Quinlan v. State

549 So. 2d 626, 1989 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 636, 1989 WL 100468
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJune 30, 1989
Docket6 Div. 635
StatusPublished

This text of 549 So. 2d 626 (Quinlan v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Quinlan v. State, 549 So. 2d 626, 1989 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 636, 1989 WL 100468 (Ala. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

TYSON, Judge.

Kenneth Patrick Quinlan was indicted for the offense of burglary in the third degree, in violation of § 13A-7-7, Code of Alabama 1975. The appellant was found guilty of this offense and sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment in the penitentiary-

At approximately noon on May 7, 1987, Katrina Grantham arrived at her home where she lived with her parents. The Grantham home is on Miracle Drive, which is located off Flat Top Road in Jefferson County, Alabama. When Katrina went into the house, she noticed that a television and a VCR were missing from the house. Katrina also found that the drawers in her mother’s room were on the floor and articles from her mother’s closet were strewn about. Katrina then looked out the window of the house and she saw two men in her front yard. The two men were carrying a television and a VCR. Katrina identified the appellant as one of the men she saw that day.

William Grantham, Katrina’s father, testified that he met several police officers from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department at his home at approximately 3:30 p.m. on the day in question. The officers were standing near a car which was located on a cut-off road from his driveway. This cut-off road had previously been Grant-ham’s driveway to his home. The officers recovered a locket and several pocket watches from this vehicle. Grantham testified that these articles belonged to him and had been removed from his house. Grant-ham also stated that a television, a VCR, and a pillowcase containing some jewelry, all of which belonged to him, were recovered in the woods near this vehicle. These articles were found approximately 1000 feet from his home. When Grantham went to his home, he noticed that a lock to his basement door had been broken and the door had been pried open.

Terry Stone testified that he was at a friend’s house located across Flat Top Road from the Granthams’ house on the afternoon in question. As he was leaving around 5:00 p.m., the appellant jumped into his car and told Stone to take him as far away from the area as possible because he had had a fight with his girl friend. Stone replied that he could not take him very far [628]*628because he lived nearby. The appellant gave him $15 and Stone took him to a Shot-a-Snak in Graysville, about ten miles away.

Sergeant D.R. Gaskey, an investigator with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department, testified that a Philip Bradley was apprehended across Flat Top Road from the Granthams’ house. Bradley was hiding in a boat in a neighbor’s yard.

Gaskey also testified that the vehicle found near the Granthams’ house was impounded that afternoon. The next morning, Tammy Biddle met him in the im-poundment lot. A further search of the vehicle was made with the owner’s consent. Two billfolds were recovered from the vehicle. One of the billfolds contained the appellant’s driver’s license and the other billfold contained items with Philip Bradley’s name on them.

I

The appellant argued at trial that the search of the vehicle parked on the cut-off road off the Granthams’ driveway was illegal and moved to suppress the items found inside the vehicle as a result of the search. The trial judge held that the appellant did not have standing to challenge the search and denied the motion to suppress.

“In order to contest the legality of a search or seizure, the defendant must establish that he or she had a ‘legitimate expectation of privacy’ in the place searched or in the property seized.” United States v. Kovac, 795 F.2d 1509, 1510 (9th Cir.1986). “[RJights assured by the Fourth Amendment are personal rights, [which] ... may be enforced by exclusion of evidence only at the instance of one whose own protection was infringed by the search and seizure.” Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 138, 99 S.Ct. 421, 428, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978) (quoting Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 389, 88 S.Ct. 967, 974, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968)). The burden is on the defendant to establish that his own constitutional rights were violated by the challenged search and seizure. McCraney v. State, 381 So.2d 102 (Ala.Crim.App. 1980).

The appellant testified at the suppression hearing that the vehicle in question had been lent to him that morning by the owner, Tammy Biddle. That morning, he and Philip Bradley were riding around in this vehicle. They stopped on Highway 78 to put some water in the radiator. The appellant got out of the car and opened the hood and Bradley drove off in the car. The appellant stated that he began walking and found the car on the cut-off road. The car was stuck in a ditch and the keys were locked in the car. The appellant then left the car where he found it. Grantham testified that Highway 78 was at least eight miles from his house. He stated that the vehicle would not have been visible from the main road. There was also testimony that the keys were not in the car when it was searched.

We find that the appellant failed to establish that he had a “legitimate expectation of privacy” in the vehicle which was searched or in the items which were seized from the vehicle. The appellant did not assert a property or possessory interest in the jewelry found inside the vehicle and, thus, he cannot contest the validity of the seizure of these items. German v. State, 492 So.2d 622 (Ala.Crim.App.1985), cert. quashed, (Ala. 1986); Myers v. State, 431 So.2d 1342 (Ala.Crim.App.1982), cert. quashed, 431 So.2d 1346 (Ala.1983); Chandler v. State, 426 So.2d 477 (Ala.Crim.App. 1982), cert. denied, (Ala.1983). While the appellant did have an interest in the wallet containing his driver’s license, which was removed from the vehicle, its seizure by the police was valid since it was found during a search to which the owner of the car consented.

The appellant did not own the vehicle and, thus, had no “inherent right to control the car.” Kovac, 795 F.2d at 1510. Therefore, he had no property interest in the vehicle. Smith v. State, 346 So.2d 500 (Ala.Crim.App.1977).

The appellant asserts that he did have a possessory interest in the vehicle since it had been lent to him that morning by the owner. We disagree with this as[629]*629sertion since the appellant did not have either possession or control of the vehicle at the time of the search. Therefore, he has no right to object to the legality of the search of the vehicle in question. Kovac; United States v. Peters, 791 F.2d 1270 (7th Cir.1986); Lewis v. State, 335 So.2d 426 (Ala.Crim.App.1975), cert. denied, 335 So.2d 429 (Ala.1976); Wilson v. State, 57 Ala.App. 125, 326 So.2d 316 (1975). There is no error shown here.

II

The following occurred after the jury deliberations:

“THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, I understand you have reached a verdict. (Off the record)
“THE COURT: If you would stand and give your name and read the verdict.
“FOREPERSON: Joseph Deegan. We, the jury, find Kenneth Patrick Quinlan guilty of robbery in the third degree as charged in the indictment.

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

Related

Simmons v. United States
390 U.S. 377 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Rakas v. Illinois
439 U.S. 128 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Richard Dudley Helms v. United States
310 F.2d 236 (Fifth Circuit, 1962)
United States v. Lawrence J. Kovac
795 F.2d 1509 (Ninth Circuit, 1986)
Mayers v. State
431 So. 2d 1342 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1982)
Ex Parte Myers
431 So. 2d 1346 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1983)
German v. State
492 So. 2d 622 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1986)
Chandler v. State
426 So. 2d 477 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1982)
Hayes v. State
214 So. 2d 708 (Alabama Court of Appeals, 1968)
Lewis v. State
335 So. 2d 426 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1975)
Lewis v. State
335 So. 2d 429 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1976)
Wilson v. State
326 So. 2d 316 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1975)
McCraney v. State
381 So. 2d 102 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1980)
Koonce v. State
165 So. 601 (Alabama Court of Appeals, 1936)
Smith v. State
346 So. 2d 500 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
549 So. 2d 626, 1989 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 636, 1989 WL 100468, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quinlan-v-state-alacrimapp-1989.