Korreckt v. State

507 So. 2d 558
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMay 12, 1987
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 507 So. 2d 558 (Korreckt 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
Korreckt v. State, 507 So. 2d 558 (Ala. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

507 So.2d 558 (1986)

George Latham KORRECKT
v.
STATE.

7 Div. 468.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

December 9, 1986.
Rehearing Denied January 13, 1987.
On Return to Remand May 12, 1987.

*560 J. Stephen Salter of Groenendyke & Salter, Birmingham, for appellant.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Beth Slate Poe, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

PATTERSON, Judge.

Appellant, George Latham Korreckt, was charged, in a three-count indictment, with trafficking in cocaine, in violation of § 20-2-80, Code of Alabama 1975; possession of cocaine, in violation of § 20-2-70; and possession of marijuana, in violation of § 20-2-70. A jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts. Pursuant to § 20-2-80(2)(a), which is the punishment provision for trafficking in cocaine, the trial court sentenced appellant to a term of twenty-one years in the penitentiary and fined him $50,000.

On September 6, 1984, officers of the Talladega County Sheriff's Department executed a nighttime search warrant at appellant's residence. The search ultimately resulted in the discovery of 135 grams, or approximately 4 ounces, of cocaine. The authorities discovered 10.532 grams of cocaine in a red plastic box located inside a fireplace insert in appellant's home. This box also contained a quantity of inositol (a common cocaine dilutant) and various types of paraphernalia. Appellant was placed under arrest and informed of his Miranda rights. A search of appellant's person resulted in the discovery of a blue plastic straw, which contained cocaine residue; $606 in appellant's right rear pants pocket; and $836 in appellant's left rear pants' pocket. Two clear plastic bags containing marijuana seeds were discovered in the freezer located in appellant's residence. A white purse was discovered in appellant's bedroom, and inside this purse was a black and green case containing cocaine residue, a corner of a plastic bag containing a small amount of cocaine, and a plastic straw containing cocaine residue.

A jeep truck (hereinafter referred to as "truck"), parked outside appellant's residence, was searched at the time the warrant was executed. In the bed of this vehicle, the authorities discovered a thermos bottle in a half-full sack of chicken feed. The thermos bottle contained approximately 3.5 ounces of cocaine. Recovered from the cab of the vehicle was a bank bag containing approximately $3,500 in cash, various receipts and papers with appellant's name on them, and .02 gram of marijuana. A set of scales, wrapped in a pillow case, was also found in the cab of the truck.

Appellant testified at trial in his own defense. According to appellant, someone had "jimmied open" a set of French doors at the rear of his house earlier that day. As a result of this incident, appellant had gathered up all the paraphernalia in the house and placed it in his wife's purse in order to eventually destroy it. Appellant admitted that in the past he had used marijuana and cocaine, but had not done so for some time before the search of his residence. Appellant stated that he had no idea how the box containing the cocaine got into his fireplace insert. Appellant also presented evidence that established the ownership of the truck in the name of Mrs. Michael Medlock. Appellant stated that he and Mr. Medlock had towed appellant's truck in for repair work and that Medlock had allowed him to keep the truck while appellant's truck was being repaired. Appellant admitted that the bank bag, its contents, and the scales belonged to him. According to appellant, he removed the bank bag and scales from his vehicle and placed them in the truck, when his vehicle was taken to Odenville for repairs. Appellant testified that he and Medlock had been baling hay in the fields, and the money in the bank bag was payment for hay he had sold that day. The other receipts in the bank bag pertained to his farming operations. Appellant purchased the scales to weigh grain samples in connection with his farming operations. According to appellant, he kept the bank bag and scales in the truck to keep his young sons out of those particular items. Appellant denied knowledge of how the cocaine in the thermos got inside the chicken feed sack.

I

Appellant first contends that the search of the truck located in his backyard was *561 not expressly authorized by the search warrant and, thus, the evidence seized as a result of the search should have been suppressed. The State asserts that appellant lacks standing to contest the search of the vehicle. We need not reach a determination on the standing issue because we find that the search was proper.

The search warrant issued by Judge Coleman directed the officers to conduct a "nighttime" search "on the person of Latham Korreckt and the premises heretofore described and in and upon the above described premises for the following property: cocaine." The search warrant did not contain a description of any buildings or other structures located on the property, nor did it specifically make reference to any vehicles thereon. The "heretofore described" language was referring to that part of the warrant which provided directions to appellant's home. This language did not specifically mention any structures or vehicles; it merely provided information regarding the location of appellant's property. Appellant argues that the term "premises" did not authorize a search of a vehicle parked behind appellant's house, in his backyard. It is appellant's stated position that the term "premises," as used in the search warrant, authorized a search of the dwelling house proper, and nothing more.

We view appellant's arguments as two-fold: first, does a search warrant which directs the search of "the premises" at a specified address authorize police authorities to search areas other than the dwelling house proper and second, if the search warrant authorizes a search of places other than the dwelling house proper, may the police conduct a search of a vehicle, which is located within the authorized search area, belonging to a third party but under the control of the property owner?

A

Many state and federal courts have considered this first issue and have concluded that where the vehicle is situated on the "premises" of a stated address, a search of that vehicle is authorized by the search warrant for a search of the "premises." The basis of these holdings appears to turn on the definition of "premises."

In 2 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 4.10 (1978), it is generally stated "that a search warrant authorizing the search of certain premises covers automobiles found on those premises." Numerous cases are cited in support of this proposition; however, the rationale underlying the basis of this conclusion was not developed in the treatise. Id. at n. 39. The majority of federal court rulings on this issue flows from a Fifth Circuit opinion United States v. Napoli, 530 F.2d 1198, 1200 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 920, 97 S.Ct. 316, 50 L.Ed.2d 287 (1976),[1] which held that a search warrant authorizing a search "on the premises known as 3027 Napoleon Avenue" permitted the search of a camper parked close to the building in the driveway of the premises. Among the authorities cited in support of Napoli's holding is United States v. Long, 449 F.2d 288 (8th Cir.1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 974, 92 S.Ct. 1191, 31 L.Ed.2d 247 (1972). Napoli, 530 F.2d at 1201.

In United States v. Long,

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Bluebook (online)
507 So. 2d 558, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/korreckt-v-state-alacrimapp-1987.