State v. Cage

218 N.W.2d 582, 1974 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 1031
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMay 22, 1974
Docket56778
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 218 N.W.2d 582 (State v. Cage) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Cage, 218 N.W.2d 582, 1974 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 1031 (iowa 1974).

Opinions

UHLENHOPP, Justice.

This appeal involves problems which arose during the trial of a prosecution for possession of heroin with intent to deliver.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, the jury could find that defendant William Walter Cage was a heroin user and had heroin in his possession on former occasions. He previously resided in Waterloo, Iowa, but moved to Cedar Rapids. At the time of the events involved here, however, he was again living in Waterloo, but only temporarily.

Larry J. Dolan was captain of the Waterloo police department narcotics division. On July 13, 1973, a confidential informant told Dolan that defendant sold him heroin that day at defendant’s Waterloo home and that informant saw a quantity of heroin in defendant’s possession there. This informant had previously furnished Dolan reliable information on at least a dozen occasions. On July 14, 1973, Dolan obtained a warrant to search defendant’s home, car, and person. On July 15, 1973, a second confidential informant told Dolan that he saw defendant sell heroin to several persons on the street in Waterloo the previous evening. A third confidential informant told Dolan that on the morning of July 16, 1973, he saw defendant with a quantity of heroin at defendant’s Waterloo home. The second and third informants had provided [584]*584Dolan reliable information on a number of previous occasions.

Narcotics officers placed defendant under surveillance. On the evening of July-16, 1973, defendant and his wife went to the home of Jennifer Franklin, where they smoked marijuana with her. At 9:30 p. m. those three individuals emerged from the house and entered a car which belonged to Mrs. Franklin’s mother. Mrs. Franklin drove, Mrs. Cage sat in the middle of the front seat, and defendant sat on the right side with his left arm on the upper back of the front seat. The surveillance officers radioed Captain Dolan who, with those officers, converged on the Franklin car.

Mrs. Franklin stopped. At trial she testified she did not previously know that defendant had heroin with him, but when the officers stopped her, “Cage leaned over like so and put his hand down like this. I knew right away what was going on, you know. What called my attention to that particular movement was when he raised got ready and put his hand in his pocket. All of us were completely baffled and shocked. He did like so. Maybe shouldn’t say this, but I knew right away what was going on, you know. He made his move to say if so throw it out the window.”

Detective Harry Helgesen rushed to the left front door and detective William J. Hermansen rushed to the right front door of the Franklin car. Hermansen had defendant and defendant’s wife alight from the car. Defendant was advised that the officers had a warrant in their possession. Dolan searched defendant and found a syringe, a needle, a spoon, and a roll of money and some change amounting to $204.60, but no heroin. Meantime Helge-sen had Mrs. Franklin get out on the left side of the car. He searched her but found nothing. He entered the car and found two and a half marijuana cigarettes, a marijuana roach (butt), and two seeds.

Dolan called for a police car, which soon arrived. Hermansen then went to the right side of the Franklin car to close the door. He testified at trial:

As I went around to the side of the car I shined my black light around the outside of the car and I looked down as I went to shut the door. I saw a reflection of a gold something, a gold box. The car door would be open like this. This is the front seat of the car. Right about here in the middle of the seat you got running boards here and the seat. There is small cars a little slot underneath just between the running board and the seat’s base about this much. Right in there is where this gold box was laying. ... I then reached down and picked up the gold box. Exhibit “A” is the gold snuff box the same one I saw that night. The box was sort of half leaning. It was open just a bit like this and one foil was laying outside of it. If the car had moved, it would have fallen over. It was in that position. I picked up the foil and put it back inside and looking at the contents I put it in my pocket. I showed it to Captain Dolan. I kept it in my possession until I got to the police station. Along with Captain Dolan we then examined it there. There were 15 foils inside.

The foils contained white powder. On subsequent analysis, the powder proved to be heroin.

The county attorney charged defendant with possession of heroin with intent to deliver. Defendant pleaded not guilty and stood trial.

The parties selected a jury and the prosecutor read the information to the jury. The trial court then excused the jury and defendant made a motion to strike certain minutes of testimony and to suppress the physical evidence. The trial court held a hearing on the motion. The court then overruled the motion and stated in a calendar entry that a written opinion would be filed at a later date. (After the trial, the trial court did file a written opinion, stating its reasons for overruling the motion.)

[585]*585The trial took some time; seven witnesses testified for the State. About halfway-through the testimony, the physical evidence was identified and offered in evidence. Defendant made no objection to the physical evidence except for exhibit B, which was the part of the heroin that was analyzed. Defendant objected that there was a break in the chain of possession of exhibit B, hence no proper foundation. Then this transpired:

The Court: That has to do with “B”?
Mr. Dunbar [defendant’s trial attorney] : Yes.
The Court: And your objection to “A” [the gold box] ?
Mr. Dunbar: Nothing.

The court overruled the objection to exhibit B, and defendant does not now contend that the objection he made was good.

Also during reception of the State’s evidence, the prosecutor called Mrs. Franklin as a witness. She testified she had known defendant for a long time and also related the events of the evening. Her testimony about those events prior to the car ride included the following activities of herself, defendant, and his wife at Mrs. Franklin’s house:

I then sat down in the black reclining chair and they sat on the couch. The first thing you say Do you want to get high, and they said Yeah. I had some reefers of my own and was watching television. When I speak of reefers I speak of marijuana. I rolled the cigarettes myself. Getting high means smoke a joint. This is all I do, you know, and we all sat around and smoked. . . .

The record continues:

Q. Did all three of you smoke? A. All three of us. Mr. Cage had his own glass of juice, either pop or something else. He was on one side. I have two living rooms. He was on one side and I was on the other and his lady and I we sit down and talked. I told her that things were pretty hot around here. I knew he was a known heroin dealer—
Mr. Dunbar: I object to that and move it be stricken. It’s entirely an un-voluntary statement. It was not a response that I could have anticipated, and, therefore, move to therefore attempt to prevent the matter from coming in.
The Court: Sustained. It may go out and the jury is directed to disregard that portion of the statement that Mr.

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State v. Cage
218 N.W.2d 582 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
218 N.W.2d 582, 1974 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 1031, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cage-iowa-1974.