State v. Landrum

544 P.2d 664, 112 Ariz. 555, 1976 Ariz. LEXIS 197
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 12, 1976
Docket3243
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 544 P.2d 664 (State v. Landrum) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Landrum, 544 P.2d 664, 112 Ariz. 555, 1976 Ariz. LEXIS 197 (Ark. 1976).

Opinion

GORDON, Justice.

Appellant, Gary Michael Landrum, was convicted by a jury of burglary, rape and armed robbery. He appeals from the judgment and sentence. We took jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 47(e)(5), Rules of the Supreme Court.

The three issues presented on appeal are whether the trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion to suppress his statement made at the time of arrest, whether appellant was denied a speedy trial pursuant to Rule 8.2(d), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure and whether prosecutor’s mention of the word “alibi” in closing argument was so prejudicial as to deny appellant a fair trial. We find no reversible error and affirm the judgment and sentence.

On appeal the facts are viewed to support the verdict. State v. Garcia, 102 Ariz. 468, 433 P.2d 18 (1967). The facts necessary to this review are as follows:

On May 15, 1974 appellant was stopped at a red light when police officers blocked his car from leaving the intersection. Appellant was told to exit his car, and a police officer immediately asked his name. Appellant gave his name and voluntarily stated that he worked at I.T.T. Appellant was then arrested, and taken to police headquarters where he was, for the first time, given his Miranda warnings. He then made no further statement.

On May 16, 1974, appellant was charged, by complaint, with the crimes of burglary (second degree), rape (first degree), and armed robbery. On July 29, 1974 a trial by jury was begun and ended in a mistrial on July 31, 1974. On August 6, 1974 appellant filed a motion pursuant to Rule 11, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure for examination of his mental condition, the motion was granted on August 16, 1974, and the trial court ordered the reports of the mental health experts be submitted no later than September 13, 1974 and set a hearing for September 20, 1974. On September 20, 1974 the Court, on its own motion, continued the competency hearing to October 4, 1974 because the court did not have available the necessary medical reports though the court stated that the psychiatrists may have reported within the or-dered time. The record shows only one letter from the medical experts, and it is stamped by the Clerk of the Superior Court with the date of September 24, 1974.

The mental competency hearing was held October 4, and the court found the appellant to be mentally competent to stand trial on October 8, 1974.

On November 21, 1974, the trial date, appellant moved for a dismissal on the ground that his right to a speedy trial had been violated. The motion was denied on *558 the finding that the period between August 16, 1974 and October 8, 1974, the day the trial court ruled on the competency question, was an excluded period, so that the days from date of mistrial to the date of trial were exactly sixty.

The appellant presented an “alibi” defense. During the closing argument the prosecutor referred to “the alibi”, and appellant moved for a mistrial based upon the allegation that “alibi” was a sufficiently prejudicial word to deny appellant a fair trial. The motion was denied. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on all three charges, and a timely appeal was brought from the conviction and sentence.

Appellant’s first contention is that the trial court erred when it admitted into evidence the statement made by appellant at the time of his apprehension. We do not agree.

There were sufficient facts and circumstances to lead a reasonable person into believing it was necessary to detain this suspect for the purpose of further investigation.

“[Circumstances short of probable cause may still justify an investigatory stop, [cite omitted] The lawfulness of a detention, short of arrest, is tested by whether under the circumstances it was reasonable * * State v. Gástelo, 111 Ariz. 459 at 460, 532 P.2d 521 at 522 (1975).

The car the appellant was driving at the time he was stopped bore the same license plate numbers and matched the general description of the car seen by the prosecutrix as leaving the scene of the crime. When the appellant exited the car he matched the description of the suspect as given by the prosecutrix, and the arresting officer testified that he felt this was the suspect he was looking for when he first sighted him. There is no question that the appellant was under investigatory detention. However, since this detention was reasonable, it was lawful. Appellant contends that under the circumstances of this detention it was necessary for the police to give the Miranda warnings prior to asking the appellant to identify himself. Though it appears that the appellant was “deprived of his freedom of action * * * and * * * was aware of such restraint”, State v. Bainch, 109 Ariz. 77 at 79, 505 P.2d 248 at 250 (1973), we do not agree that the confrontation between the officer and the appellant had reached the interrogation stage.

The moment that the on-the-scene general investigation becomes custodial interrogation is not at the moment law enforcement officers have the minimum evidence to establish probable cause.

“As Hoffa v. United States, 385 U.S. 293, 87 S.Ct. 408, at 417, 17 L.Ed.2d 374 (1966) says:
* * * The police are not required to guess at their peril the precise moment at which they have probable cause to arrest a suspect, risking a violation of the Fourth Amendment if they act too soon, and a violation of the Sixth Amendment if they wait too long. Law enforcement officers are under no constitutional duty to call a halt to a criminal investigation the moment they have the minimum evidence to establish probable cause, a quantum of evidence which may fall short of the amount necessary to support a criminal conviction.’
“That philosophy applies here also. The events come in close succession and it is impossible to say that the officer realized that he had grounds for the arrest until after defendant had made these two statements.” (Emphasis supplied.) State v. Tellez, 6 Ariz.App. 251 at 256, 431 P. 2d 691 at 696 (1967).

The holding in Hoffa is applicable to Fifth Amendment protections as well as the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel. State v. Hocker, 25 Ariz.App. 93, 541 P.2d 419 (1975). The events in the instant case also came in close succession. When appellant gave his name the law enforcement officers had determined his identity, but it was after he made the statement that he *559 worked for I.T.T. that they were certain that he was their suspect.

Miranda 1 requires that before any exculpatory or inculpatory statement of the defendant is admitted into evidence he must be advised of certain of his constitutional rights. Under Miranda

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
544 P.2d 664, 112 Ariz. 555, 1976 Ariz. LEXIS 197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-landrum-ariz-1976.