Langford v. State

962 S.W.2d 358, 332 Ark. 54, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 123
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 26, 1998
DocketCR 97-976
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 962 S.W.2d 358 (Langford v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Langford v. State, 962 S.W.2d 358, 332 Ark. 54, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 123 (Ark. 1998).

Opinion

Ray Thornton, Justice.

Appellant Mack Langford was convicted of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, simultaneous possession of methamphetamine and a firearm, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, and possession of drug paraphernalia. A jury sentenced him to two forty-year prison terms and two ten-year prison terms for the respective offenses and imposed fines of $50,000. The trial court ordered the sentences to run concurrently for a total sentence of forty years. Appellant raises four points on appeal. We find no error and affirm.

Around 2:30 a.m. on September 29, 1993, Officer Stephen Brown of the Fifth Judicial Drug Task Force applied for a warrant to search the residence of appellant for various drugs, drug paraphernalia, drug money, related drug documents, and weapons. In support of his application for a warrant, Officer Brown submitted his affidavit and the affidavit of Mary Duncan. In his affidavit, Officer Brown stated that on September 24, 1993, he received information from two confidential informants that appellant was providing methamphetamine for sale and distribution to Doyle Gray and Kathy Buchanan, also known as Mary Duncan. In addition, Officer Brown detailed a controlled drug buy that he arranged for the evening of September 28, 1993. He recounted that the two informants went to Mary Duncan’s residence to attempt to buy an “eight ball” of methamphetamine, and, while under police surveillance, Duncan went to appellant’s residence and then returned to her home where she delivered an eight ball to the informants. Officer Brown further stated that a subsequent field test on the eight ball revealed methamphetamine.

Officer Brown also declared that both informants had provided information against their penal interests and had provided information that led to the subsequent arrest and prosecution of drug violators. Officer Brown stated that he had verified the informants’ information through his personal knowledge, as well as intelligence received and placed in case files of the Fifth Judicial Drug Task Force. Officer Brown also listed several exigent circumstances, which he believed made a nighttime search necessary.

Mary Duncan executed the second affidavit in support of the search warrant. Duncan stated that on September 28, 1993, she gave appellant $325 for the purchase of methamphetamine. She also stated that she had personal knowledge that appellant had drugs packaged for sale at his residence, which he normally kept in his bathroom cabinets, and that he had provided Doyle Gray with drugs on numerous occasions. Duncan further recounted that she had seen drug paraphernalia and firearms at appellant’s residence within the previous week. Finally, she declared that she had personal knowledge that appellant was planning to leave his residence on that day.

Based on this information, Municipal Judge Dennis Sutterfield issued a search warrant that authorized the search of appellant’s residence at anytime, day or night. Officer Brown and local law enforcement officers executed the warrant at approximately 3:30 a.m. on September 29, 1993; they seized marijuana, methamphetamine, firearms, cash, and various items of drug paraphernalia.

Appellant filed pretrial motions to suppress the evidence seized during the search and any statements he made to the police during the execution of the warrant. Fie argued that the affidavits contained insufficient facts to establish probable cause and to justify a nighttime search. Appellant further asserted that the statements were the fruits of an illegal search. The trial court denied the motions.

For his first point for reversal, appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence seized from his residence because the affidavits for the search warrant failed to establish the reliability of the informants and how they knew about his alleged illegal drug activities, contained material false statements, and failed to establish the particular place where the drugs or other contraband could be found. We address each of these alleged errors in the affidavits separately.

In reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, we make an independent determination based upon the totality of the circumstances; we view the evidence in the fight most favorable to the appellee, and we reverse only if the ruling is clearly erroneous or against the preponderance of the evidence. Mullinax v. State, 327 Ark. 41, 938 S.W.2d 801 (1997), cert. denied, 117 S. Ct. 2411 (1997). We apply the totality-of-the-circumstances analysis when determining whether the issuing magistrate had a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed. Moore v. State, 323 Ark. 529, 915 S.W.2d 284 (1996); State v. Mosley, 313 Ark. 616, 856 S.W.2d 623 (1993). Under this analysis,

[t]he task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, common sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him, including the “veracity” and “basis of knowledge” of persons supplying hearsay information, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place. And the duty of a reviewing court is simply to ensure that the magistrate had a “substantial basis for . . . concluding] ” that probable cause existed.

Moore, 323 Ark. at 538, 915 S.W.2d at 289-90 (citing Rainwater v. State, 302 Ark. 492, 791 S.W.2d 688 (1990)).

Rule 13.1(b) of our Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure adopts the totality-of-the-circumstances analysis and provides in part:

If an affidavit or testimony is based in whole or part on hearsay, the affiant or witness shall set forth particular facts bearing on the informant’s reliability and shall disclose, as far as practicable, the means by which the information was obtained. An affidavit or testimony is sufficient if it describes circumstances establishing reasonable cause to believe that things subject to seizure will be found in a particular place. Failure of the affidavit or testimony to establish the veracity and bases of knowledge of persons providing information to the affiant shall not require that the application be denied, if the affidavit or testimony viewed as a whole, provides a substantial basis for a finding of reasonable cause to believe that things subject to seizure will be found in a particular place.

Appellant contends that Officer Brown’s affidavit did not meet the requirements of Rule 13.1(b) because he failed to set forth particular facts bearing on the informants’ reliability and failed to disclose the basis of the informants’ beliefs that appellant was involved in illegal drug activity. Appellant bases his hearsay complaint on Officer Brown’s averment that he had received information from two confidential informants alleging that appellant regularly provided methamphetamine to Doyle Gray and Mary Duncan for resale and distribution. Appellant correctly argues that Officer Brown did not establish how the informants obtained their information.

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

Related

King v. State
2019 Ark. 114 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2019)
Haley v. State
2017 Ark. App. 18 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2017)
State v. Tyson
2012 Ark. 107 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2012)
Wagner v. State
2010 Ark. 389 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2010)
Morgan v. State
2009 Ark. 257 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2009)
Kelley v. State
269 S.W.3d 326 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2007)
Tryon v. State
263 S.W.3d 475 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2007)
Davis v. State
240 S.W.3d 115 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2006)
Hester v. State
208 S.W.3d 747 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2005)
Winters v. State
201 S.W.3d 4 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2005)
Tate v. State
167 S.W.3d 655 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
Haynes v. State
128 S.W.3d 33 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2003)
State v. Dupree
583 S.E.2d 437 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2003)
Buckley v. State
76 S.W.3d 825 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2002)
Heaslet v. State
74 S.W.3d 242 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2002)
McCormick v. State
48 S.W.3d 549 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2001)
Bennett v. State
44 S.W.3d 310 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2001)
Stanton v. State
42 S.W.3d 474 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2001)
Barrientos v. State
39 S.W.3d 17 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2001)
Donovan v. State
32 S.W.3d 1 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
962 S.W.2d 358, 332 Ark. 54, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/langford-v-state-ark-1998.