People v. Chastain

733 P.2d 1206, 1987 Colo. LEXIS 506
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMarch 16, 1987
Docket85SA68
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 733 P.2d 1206 (People v. Chastain) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Chastain, 733 P.2d 1206, 1987 Colo. LEXIS 506 (Colo. 1987).

Opinion

ERICKSON, Justice.

Defendant Jerry Lee Chastain (Chastain or defendant) was convicted by a jury of possession of burglary tools, § 18-4-205, 8B C.R.S. (1986). He appeals asserting four grounds for reversal: (1) the Colorado burglary tool statute is unconstitutional; (2) the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to support the jury’s verdict; (3) the trial court abused its discretion in failing to grant a mistrial when the defend^ ant’s subpoenaed witness did not appear at trial; and (4) statements and evidence obtained from the defendant by a private security guard were illegally obtained and should have been suppressed. 1 We affirm the defendant’s conviction.

I.

The Facts

Henry M. Ragland (Ragland) was employed as a security guard at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs. On April 30, 1982, at approximately 2:55 a.m., Ragland was standing outside of the hospital security office when he heard a noise which he thought originated in the emergency room parking lot. Ragland went to the parking lot to investigate, and saw an individual (later identified as Jesse Lopez) behind the only automobile in the parking lot. 2 As he approached Lopez, he saw a man, who was later identified as Chastain, stand up next to Lopez. Lying on the ground between Lopez and Chastain was a “slide hammer” or “dent puller,” a tool used by mechanics to remove dents from automobile bodies. Ragland retrieved the slide hammer and told Chastain and Lopez to accompany him to the security office. A second security guard, Larry V. Zenke, arrived and assisted Ragland.

Lopez and Chastain were searched in the security office. Lopez, who was searched by Ragland, had a screwdriver concealed under his jacket sleeve and was using the palm of his hand to keep it in place. Zenke found a screwdriver in Chastain’s back pocket. Ragland placed both screwdrivers and the slide hammer on a shelf in the security office.

Without advising Lopez and Chastain of their “Miranda rights,” 3 Ragland ques *1208 tioned them and inquired about their presence in the parking lot at 3:00 a.m. Chas-tain responded that they were at the hospital to visit a friend. Ragland did not believe the explanation, 4 and called the Colorado Springs Police Department. Ronnie L. Gibson, a police officer, arrived at the hospital at approximately 3:20 a.m. He took possession of the tools, placed Lopez and Chastain under arrest, advised them of their Miranda rights, and transported them to the Colorado Springs police station. Lopez and Chastain were charged with possession of burglary tools, a class five felony. § 18-4-205, 8B C.R.S. (1986). Lopez pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced. Chastain was tried and convicted by a jury.

At Chastain’s trial, Lopez testified that the defendant called him and told him he had injured his leg and that he needed to be picked up at the hospital. When Lopez arrived at the hospital, he found the defendant sitting on the curb next to the only car in the parking lot. Lopez saw a stereo in the back seat of the car and decided to steal it, but did not tell Chastain of his intent. Instead, Lopez suggested that Chastain return to his car, which was parked about a block away, and wait. Lopez testified that he intended to steal the stereo after Chastain got into his car. When Chastain got up to walk to Lopez’s car, he kicked the slide hammer, causing the “clank” which resulted in their apprehension by the security guards. Although Lopez adamantly claimed that Chastain knew nothing of his plan to break into the automobile and steal the stereo, Lopez admitted that the two screwdrivers and the slide hammer were in Chastain’s possession when Lopez arrived at the hospital.

The prosecution impeached Lopez’s testimony with his prior statements to Officer Gibson and the security guards. When Lopez and Chastain were detained by the security guards and subsequently transferred to the custody of the city police, Lopez “backed up” Chastain’s story about meeting a friend at the hospital. Lopez told Officer Gibson that he and the defendant had been together since 10:00 p.m., which contradicted his trial testimony that he first met Chastain in the hospital parking lot at 3:00 a.m. Lopez admitted on cross-examination that he had lied to both the security guards and the Colorado Springs police officers.

Ragland testified that he had completed eighteen years of security work ranging from service with the military police in the Marines to a brief stint as a police officer for the city of Newport News, Virginia. Before he became a Newport News police officer, he was required to attend a police academy, where he learned how a slide hammer was used as a burglary tool. He testified that a slide hammer was a tool commonly used to remove locks from automobiles and houses, but that “the most common burglary tool was just an everyday screwdriver.” Ragland said that he had been employed exclusively as a hospital security guard since 1973.

Gerald McElhaney (McElhaney), the owner and operator of Freeway Motors Paint & Body Shop, was called as a prosecution witness. He testified that Chastain’s slide hammer was not the typical slide hammer used in auto body work. In McElhaney’s opinion, the threads were too narrow and shallow to “grip” the sheet metal of an automobile body. On cross-examination by defense counsel, McElhaney stated that it would be impractical but not impossible to remove a dent from an automobile with Chastain’s slide hammer. McElhaney also testified that he had removed an ignition lock from a car in his body shop with a slide hammer.

II.

The Constitutionality of § 18-4-205, 8B C.R.S. (1986)

A person commits the crime of possession of burglary tools

*1209 if he possesses any explosive, tool, instrument, or other article adapted, designed, or commonly used for committing or facilitating the commission of an offense involving forcible entry into premises or theft by a physical taking, and intends to use the thing possessed, or knows that some person intends to use the thing possessed, in the commission of such an offense.

§ 18-4-205(1), 8B C.R.S. (1986).

The defendant claims that the burglary tool statute is unconstitutional for a number of reasons.

A. Vagueness

Chastain asserts that his conviction must be set aside because the burglary tool statute is unconstitutionally vague. The defendant argues that section 18-4-205(1) does not provide an adequate definition of a burglary tool.

A party challenging the constitutionality of a statute for vagueness must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the statute is so vague or indefinite that it fails to provide fair notice of the prohibited conduct, or that it fails to provide explicit standards for its enforcement. High Gear and Toke Shop v. Beacom, 689 P.2d 624, 630 (Colo.1984). See also Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 33 L.Ed.2d 222 (1972); People v.

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Bluebook (online)
733 P.2d 1206, 1987 Colo. LEXIS 506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-chastain-colo-1987.