State ex rel. Maness v. Black

434 So. 2d 143, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8878
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 8, 1983
DocketNo. 82-CA-97
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 434 So. 2d 143 (State ex rel. Maness v. Black) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Maness v. Black, 434 So. 2d 143, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8878 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

CURRAULT, Judge.

The defendant-appellant, Van A. Maness, was charged in a Petition for Delinquency with violation of R.S. 14:69; Receiving Stolen Things. This appeal arises from an adjudication of delinquency by the Juvenile Court for the Parish of Jefferson against the defendant. We affirm.

On Monday, February 22, 1982, a residence in Gretna, Louisiana was burglarized and approximately $17,000.00 in jewelry was stolen. On the morning of Wednesday, February 24,1982, John Barrileaux, a juvenile, was arrested for possession of a diamond stud earring which had been stolen on Monday. The defendant, Van Maness, was brought with Barrileaux to the police station, but was not arrested. Both boys were released and returned to Van Maness’ home. Later that afternoon, Detective Charles Heintz received a telephone call from an anonymous informant, who advised the officer that John Barrileaux and another white male by the name of Van were moving some of the property taken in the burglary. According to the informant, the two subjects were in the area of the 1100 block of Derbigny Street. Detective Dennis Dunn, who had known the defendant for some time, agreed to assist Detective Heintz. Upon arrival at the corner of Tenth Street and Derbigny, Detective Dunn was able to observe the two subjects about a block and a half away walking in his direction. The defendant, Van Maness, was observed to be carrying a brown paper bag. After watching them for a minute, the officer stopped the young men. After brief acknowledgements, the officer looked into the bag and discovered some clothing and the bulk of the stolen jewelry at the bottom of the bag. Detective Heintz was notified and upon his arrival, both subjects were frisked and Barrileaux was found to have more of the stolen property in his pockets. The jewelry was identified by the victim as being that stolen from his residence two days before.

The defendant-appellant, Van Maness, age 15, was arrested along with the other juvenile, for possession of the stolen jewelry. He was charged on March 1, 1982, in a Petition for Delinquency with violation of R.S. 14:69; Receiving Stolen Things.

The defense filed a Motion to Suppress the Evidence and at the hearing on April 12,1982, in Section B of the Juvenile Court for the Parish of Jefferson, the Honorable Thomas P. McGee, Judge, denied the motion. At trial the following day, the court found that the evidence warranted the requested adjudication and accordingly in the Judgment of Disposition the defendant was adjudicated a delinquent.

A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and on May 6, 1982, the defendant was assigned to the custody of the Louisiana Training Institute for a period of three (3) years. The defendant was remanded to the L. Robert Rivarde Memorial Home, pending the outcome of his appeal which was filed on September 21, 1982.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 1

Appellant asserts the trial court committed reversible error when it denied his Motion to Suppress Evidence, which appellant declares was illegally seized as the result of an unconstitutional and illegal search of the defendant-appellant’s person and effects. Therefore, he argues his motion should have been sustained.

[145]*145The defense submits that the search of the brown paper bag, carried by the defendant, was illegally conducted and thus the jewelry inside of the bag was illegally seized. The defense asserts that Detective Dunn did not have reasonable cause, as required by La.C.Cr.P. art. 215.1, for his initial stop of Maness and Barrileaux and consequently the seizure of the bag and discovery of the jewelry was irredeemably tainted by the illegal stop. ■ Additionally, the defense asserts that the anonymous telephone tip, the sole basis for the investigatory stop, could not be shown to be of a reliable nature and thereby failed to meet the test set forth in Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964); to establish probable cause for a warrantless search.

The defense argues further that, if indeed the officer had reasonable cause for an investigatory stop, he was lacking in probable cause for the warrantless arrest and subsequent search of the defendant. While recognizing that an exception is made for a pat-down or frisk of the defendant, if the arresting officer has a reasonable fear for his safety, under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), the defense points out that the arresting officer never once suggested that the young men presented any threat to his safety. Testimony revealed that the subjects were patted down only after the discovery of the stolen property. The search of the paper bag is construed by the defense to have been merely an exploratory search for evidence of criminality.

The thrust of the defense’s argument is that the search of the paper bag does not fall within any of the exceptions to the warrant requirement, and therefore, the trial court was in error in not granting the Motion to Suppress the Evidence.

The state maintains that the search of the paper bag was valid in that the officers had reasonable cause for the investigatory stop. Furthermore, the state suggests that the search was consented to by the defendant and thereby falls squarely into one of the exceptions to the warrant requirements of the search.

The state cites State v. Bailey, 410 So.2d 1123 (La.1982), as authority for a temporary seizure of a subject reasonably believed to be engaged in criminal activity. If the officers have reasonable cause for such a seizure, they may also detain any property found until ownership can be determined.

It further suggested that although the veracity of the anonymous tip could not be determined, the investigating officers had already dealt with the young men earlier that day. One of the subjects had been found in possession of stolen property (an earring). State v. Hathaway, 411 So.2d 1074 (La.1982), held that if the reliability of the informant and/or the information cannot be verified, it can be elevated on the basis of corroboration by independent sources. The state asserts that the officers had articulable facts relative to the identity of the subjects and their possible connection with the stolen property.

Moreover, the state points out that the search was consented to by the defendant. The detective testified that he asked the defendant for the bag and it was handed to him. The defendant testified that he made no attempt to conceal the bag or its contents from the officer. It should be noted that the defendant was attempting to prove that he had no knowledge of the contents of the bag and therefore had no reason to conceal it.

The state’s argument is centered on the premise that the officers had reasonable cause to stop the defendant and that the defendant gave his consent to the officers to search the bag.

A warrantless search of a protected area is per se, unreasonable unless it falls within one of the specifically established exceptions. State v. Chapman, 410 So.2d 689 (La.1981). Two of these exceptions could be applicable to this fact situation: probable cause to arrest coupled with exigent circumstances and/or consent by the defendant to the search. La.C.Cr.P. art. 703(D), Motion to Suppress, states that the burden of proof is on the state to prove the [146]*146admissibility of any evidence seized without a warrant.

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Related

State ex rel. Van Maness v. Black
435 So. 2d 446 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
434 So. 2d 143, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8878, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-maness-v-black-lactapp-1983.