State v. Brockman

439 N.W.2d 84, 231 Neb. 982, 1989 Neb. LEXIS 177
Nebraska Supreme Court·Decided April 27, 1989·No. 88-664·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

Fahrnbruch, J.

Robert T. Brockman appeals his jury conviction and resulting sentence for possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. We affirm Brockman’s conviction and sentence.

On appeal, Brockman argues that evidence was seized from his person pursuant to an invalidly executed search warrant. Before trial, Brockman moved to suppress the evidence found on his person. After an evidentiary hearing, the motion to suppress was overruled.

A jury found Brockman guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, in violation of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-416(l)(a) (Cum. Supp. 1988), a Class II felony. A Class II felony carries a penalty of 1 to 50 years’ imprisonment. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-105 (Reissue 1985). Brockman was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 3 to 5 years’ imprisonment.

*984 On February 12, 1988, Omaha police officers executed a daytime search warrant at an Omaha, Nebraska, residence. At the residence, the defendant, who was described in the warrant, was arrested, handcuffed, and subjected to a pat-down search. In Brockman’s right pants pocket, a police officer found a substantial sum of money.

After being searched, Brockman collapsed from what was later discovered to be a drug overdose. While waiting for a rescue squad, officers searched Brockman more thoroughly and discovered another substantial sum of money in his socks. Officers also learned the defendant’s full name and that a misdemeanor warrant for his arrest was outstanding. When the rescue squad arrived, Brockman was transported to Saint Joseph Hospital. Omaha police officers accompanied him in the ambulance.

At the hospital, Brockman was examined in the emergency room by a physician, Dr. Grace Auten. In the course of the examination, Dr. Auten discovered a clear bag containing a white substance between Brockman’s buttocks. A police officer who was present during the examination removed the bag for content analysis. A police hold was placed upon the defendant at the hospital. Later, a chemist analyzed the bag’s contents and determined it to be “crack” cocaine.

Immediately before trial, the defendant moved to suppress evidence seized as a result of the execution of the search warrant. In his oral motion, Brockman claimed that the search was not pursuant to a valid warrant, that the search exceeded the authority of the warrant, and that there was no probable cause for the search.

The trial court found that the police officers had sufficient probable cause to search the defendant at the hospital and that there was no necessity for a search warrant at that time. The motion to suppress was denied.

In his appeal, Brockman assigns one error: that the trial court erred in not sustaining his motion to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the search warrant. His argument is based upon this court’s holding in State v. Holman, 229 Neb. 57, 424 N.W.2d 627 (1988). In Holman, we held that “for the purposes of determining whether a search complied with the *985 terms of a daytime search warrant, ‘daytime’ extends from dawn to darkness.” Id. at 59, 424 N.W.2d at 628.

Brockman did not raise this argument at his trial court suppression hearing. Accordingly, the district court had no opportunity to rule on the issue. An issue not presented to or passed upon by the trial court is ordinarily not appropriate for consideration on appeal. See, State v. Blair, 230 Neb. 775, 433 N.W.2d 518 (1988); State v. Narcisse, ante p. 805, 438 N.W.2d 743 (1989). However, because other issues must be discussed, we will assume, without deciding, that the daytime warrant was illegally executed after dark.

Three separate items were seized from Brockman and entered into evidence at trial: (1) the money found in Brockman’s right pants pocket, (2) the money found in Brockman’s socks, and (3) the cocaine found by the doctor at the hospital. No objection was made to introduction at trial of the cocaine or of the money found in Brockman’s right pants pocket. The money found in Brockman’s socks was objected to; however, we find that any error in its admission was harmless. A large sum of money found on Brockman’s person was admitted without objection. The admission of the money from Brockman’s socks was, at most, cumulative. See State v. Thompson, ante p. 771, 438 N.W.2d 131 (1989).

In a criminal trial, after a pretrial hearing and order overruling a defendant’s motion to suppress evidence, the defendant must object at trial to admission of the evidence which was the subject of the motion to suppress in order to preserve a question concerning admissibility of that evidence for review on appeal. State v. Sock, 227 Neb. 646, 419 N.W.2d 525 (1988); State v. Roggenkamp, 224 Neb. 914, 402 N.W.2d 682 (1987). By not objecting at trial, Brockman failed to preserve for appeal the issue of the admissibility of the money found in his pants pocket and the cocaine. Brockman requests that we consider the introduction of the cocaine as plain error on the record as the fruit of an illegal search. Even if we assume that the search pursuant to the warrant was illegal, there is no basis upon which to reverse Brockman’s conviction.

Brockman’s collapse due to a drug overdose created an emergency situation requiring medical attention. At that time, *986 Brockman was in police custody. Police officers have a duty to seek medical care for persons who are in need of such care while in their custody. See Lutheran Medical Center v. City of Omaha, 229 Neb. 802, 429 N.W.2d 347 (1988). Therefore, the officers would have been derelict in their duty had they not called the rescue squad and continued to ensure that Brockman received medical treatment.

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State v. Brockman, 439 N.W.2d 84, 231 Neb. 982, 1989 Neb. LEXIS 177 (Neb. 1989).

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