Lecates v. State

975 A.2d 799, 2009 WL 1759722
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware
DecidedJune 23, 2009
Docket372, 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 975 A.2d 799 (Lecates v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lecates v. State, 975 A.2d 799, 2009 WL 1759722 (Del. 2009).

Opinion

STEELE, Chief Justice.

Adam Lecates, the defendant below, appeals from a Superior Court final judgment of conviction. After a bench trial, the trial judge found Lecates guilty of Possession of a Deadly Weapon by a Person Prohibited. On appeal, Lecates argues that the trial judge: (1) abused his discretion by failing to suppress a firearm found during an allegedly unreasonable search; and (2) legally erred by convicting him without sufficient evidence that he possessed that gun. We find no merit to Lecates’ arguments and AFFIRM. Because we recognize certain inconsistencies amongst our precedents addressing gun possession, we also take this opportunity to explain definitively that we apply distinct possession standards when analyzing the sufficiency of the evidence supporting PDWDCF and PDWPP convictions.

FACT AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On December 28, 2007, at around 12:30 a.m., New Castle County police received a *802 report of gunshots in the Brookmont Farms area. Witnesses reported that a white Pontiac and a gold Chevrolet Lumi-na sped away from the scene of the shooting. Approximately eight minutes later, as NCCPD Officer Christopher Sarnecky neared Brookmont Farms, he passed a Wawa convenience store less than a mile from the reported gunfire’s location. Sar-necky observed a white Pontiac and a gold Lumina parked at that Wawa’s gas pumps. He also observed two other cars parked nearby with 10 to 12 people milling about the parking lot. Officer Sarnecky executed a U-turn and returned to the Wawa. The two other cars and most of the people had left by the time Sarnecky returned.

Sarnecky and another responding officer “boxed in” the Pontiac and Lumina with their patrol cars and detained three persons: Lecates, David Gaunt, and Michael Allen. When Sarnecky encountered the men, Lecates stood between the Pontiac and Lumina, while Gaunt and Allen sat in the Pontiac. No one occupied the Lumina. Sarnecky questioned Lecates about the Lumina for approximately 15 minutes, but Lecates claimed to know nothing about that car. Sarnecky searched DMV records and learned that the Lumina’s title had recently been transferred but the new owner had not yet registered the vehicle.

After an additional 15 to 20 minutes passed with no one claiming the Lumina, Sarnecky deemed the car abandoned and arranged to have it towed. In accordance with NCCPD policy, he conducted an inventory search, and on the Lumina’s front bench seat, under the armrest, he found a 9mm Ruger pistol. In the glove box, Sar-necky found the Lumina’s title signed by Lecates. Sarnecky then arrested Lecates for possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited and for carrying a concealed deadly weapon.

Lecates waived his right to a jury trial in exchange for the State dropping the concealed weapon charge. Lecates did not contest that his prior conviction rendered him a “person prohibited” from possessing a deadly weapon. Before trial, Lecates moved to suppress the handgun, claiming that the police unlawfully searched the Lu-mina. At the suppression hearing, Le-cates called Allen as a witness. Allen testified that he and the Pontiac’s driver, Robert Barnett, arrived at the Wawa in that vehicle shortly before Sarnecky. They stopped for gas, and Allen used the restroom. When Allen returned, several people stood in the parking lot. Knowing Gaunt and Lecates, Allen greeted them. Gaunt approached Allen from the Lumi-na’s passenger’s side and Lecates approached from the driver’s side. Allen testified that Gaunt was “flashing” the Ruger and was “bragging about something.” Although Allen testified that Gaunt was never in the Pontiac, Sarnecky testified that he personally removed Gaunt from that vehicle. After hearing testimony from Sarnecky and Allen and arguments from counsel, the trial judge orally denied Lecates’ motion to suppress the gun.

Notwithstanding some confusion between the trial judge and counsel, the trial judge then proceeded with Lecates’ bench trial. 1 Neither side presented any further testimony, and the only new evidence introduced by the State included Lecates’ conviction record and firearms records showing Gaunt’s step-father as the Ruger’s registered owner. The trial judge convicted Lecates of PDWPP. This appeal followed.

*803 DISCUSSION

On appeal, Lecates advances two claims of error. First, he argues that the trial judge erred by denying his motion to suppress the firearm. Second, Lecates claims that the State presented insufficient evidence to establish that he possessed that firearm.

1. The Trial Judge Did Not Abuse His Discretion By Denying Lecates’ Motion to Suppress.

In denying Lecates’ motion to suppress, the trial judge determined that Sarnecky reasonably considered the Lumina abandoned because Lecates denied owning that car and a significant period had passed without anyone asserting ownership. Lecates argues that the inventory search violated his Fourth Amendment rights because the police lacked reasonable and articulable suspicion that he had committed a crime, and therefore illegally detained and questioned him in the Wawa parking lot.

The State argues that the report of a Pontiac and a Lumina involved in a shooting nearby provided sufficient grounds for Sarnecky to temporarily detain Lecates for questioning. Given that basis for detaining Lecates, the State argues that the facts that Lecates denied owning the car and that no one else asserted an interest in the car, made it reasonable for Sarnecky to impound the vehicle and conduct an inventory search.

We review de novo the denial of a motion to suppress evidence based on an allegedly illegal stop and seizure. 2 We must decide whether the totality of the circumstances supports a reasonable and articulable suspicion for the detention. 3

We define “reasonable suspicion” as “the officer’s ability to ‘point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant th[e] intrusion.’ ” 4 Here, Sarnecky reasonably detained and questioned Lecates after receiving a report that a gold Lumina and a white Pontiac sped away from the Brookmont Farms area after the reported gunfire. Within minutes of receiving that report, Sarnecky saw a gold Lumina and a white Pontiac less than a mile away from the scene of the shooting. It was reasonable to infer from those facts that those cars at the Wawa were likely the same ones reportedly involved in the shooting. It was also reasonable to infer that Lecates, who was standing between the two cars, may have known something about the cars or the shooting. Therefore, Sarnecky reasonably detained and questioned Lecates, and the resulting seizure and inventory search of the Lumina did not violate the Fourth Amendment. 5

II. The State Presented Sufficient Evidence to Establish that Lecates Possessed the Gun.

The trial judge, acting as fact finder, determined that Lecates had: (1) knowledge of the gun’s location; (2) an ability to put the gun under his control; and (3)

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

Related

State v. Harris
Superior Court of Delaware, 2025
Peterson v. State
81 A.3d 1244 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2013)
Robinson v. State
984 A.2d 1198 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2009)
Wescott v. State
981 A.2d 1173 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
975 A.2d 799, 2009 WL 1759722, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lecates-v-state-del-2009.