Shaw v. State

938 So. 2d 853, 2005 WL 3291379
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 6, 2005
Docket2004-IA-01462-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 938 So. 2d 853 (Shaw 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
Shaw v. State, 938 So. 2d 853, 2005 WL 3291379 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

938 So.2d 853 (2005)

Samuel SHAW a/k/a Samuel N. Shaw, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2004-IA-01462-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 6, 2005.
Rehearing Denied May 30, 2006.

*855 Chuck McRae, William B. Kirksey, Minor F. Buchanan, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

Thomas L. Kesler, David Byrd Clark, Scott E. Rogillio, attorneys for appellee.

EN BANC.

MYERS, P.J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This case presents an interlocutory appeal from the Circuit Court of Madison County, Mississippi regarding the admissibility of blood evidence taken after a two-car collision and statements given by one of the parties at the scene of the accident.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 2. On December 14, 2002, at approximately 1:23 a.m. Joey Culotta and Dr. Sam Shaw had a two-car, head-on collision on Harbor Drive in the City of Ridgeland in Madison County, after the two left Shucker's Oyster Bar. Subsequently this collision resulted in the death of Culotta. The accident involved Shaw, who was driving his Ford F-150 southbound when he collided with Culotta who was driving northbound in his Honda Accord. Culotta was accompanied by two passengers. Soon after the accident, the Ridgeland Police Department was notified that an accident had occurred and officers rapidly arrived on scene. The accident was worked by the Ridgeland Police Department, fire personnel, and American Medical Response ambulance services. The police officers involved in handling the accident included Dee Derrington, Eddie Addison, Ron Phillips, Howard Young, and John Neal, each of whom were employed by the Ridgeland Police Department. Upon their arrival at the scene, the officers determined that Culotta and his passengers had suffered substantial injuries and aided medical personnel in administering medical treatment. During this time, several officers talked with Shaw to determine the cause of the accident. It was during these conversations that Shaw indicated he was unaware of how the events transpired, as he had "blacked out" due to the head injury he sustained in the accident.

¶ 3. While conversing with the attendant officers, Shaw indicated that he remembered leaving Shucker's Oyster Bar, where he had consumed five beers, according to the officers, or up to five beers according to Shaw's account of the conversation, during approximately a two and one-half hour time period. Shaw was not placed under arrest, nor was he given a Breathalyser test, but rather he was transported via ambulance to Baptist Medical Center located in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, where he sought medical treatment for a head injury he sustained in the accident. Officer Addison, who was in training with the Ridgeland Police Department, followed the ambulance transporting Shaw to Baptist Medical Center, where he maintained watch over Shaw at the hospital, though Shaw was not under arrest.

¶ 4. Culotta and his passengers were taken to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, also located in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, for medical treatment. While both Shaw and Culotta were being treated, Officer Derrington returned to the Ridgeland police station and began preparing an affidavit and the required underlying facts and circumstances necessary to obtain a search warrant for a sample of Shaw's blood. The warrant was ultimately issued at approximately 3:30 a.m. on December 14, 2002, by Ridgeland Municipal Judge Hal McCarley. As a result, *856 Officer Neal took the warrant to Baptist Medical Center, where the warrant was presented and a blood sample was taken from Shaw. After the blood sample was taken, Shaw was placed under arrest and later indicted for violating Mississippi Code Annotated § 63-11-30 (Rev.2004), operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor which results in the death of another.

¶ 5. On May 12, 2004, a suppression hearing was conducted at which Shaw's counsel asked the trial judge to rule on several issues. The issues on which Shaw sought a ruling included the defense's motions to suppress the results of Shaw's blood alcohol content (BAC) test, to suppress Shaw's statements made at the scene of the accident, to suppress the use of medical records obtained from Baptist Medical Center, a defense motion for additional discovery dealing with the handling of blood evidence by the Mississippi Crime Laboratory, and the State's motion to suppress the results of Culotta's BAC test. The trial court ruled that Shaw was entitled to further discovery pertaining to the state crime lab's handling of blood evidence. The trial court further ruled that the motion to suppress the medical records obtained from Baptist Medical Center and the State's motion in limine concerning the results of Culotta's BAC test would be taken up at a later time. The trial court then requested briefs from both parties concerning the remaining two issues, the suppression of the results of Shaw's BAC test and the suppression of statements made by Shaw at the scene of the accident, so that a ruling could be made soon thereafter.

¶ 6. On June 29, 2004, the trial court issued its ruling concerning the admissibility of Shaw's BAC test results and Shaw's statements made at the scene of the accident. The trial court ruled that each would be admissible. First, the trial judge addressed the admissibility of the statements Shaw made at the scene of the accident. The trial court found that the line of questioning by police was proper, as Shaw was not in custody during questioning; therefore, no custodial interrogation occurred and the statements were properly admissible.

¶ 7. Next, the trial court addressed the admissibility of Shaw's BAC test results, ruling the results were properly admissible. The court reasoned that the circumstances were obviously not subject to the hot pursuit exception to the requirement of a valid warrant, but that the facts presented were somewhat similar to that exception, as Shaw was transported out of the jurisdiction to receive medical treatment with an officer following behind. The trial court reasoned that the officer's jurisdiction over the matter would follow into Hinds County, as Shaw was being transported to Hinds County in order to obtain medical treatment. The trial court further found that probable cause existed at the accident scene, so that an arrest could have been made at that time for D.U.I. and a blood sample could have been acquired as a search incident to arrest, but instead the police made the decision to pursue the blood sample via a warrant. Due to this probable cause, the court found that Shaw could have been arrested for D.U.I. both in Ridgeland and in Hinds County, "given the reasons and circumstances the defendant left the jurisdiction of Ridgeland, and exigent circumstances existed to allow a warrantless search to obtain blood." The trial court further opined that the officers acted in good faith in relying upon the validity of the warrant when serving the warrant without the aid of Hinds County law enforcement authorities. The trial court's ruling is best summed up in its own words:

*857 There was no wrongful activity on the part of the police here. They sought help from the district attorney's office, obtained a valid search warrant and served it on the defendant in good faith, all when they could have arrested the defendant on the scene and drawn the blood incident to such arrest.

¶ 8. Aggrieved by the trial court's ruling, Dr. Shaw appeals raising the following two issues:

I.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
938 So. 2d 853, 2005 WL 3291379, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shaw-v-state-missctapp-2005.