State of Maine v. White

Superior Court of Maine·Decided June 9, 2015·No. KENcr-14-013·Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT KENNEBEC, SS. CRIMINAL ACTION Docket No. CR-14-013

STATE OF MAINE

v. ORDER

DORIAN WHITE,

Defendant

Before the court is Defendant's omnibus motion to suppress evidence. His

attorney challenges the arrest of the Defendant and subsequent search for failure on

the part of the State to produce the warrant issued by the State of New York as

supported by probable cause. Defendant also challenges the identification of the

Defendant by what he characterizes as a suggestive "show up."

Facts found by the court from testimony and exhibits at hearing are that a

confidential informant for the City of Waterville Police Department made two drug

buys on September 25, 2013, in both cases alleged to be crack cocaine. The seller

was identified by the pseudonym "Stacks." Apparently the individual also went by

the name "Pops" and "Money." Some months later, in December of 2013, the

investigating officer was in contact with another confidential informant who

advised the officer that a person known as "Stacks" was one Dorian White, he was

from New York, and he was a member of the Bloods gang. The officer called the District Attorney in the appropriate New York precinct and discovered that there

was a warrant in New York for White's arrest. The District Attorney's office also

sent to the Waterville officer a six-page document consisting of four pages of mug

shot photographs and two pages of photographs of tattoos. As a result, the officer

obtained a search warrant and conducted a surveillance of a certain premises in

Waterville. The photos were shown to both confidential informants.

On January 3, 2014, officers responded to a domestic disturbance at or near

the Waterville Central Fire Station. Inasmuch as the photos of the Defendant had

been made available to all the officers of the Department, the officers confronted

the male in the domestic disturbance who identified himself as "Donte Brown."

Satisfying himself that the individual in question was in fact Dorian White and not

Donte Brown, the officer effected an arrest and a search of the individual attendant

to the arrest. This resulted in the discovery of drugs, illegal under the

circumstances, and a sum of money.

At the Waterville Police Department, Mr. White was shown the photographs

and admitted that he was Dorian White.

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the Defendant argued that the

court could not sustain the arrest based upon the warrant because the warrant had

not been produced to the court. Agreeing that under the "fellow officer rule,"

Whiteley v. Warden, Wyoming State Penitentiary, 401 U.S. 560 (1971), officers

2 may effect an arrest without personal knowledge of probable cause if they are

"entitled to act" on a request made by a fellow officer who has the authority.

Arguing that the existence of probable cause at the originating source is a requisite

of the rule, it was incumbent upon the State to establish the validity of the warrant.

Without doing so, the officer had no probable cause to act. Since the State did not

produce the warrant at the suppression hearing, the Defendant argues the lack of

probable cause. To this argument, the State responds with a motion to reopen the

evidence in order to present the warrant which it alleges it has in its possession.

Thus, the motion hearing is not concluded but is subject to the request by the State.

The court grants the State's request to reopen the evidence in the

suppressiOn hearing and orders a continued hearing on the motion for final

resolution.

The entry will be:

State's Motion to Reopen Evidence in the hearing on Defendant's Motion to Suppress conducted November 4, 2014, is GRANTED.

The Clerk will schedule a continuation of the Motion hearing without delay.

DATED: June 9, 2015

Donald H. Marden Superior Court Justice

3 STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT VS KENNEBEC, ss. DORIAN J WHITE Docket No AUGSC-CR-2014-00013 MANHATTAN NY 10001 DOCKET RECORD

DOB: 12/03/1987 Attorney: LEONARD SHARON State's Attorney: MAEGHAN MALONEY LEONARD SHARON ESQ PC AUBURN ME 04210-5833 RETAINED 03/10/2014

Filing Document: CRIMINAL COMPLAINT Major Case Type: FELONY (CLASS A,B,C) Filing Date: 01/06/2014

Charge(s)

1 AGGRAVATED TRAFFICKING OF SCHEDULED DRUGS 0912512013 WATERVILLE Seq 11550 17 -A 1105 -A ( 1) (B) ( 1) Class A CLOUTIER I WAT 2 AGGRAVATED TRAFFICKING OF SCHEDULED DRUGS 0912512013 WATERVILLE Seq 11550 17-A 1105-A(1) (B) (1) Class A CLOUTIER I WAT 3 UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF OXYCODONE 0110312014 WATERVILLE Seq 11123 17-A 1107-A(1) (B) (4) Class C CLOUTIER I WAT 4 CRIMINAL FORFEITURE OF PROPERTY 0110312014 WATERVILLE Seq 7049 15 5826 Class U CLOUTIER I WAT

Docket Events:

01/06/2014 FILING DOCUMENT - CRIMINAL COMPLAINT FILED ON 01/06/2014

01/07/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 HEARING - INITIAL APPEARANCE SCHEDULE OTHER COURT ON 01/06/2014 at 01:00 p.m.

