State v. Anderson

489 P.2d 722, 15 Ariz. App. 464, 1971 Ariz. App. LEXIS 802
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedOctober 12, 1971
Docket2 CA-CR 259
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 489 P.2d 722 (State v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Anderson, 489 P.2d 722, 15 Ariz. App. 464, 1971 Ariz. App. LEXIS 802 (Ark. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

KRUCKER, Chief Judge.

This appeal raises two questions: (1) The validity of a seizure of marijuana, and (2) Whether the marijuana seized was a usable quantity and quality.

The defendant was found guilty, after a trial without a jury, of the offense of possession of marijuana and placed on probation for ten months, it being his first offense.

The facts are that a number of Tucson police officers proceeded to 4319 East Flower Street early in the morning of January 12, 1970. Two of the officers (White and Etzwiller) went to the front door of Apartment B at that address and one of them knocked on the door. The defendant opened the door and the officers asked him if he rented the premises. He said he did. The officers told him they had received information that two juveniles, who were runaways, were in the house. Defendant told the officers that there were two girls from California inside. One of the officers asked the defendant if they could come inside and defendant agreed to let them in and opened the door for them.

In the meantime, Officer Max Davis had stationed himself at the rear of this apartment in such a manner that he could see inside the apartment. There were several other officers outside the house — some in front and some to the rear. Through an open window Officer Davis heard what took place at the front door, saw the two officers who were asked to come in, and saw and heard what took place inside after the lights were turned on. The two officers inside identified the two runaways and, when Officer Davis saw this he proceeded to the front of the house and went in through the front door “to see if I [Davis] could assist in the paperwork. * * * ” The front door was open and the screen door was ajar as he entered.

Officer Davis stopped just inside the front door and listened to the conversation taking place. At this point he noticed a bottle which contained what appeared to be seeds, as well as a certain plant-life in two small plastic containers with dirt in them. Officer Davis informed Officer White of this fact and pointed out what he had seen. These items were on the kitchen table and beside it. They were taken by the police officers to the police department property room, tagged and turned in.

The defendant was advised of his constitutional rights to counsel and not to incriminate himself and he waived these rights. At this point, the defendant stated that it had taken four months to grow the plant depicted by the photograph which was State’s Exhibit 2. This plant was about one foot tall.

Upon being subjected to the Duquenois test, this plant gave a positive reaction for marijuana. A criminalist for the Tucson— Pima County Crime Laboratory testified that upon close examination she determined the plant to be a young marijuana plant. Microscopic examination revealed that the plant did not have claw-like, cystolithic hairs. The criminalist testified that these hairs were undeveloped. She testified that she examined the seeds under a microscope and performed the Duquenois test on them, with a positive reaction, and that in her *466 opinion they were marijuana seeds, one •of which sprouted under laboratory conditions (out of twenty tested).

As to the seizure, it resulted from the observation by a police officer who ■entered the apartment after the first two police officers were permitted by the defendant to enter. To find a valid consent to search or to enter a residence there must be:

“ ‘ * * * clear and positive evidence in unequivocal words or conduct expressing consent, and it must be established that there was no duress or coercion, actual or implied. [Citation omitted.]’ ” State v. Sherrick, 98 Ariz. 46, 54, 402 P.2d 1, 7 (1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 1022, 86 S.Ct. 1938, 16 L.Ed.2d 1024 (1966), quoting from State v. Kananen, 97 Ariz. 233, 399 P.2d 426 (1965).

Our Supreme Court has more recently cited Sherrick with approval as to their proposition in State v. Sherron, 105 Ariz. 277, 279, 463 P.2d 533 (1970). Here, the evidence was of the requisite nature to prove consent to enter the apartment.

Once the first two officers had been legally admitted to the premises, neither a later nor contemporaneous entry can be questioned. Russo v. United States, 391 F.2d 1004 (9th Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 885, 89 S.Ct. 195, 21 L.Ed.2d 161 (1968) ; Vanella v. United States, 371 F.2d 50 (9th Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 386 U.S. 920, 87 S.Ct. 883, 17 L.Ed.2d 790 (1967).

Once lawfully inside, as we hold Officer Davis to have been, a police officer “ ‘who, from this location, can, by the mere act of looking, observe what he believes to be contraband, is * * * not required to close (his) eyes and need not walk out and leave the article where (he) saw it.’ Davis v. United States, 327 F.2d 301, 305 (9th Cir. 1964).” State v. Pine, 8 Ariz.App. 430, 434, 446 P.2d 940, 944 (1968), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 962, 89 S.Ct. 2103, 23 L.Ed.2d 747 (1969) . Also, “when during * * * a lawful search for goods illegally possessed, the searching officers discover legal evidence of possession of other goods, the possession of which is unlawful, the discovered goods may be seized. [Citation omitted].” State v. McMann, 3 Ariz.App. 111, 114, 412 P.2d 286, 289 (1966). Clearly, a police officer legally inside a dwelling may seize whatever illegally possessed items he observes. This is not a search but simply a lawful seizure. State v. Curtis, 10 Ariz.App. 38, 455 P.2d 988 (1969). Also, an officer may testify about what he observes “in open view” while securing a premises. State v. Lenahan, 12 Ariz.App. 446, 452, 471 P.2d 748 (1970). The seizure was valid, particularly under the facts here, in that the officer merely entered the premises “to assist in the paperwork. * * ” Probably a more compelling reason for upholding this search is the possible danger to police officers inherent in a situation with two police officers inside a small apartment with five other people. Courts must be careful not to prohibit police officers from taking necessary steps in protecting themselves and their colleagues.

As to the question of whether the marijuana seized was of a usable quantity and quality, defendant’s only witness was Dr. Cornelius Steelink, a chemistry professor at the University of Arizona, whose main field of research had been plant chemistry and the branch of that field known as physiochemistry (the chemistry of flowering plants) since 1953. Dr. Steel-ink testified that the Duquenois test used by the criminalist here (accurately according to Dr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
489 P.2d 722, 15 Ariz. App. 464, 1971 Ariz. App. LEXIS 802, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-anderson-arizctapp-1971.