Redmond v. State

815 So. 2d 1241, 2002 Miss. App. LEXIS 123, 2002 WL 339390
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 5, 2002
DocketNo. 2001-KA-00238-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 815 So. 2d 1241 (Redmond v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Redmond v. State, 815 So. 2d 1241, 2002 Miss. App. LEXIS 123, 2002 WL 339390 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

CHANDLER, J., for the court.

¶ 1. Andre Redmond was indicted by the Yalobusha County Grand Jury for auto theft and conspiracy to commit auto theft. Following a trial on the merits, the jury returned a guilty verdict to the lesser offense of accessory-after-the-fact to auto theft and Redmond was sentenced as a habitual offender to five years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections without the chance of parole. Redmond subsequently filed a motion for a new trial or in the alternative for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, which was overruled by the trial judge. Feeling aggrieved, Redmond perfected his appeal to this Court, requesting review of the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING [1243]*1243REDMOND’S SHOES INTO EVIDENCE WHEN THEY WERE OBTAINED WITHOUT A SEARCH WARRANT.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT ADMITTED PHOTOGRAPHS OF SHOE IMPRESSIONS TAKEN FROM THE CRIME SCENE.
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING REDMOND’S MOTION FOR A JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

¶ 2. On June 24, 1999, Officer John Spence, a patrolman with the Water Valley Police Department, was conducting a “stakeout” of several local businesses that had recently been burglarized. He noticed the occupants of a dark vehicle acting suspiciously. Several minutes later, Officer Spence noticed a white car speeding away from the direction of the businesses. The occupants of both cars then congregated in the parking lot of a nearby baseball field. Officer Spence radioed Sergeant Marshall Jackson, requesting a stop of the two vehicles.

¶ 3. While both cars were in the parking lot, Sgt. Jackson, suspecting that one of the vehicles had been stolen, initiated a stop. Sgt. Jackson pulled in front of the dark vehicle, attempting to block off every possible means of escape. The white vehicle, however, slipped around Sgt. Jackson and the dark car and attempted to flee the scene. Sgt. Jackson proceeded after the white vehicle while another officer detained the occupants of the dark car.

¶ 4. As soon as Sgt. Jackson drew near the fleeing vehicle, the car stopped and two individuals jumped out of the car and ran into a nearby corn field. However, Sgt. Jackson, with his bright lights pointed at the white vehicle, was able to closely observe the two occupants before they escaped into the field. He stated that the occupant who exited the driver’s side of the vehicle was a black male wearing a green shirt and blue jeans.

¶ 5. After the suspects escaped, but pri- or to the police apprehending them, the crime scene investigator determined that the white vehicle had been stolen. The investigator pointed out that the back window had been smashed and part of the steering column ripped out.

¶ 6. At approximately 6:00 the next morning, an individual matching the description provided by Sgt. Jackson was apprehended as he was walking down the edge of the highway. The suspect, Redmond, was wearing a green tee shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Redmond was also wearing a pair of Nike shoes with soles that matched the imprints left at the crime scene.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN ADMITTING REDMOND’S SHOES INTO EVIDENCE?

¶ 7. Redmond asserts in his first assignment of error that the circuit court erred by permitting the State to introduce the shoes he was wearing at the time he was apprehended into evidence. Specifically, Redmond contends that the police confiscated his shoes without first obtaining a warrant; therefore, as the fruits of an illegal seizure, the shoes should have been excluded from evidence.

¶ 8. In United States v. Edwards, 415 U.S. 800, 94 S.Ct. 1234, 39 L.Ed.2d 771 (1974), the United States Supreme Court held that the warrant clause of the Fourth Amendment did not extend to post-arrest seizures of the suspect’s effects and clothing where the effects and clothing are [1244]*1244evidence of the crime for which the suspect is being held. Edwards, 415 U.S. at 806, 94 S.Ct. 1234. In Edwards, the defendant was arrested and charged with breaking into a post office. He was then taken to jail and placed into a cell. As the investigation continued, the investigators discovered paint chips on a window in the post office; the window had been pried open. The next morning the investigators, without a warrant, seized the defendant’s clothing in order to search for paint chips. Id. at 802, 94 S.Ct. 1234. In upholding the validity of this search, the Supreme Court noted:

When it became apparent that the articles of clothing were evidence of the crime for which [the defendant] was being held, the police were entitled to take, examine, and preserve them for use as evidence, just as they are normally permitted to seize evidence of crime when it is lawfully encountered.

