State v. Rivers

420 So. 2d 1128
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedOctober 18, 1982
Docket82-KA-0187
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 420 So. 2d 1128 (State v. Rivers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Rivers, 420 So. 2d 1128 (La. 1982).

Opinion

420 So.2d 1128 (1982)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Joe C. RIVERS.

No. 82-KA-0187.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

October 18, 1982.

*1129 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Marion B. Farmer, Dist. Atty., William R. Alford, Abbott J. Reeves, Jr., and Peter J. Garcia, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.

S. Austin McElroy, Covington, for defendant-appellant.

*1130 WARD, Justice Pro Tem.[*]

The St. Tammany Parish Grand Jury indicted the defendant Joe Rivers, charging him with first degree murder, La.R.S. 14:30. After a jury trial, he was found guilty as charged and sentenced to life in prison without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Defendant appeals the conviction and specifies four assignments of error. Although initially seven assignments of error were claimed, three were not argued, and they are considered as abandoned.

FACTS

On March 24, 1981, the body of Larry Lyons, a twenty-one year old murder victim, was discovered near a small pond in a wooded area, a short distance from the Interstate 10 in Slidell, Louisiana. His fishing equipment was found nearby, and Lyons had apparently stopped on his way home from work to fish when he was robbed of his car, a 1966 Plymouth, and stabbed to death. The victim's wife provided investigating officers with a full description of the missing car, including the license and the vehicle identification number; and the information was put through the National Crime Information Center Computer.

All of the testimony and evidence indicate that on March 25, 1981, the day following the murder of Lyons, two men driving the stolen 1966 Plymouth stopped at a Shell station in Spanish Fort, Alabama. The car was being driven erratically; and when the two men got out, they created a disturbance, and it was obvious they were intoxicated. When they finally left, at about 12:30 p.m., they almost struck the service station attendant's parked car, and she called the Alabama State Police and gave them a description of the men and the white 1966 Plymouth, which then had a Florida license plate.

After taking the complaint, Officer Green reported the tag number to his headquarters and then drove east on the interstate to pursue the suspects. Green passed a stopped white 1966 Plymouth with a Florida tag about 1:00 p.m., and observed the defendant, Joe Rivers, standing outside the car and the driver, Troy Oatsvall, in the car behind the driver's seat. He continued on and drove to the nearest turnaround where he parked and waited for the Plymouth, which passed about two minutes later. Green followed the Plymouth for a short while and then pulled the car over. Troy Oatsvall got out, and Green and he talked for a few minutes before Green arrested him for violation of an Alabama statute of driving under the influence. Green put Oatsvall in the back of the police car while he spoke with Rivers, whom he determined to be too intoxicated to leave on the highway. Although Rivers was not placed under arrest, Officer Green made it clear that Rivers had to go with him, and had he resisted, Green would have arrested him for being intoxicated on the highway. Green then transported both men to Daphne, Alabama, where Oatsvall was placed in jail and charged with driving while under the influence. Rivers, however, was not then charged with any crime, and he was permitted, even assisted, to make several telephone calls trying to find someone to come get him.

The car was left at the scene, but Green took the vehicle identification number, which was relayed to the NCIC computer. He received a computer report about 1:40 that the vehicle was stolen in a robbery in Slidell and that someone was murdered during the robbery. Green immediately advised Oatsvall and Rivers of their Miranda rights and of the information he had received from the computer, and then he arrested both men for bringing stolen property into the state. Neither Oatsvall nor Rivers made statements at that time.

In midafternoon, about 3:30 p.m., the two defendants were taken in separate cars to the Baldwin County jail in Bay Minette, Alabama, and a wrecker was sent out to *1131 tow the car from the interstate, and it was placed in a local garage. Rivers was again read his Miranda rights, and he was questioned, but he denied having any knowledge of the murder. In the meantime, a toxicologist examined the car and removed knives and bloody clothing from it.

On the same evening, at about 6:00 p.m., two officers from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, LaRocca and McGehee, arrived in Baldwin County. At about 8:00 p.m., LaRocca advised Rivers of his Miranda rights and questioned him about the murder. At that time, Rivers acknowledged that he had been in Slidell, and that he had taken the automobile, and that some bloodstained clothes belonged to him; but he refused to answer any questions about the killing.

Later, a warrant for the arrest of Rivers was obtained, and after he waived an extradition hearing, Rivers was returned to St. Tammany Parish. On April 2, 1981, a search warrant was issued, and a blood sample was taken from Rivers. Then, on April 7, 1981, Rivers requested to speak with LaRocca and McGehee, saying he wanted to ask them some questions. LaRocca and McGehee, out of an abundance of precaution, advised him of his Miranda rights for the fourth time and reminded him that he was already represented by court-appointed counsel. Nonetheless, Rivers wanted to speak with the officers, and the statements, the questions, and the answers were recorded on a tape. In response to questioning, the defendant admitted that he had taken the victim's car and that he owned both the pocket knife and blood-stained clothing found in the car.

Rivers claims that the Trial Judge erred in denying his motion to suppress (1) the first oral statement he made to Louisiana officials while he was still in Alabama, (2) items of evidence seized from the victim's car, (3) the taped statements made in St. Tammany Parish, and (4) the blood sample taken from him.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

Rivers now argues that the incriminating statements which he made in Alabama to Louisiana police should be suppressed because they were the fruit of an illegal arrest and tainted. Rivers contends that when the Alabama State Police took him from the car on the interstate, the police made an illegal warrantless arrest, and that the connection between the illegal arrest and defendant's statements was not sufficiently attenuated to purge the statements from being considered fruit of an illegal arrest.

We believe, however, that even if the initial custody of Rivers was an arrest, it was a legal one. State Trooper Green had observed him in an intoxicated condition in a public place, the highway, and, moreover, he had received a complaint that Rivers was intoxicated and had earlier caused a disturbance at the service station. There clearly was probable cause to arrest Rivers for violation of Alabama law,[1] however minor the infraction. Because of Rivers's intoxicated condition, Green wisely took him into protective custody for Rivers's safety, and acting with commendable restraint, did not charge him with a crime. After they reached the stationhouse, Rivers was free to leave at any time he was able to reach someone to come and pick him up.

It does not matter whether Rivers's initial custody is considered to be an arrest or protective custody, because Green's restraint of Rivers was legal.

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