People v. Pulley

239 N.W.2d 366, 66 Mich. App. 321, 1976 Mich. App. LEXIS 1193
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 6, 1976
DocketDocket 19419
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 239 N.W.2d 366 (People v. Pulley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Pulley, 239 N.W.2d 366, 66 Mich. App. 321, 1976 Mich. App. LEXIS 1193 (Mich. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

N. J. Kaufman, J.

Defendant was convicted by a Kent County Circuit Court jury of the charged offense of delivery of a controlled substance, heroin, MCLA 335.341(l)(a); MSA 18.1070(41)(l)(a). He was subsequently sentenced to a term of from 4 to 20 years and now appeals of right.

The alleged delivery of heroin occurred in the early morning hours of July 3, 1973. The purchase was made by police undercover agent Tim Kirby. At trial, Mr. Kirby testified that he was employed by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs and that he had worked for the agency for 2-1/2 years. In 1973 he was operating with the Grand Rapids police, and on the evening of July 2, he was searched, equipped with a body transmitter *324 and given $45 to attempt to purchase drugs. Kirby then looked for a man named "Billy” and found him at Art’s Bar in Grand Rapids. The two proceeded to several addresses looking for drugs. They eventually arrived at 552 Neland, S.E., defendant’s house, where "Billy” entered alone, then summoned Kirby. An unidentified man was sitting at the kitchen table, and defendant Pulley also entered the house. A portion of the substance which was sitting on the kitchen table was sold to Kirby for $45, and he was told that it was heroin. He was told that he could not leave with the heroin, and he pretended to inject part of it into his arm. He did however carry part of the substance away with him in a piece of tin foil. When the substance was later tested it was found to contain heroin, although in minimal amounts.

This testimony was corroborated by Grand Rapids police officers James Powell and James Wells. They testified that they were working with Kirby on the night of July 2, in an attempt to set up the purchase of a controlled substance. Both officers testified that they were equipped with an apparatus which could hear conversations from the transmitter that was concealed on Kirby. They stated that they had followed Kirby in separate cars as he went to four bars in search of "Billy”. They saw Kirby meet a man across the street from Art’s Bar and leave in his car. Both officers testified that the two men drove to four different homes where they stayed for brief periods, then proceeded to 552 Neland Street where "Billy” entered the house and then motioned Kirby inside.

Officer Powell claimed that, by means of Kirby’s transmitter, he overheard conversation taking place inside the Neland Street house. He recognized Kirby’s voice and heard three other, unfa *325 miliar voices. Specifically, he stated that he could hear someone comment that Kirby could "purchase the whole thing for $45”. It was explained that "thing” is street slang for a controlled substance, usually heroin or. cocaine. Officer Wells, however, could not hear any of the discussion because of noise from outside his car.

Defendant’s only defense was alibi. Several witnesses testified to the effect that Kirby did not come to the defendant’s house on July 3 but had come on June 29 and that defendant was out of town on July 3. The defendant also took the stand and stated that he and several friends were at his home on June 29th or 30th when "Billy” came to the door and ásked to borrow money. Tim Kirby followed shortly and appeared to be sick. They left when defendant refused to loan them any money. He stated that he was not at home on July 3.

Defendant’s first claim on appeal is that the trial court erroneously admitted into evidence the testimony by Officer Powell which related the conversation overheard by means of the concealed transmitter. Defendant contends that because the monitoring was conducted without a warrant, the admission of this testimony was violative of the Michigan Constitution, art 1, § 11. Defendant cites the recent case of People v Beavers, 393 Mich 554; 227 NW2d 511 (1975), as requiring reversal. Plaintiff argues that Beavers, by its own terms, is inapplicable to this case and that the proper standard is contained in United States v White, 401 US 745; 91 S Ct 1122; 28 L Ed 2d 453 (1971), which validates such warrantless third-party monitoring.

We find that no error was committed by admitting the challenged testimony. Initially, we note that it is unclear from the record whether defendant specifically objected to this testimony, as is *326 required to preserve the error for appeal. People v Surles, 29 Mich App 132; 185 NW2d 126 (1970), lv den 385 Mich 764 (1971). General objections were posed and, at one point, an off-record conference followed one such objection. In such a case, we prefer to resolve the doubt in defendant’s favor and consider the appellate claim.

As plaintiff notes, People v Beavers, supra, which held third-party monitoring subject to the warrant requirement, is inapplicable to this case. The Court in Beavers explicitly stated that its "decision * * * is to be applied prospectively”. 393 Mich at 568. Our Court has recently held that, inasmuch as the primary purpose of the warrant requirement is to deter unlawful police behavior, the effective date of Beavers is the date on which the challenged police conduct occurred, not the date of the trial. People v Livingston, 64 Mich App 247; 236 NW2d 63 (1975).

The behavior challenged in the instant case occurred nearly two years prior to the Beavers decision.

In holding that the challenged behavior was not subject to the warrant requirement, we do not, as plaintiff urges, rely on United States v White, supra. That decision was the product of an evenly divided United States Supreme Court with the decisive vote being a concurrence in the result. As such, we are not bound by the plurality’s reasoning. People v Anderson, 389 Mich 155, 170; 205 NW2d 461 (1973). Rather, we rely on the law in Michigan at the time the challenged activity occurred. Prior to Beavers, this Court consistently held the warrant requirement inapplicable to telephone conversations monitored and recorded with the consent of a participant, People v Drielick, 56 Mich App 664; 224 NW2d 712 (1974), People v Rappuhn, 55 Mich App 52; 222 NW2d 30 (1974), lv *327 den 393 Mich 808 (1975), People v Karalla, 35 Mich App 541; 192 NW2d 676 (1971), lv den 386 Mich 765 (1971), and to third-party monitoring of face-to-face conversations, People v Patrick, 46 Mich App 678; 208 NW2d 604 (1973), People v Karalla, supra.

We take note of a recent decision by another panel of this Court, People v Plamondon, 64 Mich App 413; 236 NW2d 86 (1975), which dictates the opposite result. Plamondon, a split decision, relying on Katz v United States, 389 US 347; 88 S Ct 507; 19 L Ed 2d 576 (1967), held that the warrant requirement applied to pre-Beavers police monitoring of a telephone call with the consent of one of the participants. The Katz opinion had applied the warrant requirement to police bugging of a telephone booth.

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Bluebook (online)
239 N.W.2d 366, 66 Mich. App. 321, 1976 Mich. App. LEXIS 1193, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-pulley-michctapp-1976.