Id. at 806, 94 S.Ct. 1234.

¶ 9. The Mississippi Supreme Court, relying on the Supreme Court’s rule in Edwards, has consistently upheld the validity of searches and seizures. See Mitchell v. State, 792 So.2d 192, 207-08 (¶¶ 62-64) (Miss.2001) (holding that warrantless search of effects was valid following lawful custodial arrest); Watts v. State, 733 So.2d 214, 232(¶ 52) (Miss.1999); Brown v. State, 690 So.2d 276, 285 (Miss.1996) (pertaining to admissibility of shoes seized without warrant); Rankin v. State, 636 So.2d 652, 657 & n. 8 (Miss.1994) (distinguishing between search incident to arrest and rule announced in Edwards); Shell v. State, 554 So.2d 887, 896 (Miss.1989); Ficklin v. State, 767 So.2d 1035, 1037(¶ 8) (Miss.Ct.App.2000).

¶ 10. Based upon the evidence before us, we find that the police had probable cause to arrest Redmond. Sgt. Jackson witnessed Redmond, a black male, jump from the vehicle; he stated that Redmond was wearing a green tee shirt and blue jeans. The investigation later revealed that the vehicle had been stolen from a local business. Approximately three and one-half hours later, a black male was spotted walking down the highway; he was wearing a green tee shirt and blue jeans; furthermore, he was soaking wet and covered with grass and mud. It appeared as though he had been running. Sgt. Jackson was one of the arresting officers and identified the individual as the person he had seen exiting the vehicle. We find Sgt. Jackson’s identification, combined with Redmond’s appearance, provided the officers the authority to make an arrest. See Dotson v. State, 312 So.2d 444, 445-46 (Miss.1975) (noting that description of suspect and his clothing by witness supplied probable cause for subsequent arrest). See also Williams v. State, 763 So.2d 202, 204(¶ 7) (Miss.Ct.App.2000) (noting that “[p]robable cause exists where ‘the facts and circumstances within the arresting officer’s knowledge and of which they had reasonably trustworthy information are sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been or is being committed’ ”). Additionally, the officers, pursuant to the rule announced in Edwards, had the authority to seize Redmond’s shoes in order to determine whether they matched the prints left at the crime scene.

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Related

United States v. Edwards
415 U.S. 800 (Supreme Court, 1974)
Hentz v. State
542 So. 2d 914 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1989)
Williams v. State
512 So. 2d 666 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)
McClain v. State
625 So. 2d 774 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1993)
Brown v. State
690 So. 2d 276 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1996)
Benson v. State
551 So. 2d 188 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1989)
Watts v. State
733 So. 2d 214 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1999)
Ragland v. State
403 So. 2d 146 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1981)
Grant v. State
762 So. 2d 800 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2000)
Shell v. State
554 So. 2d 887 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1989)
Collier v. State
711 So. 2d 458 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1998)
Nash v. State
278 So. 2d 779 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1973)
Rankin v. State
636 So. 2d 652 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1994)
Pearson v. State
428 So. 2d 1361 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1983)
Johnston v. State
567 So. 2d 237 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1990)
Groseclose v. State
440 So. 2d 297 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1983)
Berry v. State
575 So. 2d 1 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1990)
Wetz v. State
503 So. 2d 803 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)
Spiers v. State
94 So. 2d 803 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1957)
Mitchell v. State
792 So. 2d 192 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
815 So. 2d 1241, 2002 Miss. App. LEXIS 123, 2002 WL 339390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/redmond-v-state-missctapp-2002.