State v. Scull

639 So. 2d 1239, 1994 WL 313712
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 30, 1994
Docket93-K-2360
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 639 So. 2d 1239 (State v. Scull) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Scull, 639 So. 2d 1239, 1994 WL 313712 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

639 So.2d 1239 (1994)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Pedro SCULL, et al.

No. 93-K-2360.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

June 30, 1994.

*1240 Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty. of Orleans Parish, Charmagne Padua, Asst. Dist. Atty. of Orleans Parish, New Orleans, for the State.

George A. Blair, III, New Orleans, for defendants.

Before BARRY, KLEES and PLOTKIN, JJ.

PLOTKIN, Judge.

On January 11, 1993, the defendants Pedro Scull, Bernardo Burrel, and Antonio Flores were charged with one count each of possession of two hundred but less than 400 grams of cocaine. They were arraigned on January 20th and pled not guilty. Their motion to suppress the evidence, heard June 14th, was granted on September 20th. The State now comes before this court seeking relief from this ruling.

The following facts were gleaned from an application for a search warrant and from the suppression hearing transcript. The only witness to testify was Detective Lemmie Rodgers. He received the confidential information, set up the surveillance and secured the search warrant. According to the application, within seventy-two hours prior to December 7, 1992, police officers received a tip from a confidential informant whose information had led to prior narcotics arrests. The C.I. told the officers that a Spanish man nicknamed "Raul" would make trips to Florida to pick up cocaine, which he would store at 2727 ½ Bruxelles Street. According to the C.I., when customers placed their orders with "Raul" by phone or beeper, "Raul" would then take the cocaine from 2727 ½ Bruxelles and meet them at another location, usually at 2225 Lafitte Street, to make the sale. The affidavit listed the C.I.'s basis of knowledge as his having purchased cocaine from "Raul" in this manner within the past seventy-two hours.

Based upon this tip, officers set up a surveillance of the Bruxelles Street address on December 7th at approximately 6:45 p.m. At approximately 7:10 p.m., the officers watched a gray Chevy pull up and park in front of the house. The driver, a black male approximately forty years old, entered the apartment. Approximately fifteen minutes later, the officers saw a gray Cadillac with Florida license plates drive past the residence and park around the corner, although there were parking spaces closer to the residence. Two men got out of the car, the passenger carrying a small garbage bag, and they walked to the residence, looking around them as they walked. They then entered *1241 2727 ½ Bruxelles. After fifteen more minutes had passed, the two men left the apartment and returned to the Cadillac. They then drove back to the apartment, against traffic (the apartment was located on a one-way street). As they pulled in front of the apartment, the other man who the officers had first seen entering the apartment walked to the Cadillac and spoke with its occupants. The Cadillac then drove from the scene.

The officers followed the Cadillac to the area of the Lafitte Housing Project, where they temporarily lost sight of it. Other officers in the area, however, observed it parked in front of 2225 Lafitte. Through the open passenger door, the officers saw one of the occupants of the car, later identified as Pedro Scull, placing something in the glove compartment. The driver was identified as Burrel Bernardo. The officers stopped the men and searched the glove compartment, wherein they found approximately $3400.00. A canine unit was called, and the dog "alerted" to the money. None of the officers that stopped and searched the car testified.

Based upon these facts, a warrant was issued for 2727 ½ Bruxelles Street. At the suppression hearing, the officer testified that the C.I. told the police that "Raul" would be dropping off a package at the Bruxelles apartment. He identified the driver of the Chevy who first went into the apartment as Antonio Flores and the two men from the Cadillac as Scull and Bernardo. The officer described the events listed in the affidavit. He testified that after the warrant had been issued, the police searched the Bruxelles apartment and found a bag of cocaine on a top shelf in a bedroom. The officers also seized a beeper and a telephone bill in Flores' name.

The officer testified that other policemen decided to stop the Cadillac, even though the officers had not observed its occupants break any laws. The officer testified this decision was based on many factors: the car had Florida plates; its occupants had parked it around the corner from the Bruxelles apartment, even though closer parking spaces were available; they had entered the apartment carrying a bag; when they exited, they drove back against traffic to speak with Flores; and they then parked the Cadillac in front of 2225 Lafitte Street, the address from which the C.I. told them the cocaine was distributed. The officer also testified that the C.I. never indicated that he had been inside the Bruxelles apartment or had bought cocaine from there.

The trial court suppressed the currency seized from the glove compartment of the car and the evidence seized from the apartment on Bruxelles Street. With respect to the money seized from the glove compartment, the State argues that it should not have been suppressed because the officers had reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to stop the Cadillac, and once it was stopped, the officers had probable cause to search the car.

I. The Investigatory Stop of Scull and Bernardo

The authorization for a temporary stop by a police officer of a person in a public place is set forth in C.Cr.P. art. 215.1, which provides in part:

A. A law enforcement officer may stop a person in a public place whom he reasonably suspects is committing, has committed, or is about to commit an offense and may demand of him his name, address, and an explanation of his actions.

See also Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); State v. Carey, 609 So.2d 897 (La.App. 4th Cir.1992); State v. Guy, 575 So.2d 429 (La.App. 4th Cir.1991), writ den. 578 So.2d 930 (1991); State v. Johnson, 557 So.2d 1030 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1990); State v. Jones, 483 So.2d 1207 (La. App. 4th Cir.1986), writ den. 488 So.2d 197 (1986). As this court noted in Johnson:

"Reasonable suspicion" is something less than the probable cause required for an arrest, and the reviewing court must look to the facts and circumstances of each case to determine whether the detaining officer had sufficient facts within his knowledge to justify an infringement of the suspect's rights. State v. Jones, supra. Mere suspicion of activity is not a sufficient basis for police interference with an individual's *1242 freedom. State v. Williams, 421 So.2d 874 (La.1982).

Johnson, at 1033. See also Carey; Guy.

Here, the officers received a tip from a reliable C.I. that "Raul" was storing cocaine at 2727 ½ Bruxelles Street. The C.I. indicated that "Raul", a Spanish male, would travel to Florida to get the cocaine, store it at the Bruxelles apartment, and then sell it at 2225 Lafitte Street. The officers watched one man enter the apartment and then watched two other men in a Cadillac bearing Florida plates drive to the Bruxelles apartment, pass it, and park around the corner. The men went inside the apartment, one carrying a small garbage bag, stayed a short time, and then left.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
639 So. 2d 1239, 1994 WL 313712, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-scull-lactapp-1994.