State v. Davis

547 S.W.2d 482, 1976 Mo. App. LEXIS 2573
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided June 29, 1976·No. 35594·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

*485 ALDEN A. STOCKARD, Special Judge.

Appellant, Christopher L. Davis, was convicted by a jury of two counts of first degree murder, one count of assault with intent to kill with malice, and two counts of first degree robbery by means of a dangerous and deadly weapon. He was sentenced to two life terms, one term of two years, and two terms of twenty-five years each, all to be served consecutively.

Appellant does not attack the sufficiency of the evidence. We shall summarize the facts, but shall set them forth sufficiently to permit a discussion of the issues.

A little after 1:00 o’clock in the morning of March 18,1972, several young black persons, including appellant, armed with various weapons entered a tavern named Cousin Hugo’s in Maplewood, Missouri, and robbed the patrons. During the course of the robbery a patron was shot, a barmaid was stabbed, and two other patrons were killed, one by a stab wound and the other, an off-duty police officer, by a shotgun wound of the head.

Appellant first contends that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress certain evidence which was seized by the police at the home of Beverly Telfair and Lucius Toney located at 1338 Banneker Street. By stipulation of counsel, appellant’s motion to suppress evidence was submitted to the court upon the testimony adduced at a hearing on a similar motion in the case of State v. Johnson, 539 S.W.2d 493 (Mo.App.1976). The evidence sought to be suppressed in each case was identical. We shall relate briefly the circumstances under which the evidence was seized by the police.

The police were informed that four or five young black males had committed the crimes at Cousin Hugo’s, and that four black males, one of whom was Lucius To-ney, had been seen in the neighborhood of Cousin Hugo’s prior to the commission of the crimes. Sergeant Boulch, and two other officers, went to 8109 Dumas Street. Toney’s mother was there, and when asked where her son was she became extremely agitated. She hurried down the street to a house around the corner on Banneker Street and shouted “Lucius, Lucius, the police.” Toney, who fitted the description of the perpetrators of the crimes at Cousin Hugo’s, came onto the porch, and the officers asked for and were granted permission by him to enter and look around the house. After the officers entered, Toney ran past them into the bedroom, and at the same time another person was seen running into the bathroom. Sergeant Boulch followed Toney and observed two more black males in the bedroom, and he also saw what appeared to him to be a shotgun lying on the floor. The officer checked the immediate area for weapons, and in doing so saw a pistol in a partially opened dresser drawer. He also noticed a holster strapped to the belt of one of the persons (appellant) which he removed. (This holster and a pistol found in a dresser drawer were subsequently identified as belonging to the off-duty policeman who was killed by a shotgun blast during the robbery.) Sergeant Boulch placed the four individuals under arrest. After they were handcuffed a quick search of the bedroom and bathroom was made to determine if there was anyone else in the house. During this search the officers found a pistol in the bedroom partially covered by a black beret. (This pistol was subsequently identified as the weapon from which the bullet was fired which wounded the patron.) In the bathroom there was a pile of dirty clothes, which was large enough to conceal a person, on which there was a large plastic bag. When the officer attempted to move the clothes to determine if anyone was concealed under them, the contents of the bag were revealed. It contained ladies’ purses, billfolds, credit cards and driver licenses. (These items were subsequently identified as property of the robbery victims, and appellant’s fingerprints were found on two of the items.)

About this time a large, unruly crowd gathered outside the house and created what gave indications of being a potential riot situation. The police officers were ordered by higher police authorities to leave the house and they did so, but in order to preserve and protect the evidence previous *486 ly discovered they took with them the plastic bag containing the purses, billfolds and cards, a knife, the holster, the guns, and other items. On the following day two police officers returned to the house on Banneker Street to search for a suspect by the name of Hill. Beverly Telfair, the co-lessee of the house, told the officers that no one was in the house except her two children, and she consented in writing for the officers to search the house. During this search, the officers found three shotguns concealed in the bathroom.

Based on the above testimony, taken at the hearing on the motion to suppress evidence in State v. Johnson, supra, and made a part of the record in this case by stipulation, the trial court overruled appellant’s motion to suppress.

Appellant first asserts that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress evidence because (a) the search was made without “voluntary consent;” (b) the search and seizure was not incident to a lawful arrest; (c) the subsequent search made after the arrests “was not confined to the suspects’ immediate area of control;” (d) the St. Louis County Identification Bureau “acted totally without the scope of authority;” and (e) the alleged consent to search given by Beverly Telfair, which led to the seizure of the three shotguns, “was not freely and voluntarily given.”

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State v. Davis, 547 S.W.2d 482, 1976 Mo. App. LEXIS 2573 (Mo. Ct. App. 1976).

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