapse of time between the arrest and the completion of the search was approximately one and one-half hours.

Since defendant conceded the validity of the arrest at the trial, and does not raise this issue on appeal, we will deal with the single assignment of error urged on appeal, viz.:

“That the search of defendant’s automobile was too remote in time and place to have been incidental to arrest and therefore search without warrant failed to meet test of reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment and Article II, Sec. 30, OkI.Const. rendering evidence obtained as a result thereof inadmissible.”

We believe that this question is thoroughly and comprehensively dealt with in the excellent brief of the State, which we adopt in pertinent part:

The leading Supreme Court decision which held the search of motor vehicles without a warrant to be reasonable if made upon probable cause was, as the name of the rule indicates and as pointed out by defendant in his brief, Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1925). The question in that case concerned the admissibility in evidence of contraband liquor which had been seized by Federal prohibition agents after the interception and search of an automobile without a warrant on a public highway. Posing as buyers of whiskey, the agents had arranged to meet the defendants at a later date to make a purchase and had noted the license number and description of their automobile. The defendants failed to meet the officers as planned, but several months later they were observed traveling a highway in what appeared to be a heavily laden vehicle. The officers pursued the vehicle, stopped it, and conducted an extensive search which disclosed a large quantity of liquor concealed behind the upholstery of the seats.

On appeal the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the defendants and propounded what has since become the principal rule governing the search of motor vehicles without warrant, namely, that [809]*809a search may lawfully be made where there is probable cause to believe that an automobile or other conveyance contains that which by law is subject to seizure. The Court emphasized that this authority to search is not conditioned on the right to arrest. Rather, as quoted from page 159, 45 S.Ct. page 287:

“* * * [ (I)t is] dependent on the reasonable cause the seizing officer has for belief that the contents of the automobile offend against the law.”

In support of this exception to the general warrant requirement, Chief Justice Taft, speaking for the majority, noted that the fourth amendment safeguards had long been construed (page 153, 45 S.Ct. page 285):

“ * * * (A)s recognizing a necessary difference between a search of a store, dwelling house, or other structure in respect of which a proper official warrant readily may be obtained and a search of a ship, motor boat, wagon, or automobile for contraband goods, where it is not practicable to secure a warrant, because the vehicle can be quickly moved out of the locality or jurisdiction in which the warrant must be sought.”

The Court derived the search authority, in part, from the provisions of the National Prohibition Act which had empowered officers who discovered intoxicating liquors to seize both the liquor and the vehicle transporting it. While the statute expressly prohibited the search of a private dwelling without a warrant, it was silent as to the necessity for obtaining warrants before searching motor vehicles. The legislative history of the Act, the Court said, showed that Congress intended to provide for searches without warrant and that the statute was entitled to a strong presumption of constitutionality.

Thereafter, in Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 93 L.Ed. 1879, the Supreme Court upheld a warrantless search of a vehicle made under the Liquor Enforcement Act of 1936. Federal Agents were parked at a point near the Missouri-Oklahoma border, in an area where there had been a great deal of illegal liquor traffic. One of the officers knew the defendant to have a reputation for hauling liquor, since he had arrested him on that charge several months earlier; moreover, he had twice seen him loading liquor into a car or truck during the preceding six months. Consequently, when the agents saw the defendant’s heavily loaded automobile pass them on the highway, they gave chase and forced it to the side of the road. A search of the car revealed a quantity of untaxed liquor in the trunk, and on the basis of this evidence Brinegar was convicted of importing liquor into a “dry” state. On review, the Supreme Court sustained the legality of the search as having been made on probable cause, despite the fact that it had not been based on any specific statutory powers. Justice Jackson dissented, protesting that the decision dispenses with the warrant “as a matter of judicial policy” and extends the Carroll rule to the enforcement of all Federal offenses. Nevertheless, the principle has been referred to approvingly by the Supreme Court in several subsequent opinions and by numerous Federal and State tribunals in a variety of search situations, none of which could be said to be grounded on congressional authorization. See Henry v. United States, 361 U.S. 98, 104, 80 S.Ct. 168, 4 L.Ed.2d 134 (1959); Preston v. United States, 376 U.S. 364, 84 S.Ct. 881, 11 L.Ed.2d 777 (1964); Ventresca v. United States, 380 U.S. 102, 107, 85 S.Ct.

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Gaston v. State
1969 OK CR 208 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1969)

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Bluebook (online)
1969 OK CR 208, 457 P.2d 807, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gaston-v-state-oklacrimapp-1969.