State v. Thomas

482 So. 2d 32
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 13, 1986
Docket85-KA-403
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 482 So. 2d 32 (State v. Thomas) 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. Thomas, 482 So. 2d 32 (La. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

482 So.2d 32 (1986)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Walter THOMAS.

No. 85-KA-403.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

January 13, 1986.
Rehearing Denied February 18, 1986.

*33 John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Art Lentini, Dorothy A. Pendergast, Asst. Dist. Attys., Twenty-fourth Judicial District, Parish of Jefferson, Gretna, for plaintiff-appellee.

William R. Ary, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

Before CHEHARDY, KLIEBERT and CURRAULT, JJ.

KLIEBERT, Judge.

Walter Thomas was charged by bill of information with the illegal possession and intent to distribute Pentazocine in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967. Prior to trial the defendant filed a motion to suppress any physical evidence in the possession of the state. The motion was denied by the trial court. The defendant then entered a plea of guilty reserving his right to appeal pursuant to State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976). The defendant was initially sentenced to 18 months with credit for time served on March 13, 1985. On June 12, 1985, he was resentenced when it was brought to the district court's attention that its previous sentence was illegally lenient. He was resentenced to 4 years (the minimum sentence permitted under the statute) without benefit of probation or parole. We affirm the conviction and sentence.

The facts leading to Thomas' arrest are as follows: On February 25, 1983, defendant, Walter Thomas, arrived at New Orleans International Airport on a flight from Los Angeles, California at approximately 3:05 P.M. Detectives Whitehead and Hurley of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office testified that they were conducting a routine investigation of flights arriving from what they believed to be "source" cities of illegal drugs coming into the New Orleans Metropolitan area. Agent Whitehead testified that they became suspicious of the defendant because of his activities following his disembarking the plane.

According to Detective Whitehead he observed the defendant, a young, black male, walking down the concourse toward the main lobby. He testified that the defendant appeared to be "a little nervous". Upon reaching the first available public telephone, the defendant made a brief phone call. Whitehead testified that the defendant was constantly "looking around", which gave him the impression that the defendant was attempting to see if he was under surveillance.

After placing the brief phone call, the defendant entered the first restroom on the concourse. He exited the restroom after a short time and proceeded downstairs to the Delta Airline baggage claim area, where he continued to "look around" and claimed a single, small, brown piece of luggage from the conveyer. He presented a claim check to airport security personnel and was allowed to leave the baggage claim area.

Detective Hurley then approached the defendant and identified himself as a police officer and asked the defendant if he would *34 mind answering a few questions, to which the defendant assented. Then, at the request of Detective Hurley, the defendant produced a valid Louisiana driver's license issued to Walter Thomas. Also, at Detective Hurley's request, he also produced a paid for, with cash, one way ticket to New Orleans issued in the name of James Howard. When asked to explain this discrepancy, the defendant explained that he had traveled to Los Angeles to visit a girl friend and did not want his "old lady" (wife) to know of his activities.

The detectives testified that after they learned the defendant was flying under an alias, they informed him they were conducting a narcotics investigation, and after informing him he was free to refuse, asked if they could examine the contents of his baggage. According to Agent Hurley, the defendant replied: "Go ahead and look, there is no drugs." The detectives were unable to open the luggage at this point because of a lock on the zipper. Agent Hurley asked the defendant for a key. The defendant responded by saying he did not have a key. Therefore, Detective Whitehead went to the unclaimed baggage area to search for a master key with which to open the suitcase.

When they were unable to open the suitcase, Detective Hurley testified that he asked the defendant to accompany the detectives to the third floor narcotics office. The record is unclear as to whether the defendant's driver's license and plane ticket were returned to him. According to the detectives, the defendant agreed to go to their office. It is unclear from the record as to who carried the defendant's bag to the office. When they arrived at the narcotics office, Detective Whitehead asked the defendant to empty his pockets. When the defendant emptied his rear pocket a small key dropped to the floor. Agent Whitehead asked if it was agreeable to the defendant for him to use the key and open the bag, to which, according to the detectives, defendant responded "Go ahead." When detective Hurley opened the bag he found 7,300 sets of Talwin and Tripelennamine Hydrochloride. At that point the defendant was informed of his Miranda rights and placed under arrest.

The defendant agrees that the officers approached him, asked to see some identification and a plane ticket, which he produced. He acknowledged his plane ticket was issued in another name but said he explained the discrepancies to the officers as due to his not wanting his wife to know of his trip to Los Angeles. However, from this point, his version of the encounter differs from that of the officers. Defendant testified that after the initial encounter he was told to stand against a wall while the other officer went to find a master key and at page 32 of the transcript testified as follows:

"But in the meanwhile, while the other officer went to get the keys, he had me against the building, you know, asking me questions, was I carrying any drugs, or any kind of illegal drugs. I told him, `No, I ain't transporting no drugs.' He said, `Do you have a key for it?' I said, `No' because I had lost the key for it. I never did open the suitcase up since I had been in L.A. So, his partner came back with a bunch of keys, you know. And he tried and he tried, and he couldn't open it up. And I asked him, I said, `Can I talk to a lawyer, or anything, you know, talk to somebody else, you know." And I said, `I have to be standing up here like this?' And he said, `Well, you ain't got to stand up here, come on, we're going upstairs.'"

The validity of airport searches on facts very similar to the facts of the instant case have been addressed by the Louisiana Supreme Court in State v. Ossey, 446 So.2d 280 (La.1984) and State v. Jackson, 457 So.2d 660 (La.1984), and by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980) and Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983).

In Ossey and Mendenhall, the courts held the initial encounter by the officers was within the permitted Terry-type investigatory *35 stop[1] and the subsequent detentions and searches were consensual, therefore, no violation of the defendant's fourth amendment constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures was found. On the other hand, in Royer and Jackson, although the initial encounters by the officers were also found to be permissible Terry

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Bluebook (online)
482 So. 2d 32, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-thomas-lactapp-1986.