State v. Davis

407 So. 2d 666
Supreme Court of Louisiana·Decided December 14, 1981·No. 81-KA-0593·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

407 So.2d 666 (1981)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Richard DAVIS, a/k/a Richard Candy.

No. 81-KA-0593.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

December 14, 1981.

*667 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lowen B. Loftin, Dist. Atty., E. Rudolph McIntyre, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

Donnie L. Ellerman, Johnny R. Boothe, Winnsboro, for defendant-appellant.

GARRISON, Justice Ad Hoc.[*]

I

The defendant, Richard Davis, was charged in two separate grand jury indictments with committing the second degree murder of Lela Mae Scott and Sir Walter Scott, husband and wife, in violation of R.S. 14:30.1. The victims were the step-grandmother and the grandfather, respectively, of the defendant.

On November 3, 1980, the defendant pleaded guilty to both charges of second degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor with the Louisiana Department of Corrections. The basic facts of the case are as follows: On November 9, 1979, the two victims were found lying in a pool of blood on the floor of their home located near Wisner, Franklin Parish, Louisiana. The victims had been killed by gunshot wounds and it was apparent that they had been dead for several days. The investigation at the scene of the crime revealed that a number of items was missing from the residence of the victims, among which were a color television set, a shotgun, and a green 1977 Dodge automobile bearing Louisiana license number 178F282, registered in the name of Lela Mae Scott.

It was learned that the defendant had been residing with the murder victims for about three months. He had been observed in the Wisner area on Thursday night, December 6, 1979, driving the missing Scott automobile and subsequently was seen leaving the Wisner area on Friday morning, December 7, driving the same car.

Neither Sir Walter Scott nor his wife had been seen nor heard from since Thursday afternoon, December 6. Relatives and friends of the victims informed Sheriff Eugene Parker and other officers at the scene of the crime that they had never seen Richard Davis driving the missing vehicle and that the murder victims never allowed anyone to drive the missing car, including the defendant. As a matter of fact, it was learned that Mr. Scott even refused to let Davis drive the car to work and that he drove the defendant to work every day.

Based on the information then available, the Franklin Parish Sheriff's Office made an NCIC entry on Sunday, December 9, 1979, for Richard Davis, including his description, concerning the theft of the missing Scott automobile. Sheriff Parker informed his deputies to be on the lookout for a young black male, named Richard Davis, also known as Richard Candy, in reference to the theft of the missing automobile, shotgun and color television set. A description of the defendant and the missing items also was given to the deputies at the time. Davis also was indicated as wanted for questioning *668 regarding the murder of his grandfather and stepgrandmother. The following day, Deputy Joe Powell and Deputy Amos Virgil were gassing their police car at a service station near the sheriff's office in Winnsboro. While the deputies were standing at the service station, the missing green 1977 Dodge automobile, bearing the license number which had been given out, pulled into the gas station. The car was being driven by a young black male fitting the description of the defendant.

After confirming the appearance of the vehicle and the appearance of the driver with the information which had been provided by the Franklin Parish Sheriff's Office, Deputy Joe Powell approached the Dodge automobile. It is to be noted that Powell was wearing his official Sheriff's Department uniform with his gun in a holster at his waist. He stood next to the open window on the driver's side and announced to the defendant, who was at the wheel, that he was a police officer and that the defendant was under arrest. Nevertheless, as Deputy Powell was attempting to open the driver's door to remove the suspect from the vehicle, the defendant started the car and sped out of the service station onto the highway. Deputy Powell's arm was caught in the driver's door window and as the car moved forward, he was dragged along the side of the vehicle. Somehow Deputy Powell was able to fire his pistol inside and he succeeded in freeing his hand, which caused him to fall to the pavement behind the speeding car.

Several hundred feet down the road from the gas station the defendant stopped the automobile, jumped out of it and ran off the highway into the woods. Following a search of the neighboring area, he was located underneath a house in Winnsboro, where he was arrested for the theft of the automobile, attempted aggravated battery and resisting arrest. In this connection, it is to be noted that the defendant had been shot in the stomach, presumably by the gun fired by Deputy Powell. Because he required immediate medical attention, the defendant was rushed to the Franklin Parish Hospital.

It was subsequently confirmed that the Dodge automobile the defendant had been driving was indeed the car which had belonged to Sir Walter Scott and his wife. Additional investigation of the case in Vicksburg, Mississippi, revealed that the defendant had sold the shotgun and color television missing from the Scott residence to one Larry Freeman of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

On December 14, 1979, as the result of the evidence collected as of that date, the defendant was arrested with a written warrant of arrest charging him with the second degree murder of Sir Walter Scott and Lela Mae Scott. As indicated above, he subsequently pleaded guilty to both charges.

II

Although the defendant pleaded guilty as indicated, two Assignments of Error are before the court on this case. The first contends that the arrest of the defendant for auto theft was made without probable cause and that consequently the evidence flowing therefrom should have been suppressed.

A probable cause to arrest exists when facts and circumstances within the arresting officer's knowledge and of which he has reasonable and trustworthy information are sufficient to justify a man of average caution in the belief that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing an offense. State v. Collins, 378 So.2d 928 (La., 1979); State v. Wilkens, 364 So.2d 934 (La., 1978); State v. Johnson, 363 So.2d 684 (La., 1978); State v. Marks, 337 So.2d 1177 (La., 1976). Although mere suspicion cannot justify an arrest, the officer does not need sufficient proof to convict. State v. Thomas, 349 So.2d 270 (La., 1977); State v. Randolph, 337 So.2d 498 (La., 1976).

One of the most important elements in determining whether possible cause exists is satisfied when the police know a crime actually has been committed. When a crime has been committed and the police know it, they only have to determine whether there *669 is reasonably trustworthy information to justify a man of ordinary caution in believing the person about to be arrested has committed the crime. Collins, supra at 930.

These standards certainly seem to have warranted probable cause for arrest for theft of the automobile. In point of fact, they probably also have warranted an officer's determination of probable cause to arrest for the murders.

Even assuming, for the sake of argument, that probable cause, as such, did not exist, there were certain facts which clearly warranted the stopping of the green Dodge automobile.

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