State v. Harris

564 S.W.2d 561, 1978 Mo. App. LEXIS 2518
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 7, 1978
Docket38749
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 564 S.W.2d 561 (State v. Harris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Harris, 564 S.W.2d 561, 1978 Mo. App. LEXIS 2518 (Mo. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

KELLY, Judge.

Murray Harris, the appellant, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis of “illegal delivery of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, phenme-trazine” and of “illegal possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, phenme-trazine” on September 19, 1974. The trial judge, having found that appellant had previously been convicted of a felony, — receiving earnings of a prostitute, — imposed sentences of seven and five years, respectively, in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections, said sentences to be served concurrently. 1 Appellant has filed his appeal from that judgment.

The facts the jury could find from the evidence adduced at trial on behalf of the state are that on March 28,1974, at approximately 1:45 p. m. Mr. Harris was driving an automobile with three female passengers in it southwardly on Grand Avenue approaching the eastbound entrance to Interstate 44 in the City of St. Louis. At the same time and place Detectives Robert Hawkins and Gary Hayes were also proceeding southwardly over and along Grand Avenue in an unmarked police car when Detective Hawkins recognized Mr. Harris, whom he had met twelve years before. *565 The automobile Mr. Harris was operating was in the lane immediately to the right of the lane in which the two detectives were riding in an unmarked police vehicle, and approximately one-half car length in front of the police vehicle.

Detective Hawkins pulled the police car up to the left of and within a few feet of the Harris automobile which was then stopped at a stop light while waiting for it to turn green. Mr. Harris was behind the wheel of his car, one of the female passengers was seated to his right in the front seat of the vehicle, and the other two female passengers were riding in the back seat. From this vantage point Detective Hawkins observed Mr. Harris reach to his side, pull up a hypodermic syringe containing an orangeish colored liquid, and hand it to one of the passengers in the rear seat. Detective Hayes testified that he too observed the appellant hand the syringe to one of the passengers in the rear of the Harris automobile.

At about this time the traffic light turned green and Detective Hawkins “dropped behind the Harris automobile” as it proceeded southwardly on Grand Avenue and sounded the siren on the police car. He continued following the Harris automobile for a short distance until both vehicles were able to find a place to come to a stop.

After both cars came to a stop, Detective Hawkins alighted from the police vehicle and walked up to the driver’s door where he identified himself as a police officer and asked everyone to get out of the car. After Mr. Harris and his three female passengers got out of the Harris car, Detective Hawkins advised them that they were all under arrest for violation of the Missouri Controlled Substance Law, and directed them to stand to the rear of the automobile. After Mr. Harris and his passengers did as they were directed, a search of the motor vehicle resulted in the seizure of a hypodermic syringe and an aspirin bottle wrapped in a cloth, containing a pinkish liquid in the back seat and two hypodermic syringes on the front seat, right next to where Mr. Harris had been seated, covered by a black suit coat, which was folded over the syringes. All of these hypodermic syringes when found contained an orange-colored liquid.

These items were seized and Joseph Stevens, a criminalist employed in the Crime Laboratory of the St. Louis Police Department, testified that he ran tests on the substances seized and identified the liquid substance in the syringes as phenmetrazine.

Appellant assigns seven Points as grounds for the outright reversal of his conviction, or, in the alternative, for reversal and remand for a new trial.

Because we find that appellant either did not preserve some of the Points for review on procedural grounds, or that there is no merit to his contentions, we affirm.

Appellant’s initial Point Relied On is that the trial court erred in failing to sustain his motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of all of the evidence because (1) the only physical evidence was the product of an unlawful and unconstitutional search and seizure without probable cause and was improperly admitted in evidence, and (2) the state wholly failed to prove that phenmetrazine is a Schedule II controlled substance.

Appellant has failed to incorporate into this record on appeal the testimony adduced in support of his motion to suppress the items seized from his automobile which, according to a minute entry contained in the transcript, was heard and overruled on May 6, 1974. In the absence of this evidence we are unable to review the first sub-point of this Point Relied On. It is the responsibility of the appellant to furnish to this court a complete transcript, containing those portions of the “record, proceedings and evidence necessary to the determination of all questions to be presented to the appellate court for decision.” Rules 81.12(b) and 81.-14(a) V.A.M.R. The question presented here is whether the physical evidence seized from appellant’s motor vehicle was the product of an unlawful search and seizure. To decide this question it is necessary that we have before us the record of the evidence offered by the appellant at the pre *566 trial evidentiary hearing in support of his motion to suppress said evidence.

It is the responsibility of the appellant to furnish this court with an adequate transcript with which to review those trial errors he contends entitle him to a reversal of the judgment from which he appeals. Rule 81.12(a), V.A.M.R. His failure to furnish us with the requisite evidence in support of his motion to suppress said evidence leaves us with no alternative other than to rule this sub-point against him.

Appellant’s next sub-point is directed to an alleged failure on the part of the state to prove as a part of its case that phenmetrazine is a Schedule II controlled substance.

The state, to support this element of its case, introduced into evidence a document— State’s Exhibit No. 6 — consisting of a Certification by the Secretary of State of the State of Missouri that the pages annexed thereto contained a full, true and complete copy of “Lists of Controlled Substances and All Amendments Thereto Filed by the Division of Health of Missouri Currently in Effect as the same appears on file and of record in this office.” This Certification was dated February 7, 1974, and bore the signature of James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State.

There were twenty-five pages annexed to this Certification. The first three pages consisted of a letter dated December 18, 1973, from Herbert R. Domke, M.D., Director, Missouri Division of Health, directed to James C, Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, informing him that Methaqualone had, by order of October 4, 1973, been included in the Code of Federal Regulations, that the Division of Health did not object to the inclusion of this substance to the controlled substances list and therefore it was to be similarly controlled in Missouri, and that effective November 4, 1973, Methaqualone was to be added to the controlled substances list of September 26, 1973.

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Bluebook (online)
564 S.W.2d 561, 1978 Mo. App. LEXIS 2518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-harris-moctapp-1978.