AUG DC 01/07/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 HEARING - INITIAL APPEARANCE HELD ON 01/06/2014

01/07/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 HEARING - STATUS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR 03/11/2014 at 10:00 a.m.

01/07/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 PLEA - NO ANSWER ENTERED BY DEFENDANT ON 01/06/2014

01/07/2014 BAIL BOND- $50,000.00 CASH BAIL BOND SET BY COURT ON 01/06/2014 VALERIE STANFILL , JUDGE OR 500,000.00 SINGLE SURETY WITH NO USE OR POSSESSION OF INTOXICANTS AND RANDOM SEARCH AND TEST FOR THE SAME NO CONTACT WITH ASHLEY LOISEL 5-20-77 OR LAMARRE MITCHELL NAD NOT TO CR 200 Page l of 11 Printed on: 07/01/2015 DORIAN J WHITE AUGSC-CR-2014-00013 DOCKET RECORD BE AT RESIDENCE PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT OR PLACE OF EDUCATION 01/14/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 MOTION - MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF CNSL FILED BY DEFENDANT ON 01/14/2014

01/17/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 MOTION- MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF CNSL DENIED ON 01/17/2014

COPY TO PARTIES/COUNSEL 02/20/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 HEARING - STATUS CONFERENCE NOT HELD ON 02/20/2014

02/20/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 SUPPLEMENTAL FILING - INDICTMENT FILED ON 02/13/2014

02/20/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 HEARING- ARRAIGNMENT SCHEDULED FOR 03/11/2014 at 08:30a.m.

02/20/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 HEARING - ARRAIGNMENT NOTICE SENT ON 03/10/2014

02/21/2014 OTHER FILING - NOTICE OF JOINDER FILED BY STATE ON 02/20/2014

03/04/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 HEARING - ARRAIGNMENT RET UNDELIVERABLE ON 03/03/2014

03/10/2014 Party(s): DORIAN J WHITE ATTORNEY - RETAINED ENTERED ON 03/10/2014

Attorney: LEONARD SHARON 03/11/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 HEARING - ARRAIGNMENT HELD ON 03/11/2014 M MICHAELA MURPHY , JUSTICE Defendant Present in Court

READING WAIVED. DEFENDANT INFORMED OF CHARGES. COPY OF INDICTMENT/INFORMATION GIVEN TO DEFENDANT. 21 DAYS TO FILE MOTIONS 03/11/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 PLEA - NOT GUILTY ENTERED BY DEFENDANT ON 03/11/2014

03/11/2014 Charge(s): 1,2,3,4 TRIAL- DOCKET CALL SCHEDULED FOR 06/03/2014 at 02:00p.m.

04/01/2014 MOTION - MOTION TO SUPPRESS FILED BY DEFENDANT ON 04/01/2014

04/01/2014 M9TION - OTHER MOTION FILED BY DEFENDANT ON 04/01/2014

MOTION TO ACCESS EVIDENCE FOR INDEPENDENT TESTING. 04/01/2014 MOTION - OTHER MOTION FILED BY DEFENDANT ON 04/01/2014

MOTION TO EXCLUDE THE RESULTS OF A CHEMICAL FIELD TEST. 04/01/2014 MOTION - OTHER MOTION FILED BY DEFENDANT ON 04/01/2014

MOTION TO PREPARE REPORT. CR 200 Page 2 of 11 Printed on: 07/01/2015 DORIAN J WHITE AUGSC-CR-2014-00013 DOCKET RECORD 04/01/2014 MOTION - MOTION FOR DISCOVERY FILED BY DEFENDANT ON 04/01/2014

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State of Maine v. White, (Me. Super. Ct. 2015).

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Related

Whiteley v. Warden, Wyoming State Penitentiary
401 U.S. 560 (Supreme Court, 1971)