State v. Rogers

629 S.E.2d 679, 368 S.C. 529, 2006 S.C. App. LEXIS 62
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedMarch 13, 2006
DocketNo. 4093
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 629 S.E.2d 679 (State v. Rogers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Rogers, 629 S.E.2d 679, 368 S.C. 529, 2006 S.C. App. LEXIS 62 (S.C. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

HUFF, J.:

Appellant, James Rogers, was tried for and convicted of accessory before the fact of armed robbery. He appeals, asserting the trial judge erred in failing to suppress evidence of money found in the back of a police car because it was the fruit of an illegal stop. We affirm.1

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On January 31, 2002, a man with a gun walked into Cash U.S.A., demanded money from the assistant manager of the business, and left with over $1,000. Thereafter, the Williams-burg County Grand Jury indicted Rogers, along with Cortez [532]*532Brown, Kajuna Mitchum, and Quantrell Wilson, with various offenses concerning the armed robbery at Cash U.S.A.

At the start of the case, Rogers made a pretrial motion to suppress money evidence in this case arguing it was the result of an illegal stop. Rogers asserted the money, found in the back of a police car after he was transported in the car, was fruit of the poisonous tree because the authorities did not have probable cause to stop the vehicle in which Rogers was riding. The trial court held an in camera hearing, at which time the State presented the testimony of Sergeant Shannon Coker with the Kingstree Police Department.

Sergeant Coker testified that around 2:15 p.m. on January 31, he received a call from a confidential informant who was working with the Kingstree Police Department on various cases. He then met with the informant, who told Sergeant Coker about a robbery that was to take place that afternoon at the Cash U.S.A. on Long Street. He told the officer the individuals who would be involved in the armed robbery were James Rogers, Quantrell Wilson, Cortez Brown, and Kajuna Mitchum. The informant also stated the men were supposed to use a white Honda automobile that Rogers had been seen driving. The confidential informant told Sergeant Coker that he heal'd a conversation regarding the armed robbery that was supposed to take place, including where it would occur, the vehicle used, and the individuals involved. This discussion occurred on the afternoon before the robbery. Sergeant Coker remembered that the informant identified at least one of the co-defendants, Kajuna Mitchum, as having been involved in this conversation. Sergeant Coker testified he had used the confidential informant that provided the information about the robbery numerous times in the past, and the past information he had provided proved to be reliable.

The sergeant called his supervisor and relayed the information he had received. As he was driving the confidential informant home, a call came over the radio indicating there had been an armed robbery at the Cash U.S.A. The officer let the informant out of his vehicle and proceeded to the Pine Avenue area, where Rogers resided. While watching Rogers’ house, he observed a white Honda with four occupants pull up to a stop sign and turn right onto Pine Avenue. The officer [533]*533pulled in behind the vehicle and recognized it as the vehicle in which Rogers had been seen. Sergeant Coker continued to follow the vehicle until his supervisor and other deputies arrived in the area. He then activated his blue lights.

Rogers exited the passenger side of the vehicle and the officers instructed him to get back into the vehicle. Rogers continued to walk away from the vehicle, and the vehicle “took off,” leaving Rogers behind. Coker’s supervisor dealt with Rogers while the sergeant engaged in a vehicle pursuit of the Honda.

Based on the testimony of Sergeant Coker, the trial judge denied Rogers’ motion to suppress finding that there was reasonable suspicion, “based on sufficient facts to suspect that criminal activity was involved,” such that the authorities had a reasonable basis to stop the car.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing a Fourth Amendment search and seizure case, the appellate standard of review is limited to determining whether any evidence supports the trial court’s ruling. State v. Missouri, 361 S.C. 107, 111, 603 S.E.2d 594, 596 (2004). The appellate court will reverse only when there is clear error. Id.

LAW/AIVTALYSIS

Rogers appeals his conviction arguing the trial judge erred in denying his motion to suppress the money found in the back seat of a police car in which he had been transported because it was tainted fruit seized as the result of an illegal stop. We disagree.

The Fourth Amendment 'guarantees “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const, amend. IV. The stopping of a vehicle and the detention of its occupants constitute a seizure and implicate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. State v. Butler, 353 S.C. 383, 389, 577 S.E.2d 498, 501 (Ct.App.2003) (citing Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 653-54, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979)). Our courts [534]*534have held that in South Carolina, an officer may stop and briefly detain the occupants of a car without treading on Fourth Amendment rights, even without probable cause to arrest, if he has a reasonable suspicion that the occupants are involved in criminal activity. Id.; Sikes v. State, 323 S.C. 28, 30-31, 448 S.E.2d 560, 562 (1994); Knight v. State, 284 S.C. 138, 141, 325 S.E.2d 535, 537 (1985). “ ‘[A] policeman who lacks probable cause but whose observations lead him reasonably to suspect that a particular person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime, may detain that person briefly in order to investigate the circumstances that provoke that suspicion.’ ” State v. Nelson, 336 S.C. 186, 192, 519 S.E.2d 786, 789 (1999) (quoting Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 439, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984)).

“ ‘Reasonable suspicion’ requires a ‘particularized and objective basis that would lead one to suspect another of criminal activity.’ ” State v. Khingratsaiphon, 352 S.C. 62, 69, 572 S.E.2d 456, 459 (2002) (quoting United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 418, 101 S.Ct. 690, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981)). “In determining whether reasonable suspicion exists, ‘the totality of the circumstances — the whole picture — ’ must be considered.” Id. (quoting Cortez, 449 U.S. at 417, 101 S.Ct. 690); see also State v. Woodruff, 344 S.C. 537, 546, 544 S.E.2d 290, 295 (Ct.App.2001) (“The term ‘reasonable suspicion’ requires a particularized and objective basis that would lead one to suspect another of criminal activity. In determining whether reasonable suspicion exists, the whole picture must be considered.”) Reasonable suspicion is something more than an inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or hunch. State v. Butler, 343 S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
629 S.E.2d 679, 368 S.C. 529, 2006 S.C. App. LEXIS 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rogers-scctapp-2006.