Medlock v. State

2016 Ark. App. 282, 493 S.W.3d 789, 2016 Ark. App. LEXIS 303
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMay 25, 2016
DocketCR-15-729
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2016 Ark. App. 282 (Medlock v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Medlock v. State, 2016 Ark. App. 282, 493 S.W.3d 789, 2016 Ark. App. LEXIS 303 (Ark. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

BRANDON J. HARRISON, Judge

|T Carroll Medlock appeals his convictions for possession of methamphetamine with intent' to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. He argues that the circuit court erred in denying his motions for directed verdict and in denying his motion to suppress evidence found in his vehicle. We affirm.

On 4 June 2014, the Grant County Sheriffs Office executed a search warrant on a residence located on 17 Grant 167076, a county road. Deputy Sam Shepard, who was tasked with securing the perimeter of the residence, was positioned at the edge of the driveway near the road. Shortly after 10:00 p.m., Medlock turned onto the road in route to a different residence and stopped his vehicle, Shepard recognized Medlock and knew that Medlock’s driver’s license was suspended, so Shepard instructed Medlock to pull over and get out of the vehicle. Medlock was placed into custody on a charge of driving on a suspended license and displaying fictitious tags, and Shepard, knowing the-vehicle would | abe towed, began an inventory search of the vehicle. Shepard found what he believed to be methamphetamine in a cigarette pack in the front seat and later found what appeared to be drug paraphernalia. .

Medlock was charged with possession of a Schedule I controlled substance (methamphetamine) with intent to deliver; possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent to use, ingest, or inhale; and driving on a suspended license. An amended information filed in-May 2015 omitted’the charge of driving on a suspended license but added a habitual-offender sentencing enhancement and an additional charge of possession of drug paraphernalia with the purpose to manufacture a controlled substance..

On 23 September 2014, Medlock filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained during the stop and the search of his vehicle. He argued that his detention violated Rule 3.1 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure because Deputy Shepard could not have reasonably believed that he (Med-lock) was doing anything illegal when he (Shepard) approached and detained Med-lock. He also asserted that the stop violated Rule 2.2 because Shepard was not investigating any particular crime when he made contact with Medlock. Medlock contended that he was seized, that the seizure was unconstitutional, and that the search of his vehicle was a “pretextual” inventory search.

The circuit court conducted a suppression hearing in November 2014. Deputy Shepard testified that on June 4, he was securing the perimeter of a residence while a search warrant was being executed and saw a vehicle turn off the highway and onto the road in front of the residence. Shepard explained that while there were patrol cars parked along the road, the road was not blocked, but that the vehicle came to a stop in front of 1 athe residence. Shepard recognized the driver as Medlock and knew 1 that Medlock’s driver’s license was suspended at that time. Shepard' asked Medlock to pull the vehicle out of the road and into the driveway, asked him to get out of the vehicle, and asked him why he was driving.- Medlock explained that he “was going to see someone” and that he had a work permit. Shepard asked another officer, Deputy Jackie Stone, to place Medlock into custody and put him in the back of Shepard’s patrol car. Shepard also confirmed through dispatch that Med-lock’s license was suspended and that he had fictitious tags on his vehicle.

Shepard explained that Medlock’s vehicle was going to be towed, so Shepard began an inventory search of the vehicle. Shepard found a cigarette pack in the front passenger seat,- and because in his experience many people keep money or their identification stuffed inside cigarette packs, he looked inside the cigarette pack and found what appeared to be a small amount of methamphetamine wrapped in cellophane. He also found. a torch between the passenger seat,and the center console and a black case that held a glass pipe and a small tin containing methamphetamine and a small spoon between the driver’s seat and the center console.

Medlock testified that on the night of June 4, he was going by a friend’s house to check on her dogs and to return a tow bar. He stated that when he turned onto her road, the road' was completely blocked by law enforcement vehicles. According to Medlock, the first thing he saw was an AR-15 held by Deputy Shepard, and.Sh'ep-ard had his weapon “aimed toward the windshield of the car as he walked around to the shoulder of it.” Shepard approached the passenger side of Medlock’s car and told him to pull over to |4the shoulder. Medlock explained that he was handcuffed almost immediately after exiting the vehicle and that Shepard began searching the vehicle. Medlock said that he had just repossessed the car and that the title was sitting on top of the console. He denied knowing that there were any drugs in the car 'and said that he had not driven the car in over three weeks. He admitted that his driver’s license was suspended but. stated that he had a work permit and that he considered returning his friend’s - tow bar a part of his work.

'Deputy Shepard was recalled and testified that he did not point his weapon at Medlock at any time that night.

During closing arguments, the State argued that Shepard’s initial contact with Medlock was' valid because Shepard had a reasonable suspicion that Medlock was driving on a suspended driver’s license. And once Shepard found methamphetamine in the cigarette pack, he had probable cause to search the rest of the vehicle. Medlock argued that Shepard did not have a reasonable suspicion that Medlock’s license was still suspended and that the search of the vehicle incident to his arrest was not reasonable. Medlock asserted that the vehicle search was “clearly not an inventory search, it was a pretextual search for contraband.”

In an order entered on 25 November 2014, the circuit court denied Medlock’s motion to suppress. The court found that Deputy Shepard had reasonable cause'to arrest Medlock and that the search of Medlock’s vehicle was not unreasonable under the circumstances.

The case proceeded to a jury trial in May 2015. Deputy Shepard reiterated his testimony from the suppression hearing; Deputy Jackie Stone testified and confirmed that | Rhe had placed Medlock in custody at the behest of Deputy Shepard. Stone also testified that he found “quite a bit” of money on Medlock’s person. Agent Matt Smith, a member of the Narcotics Enforcement Unit, testified that he saw the items taken from Medlock’s vehicle and the cash that was on Medlock’s person, which included “several 20’s, maybe a couple of 100⅛.” He later stated that it was “around $500.” 1 Nick Dawson, a chemist with the State Crime Lab, confirmed that the white substance in the cellophane package and in the small tin was methamphetamine and that the glass pipe contained methamphetamine residue. He explained that the small tin contained 7.0245 grams of methamphetamine and the cellophane package in the cigarette pack contained 0.1023 grams of methamphetamine.

At the close of the State’s case, Medlock moved for a directed verdict on the charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. He argued that

the State had failed to produce sufficient evidence ...

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Bluebook (online)
2016 Ark. App. 282, 493 S.W.3d 789, 2016 Ark. App. LEXIS 303, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medlock-v-state-arkctapp-2016.