Suiter v. State

326 So. 2d 675, 57 Ala. App. 146, 1975 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1253
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedNovember 4, 1975
Docket5 Div. 297
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 326 So. 2d 675 (Suiter v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Suiter v. State, 326 So. 2d 675, 57 Ala. App. 146, 1975 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1253 (Ala. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

HARRIS, Judge.

The grand jury of Coffee County returned a two-count indictment against appellant charging, (1) possession of amphetamine, and (2) the sale of amphetamine.

Appellant filed a motion for change of venue alleging that because of widespread publicity by the news media he was unable to obtain a fair and impartial trial in Coffee County and the other surrounding counties in that area of the state. At the conclusion of the hearing on the motion the court granted the motion and transferred the case to Lee County.

At arraignment, with employed counsel present, appellant pleaded not guilty.

The case was set for trial in the Circuit Court of Lee County on March 11, 1975. By agreement of counsel the court struck count one of the indictment and the case was submitted to the jury on count two. On March 12, 1975, the jury returned a verdict finding appellant guilty of the sale of amphetamine as charged in count two of the indictment but declined to assess a fine. Thereupon the court sentenced the accused to twelve years imprisonment in the penitentiary.

The first witness called by the state was George Donald Smith who testified that he was employed by the Alabama Department of Safety as a State Trooper assigned to the Law Enforcement Division. That on October 24, 1973, he was assigned as a narcotics undercover agent in the Investigation and Identification Unit and was engaged in undercover work in Coffee and Dale Counties. His avowed purpose was to ferret out the sale and possession of narcotics in that area of the state.

He posed as an ex-convict. He was dressed in blue jeans and a tee shirt. He wore his hair below his ears. He had a mustache and a pretty good growth of beard at that time. He further testified that he took up residence at a place called Shady Grove Trailer Park in Daleville, Dale County, Alabama, where on October 24, 1973, he met appellant who came to the trailer at around 5:00 p.m. He described the trailer as having three bedrooms and from eight to ten young people would spend the night. That it was an open door situation where young people would go and leave at their pleasure. That three girls stayed in this trailer more or less on a permanent basis. When eight to ten people spent the night, they would sleep in sleeping bags on the floor, on sofas, couches, or wherever they could lay their heads. He occupied a private bedroom in the trailer.

He stated that when appellant came in, he asked him if he could sell him some “speed,” and he said yes, “but I’ll have to go get it.” They agreed on the price at $45.00 per one hundred tablets of amphetamines known as “white cross.” This witness stated that appellant used the term “white cross.” He said he left Daleville and went to Coffee County to a place known as “Sergeant Pepper’s” which was a “hangout” for hippie-type people. He stated this was a little fun area type place that had pinball machines and other game machines. He arrived at this place at 8:00 p.m. and appellant arrived a few minutes before 9:00 p.m. Appellant told him he had the “white cross” or amphetamines for him but he wanted to go outside as he didn’t want to be seen selling the drugs on the inside of the place.

[148]*148Smith further testified that he was driving an orange van which he used for undercover work. He and appellant walked out and got in the van and appellant asked him to pull down toward the end of a shopping center where the place was not so well lighted and he drove the van as requested by appellant and stopped the van. At this location appellant pulled out a little plastic bag tied with a little knot at the top. The plastic bag contained the amphetamines — supposed to be one hundred and he asked Smith to count them.

From the record:

“A. Well, I took out a cooler-top, an ice chest cooler top and laid on the console of this van and I clipped the top, had to clip the top off of the little plastic container, and I poured them out there and I wasn’t that interested in being exactly a hundred, so I just made a fast count. He wanted me to be satisfied that there was that amount. It turned out not to be that amount but I did thumb through them there and I said, ‘That’s fine,’ and pulled out forty-five dollars and paid him and then he left.
“Q. Did you see the defendant when he left?
“A. As I recall, he left with two girls in a little foreign-type sports car, MG or something of that sort.”

After the sale and purchase were completed Smith drove his van back in front of “Sergeant Pepper’s” place and parked. Since the plastic bag delivered to him by the appellant had been cut, he poured the small tablets in a chewing gum pack and crimped the top and that made a container for the tablets and he put that container in his pocket where it remained until about 12:40 a.m. when he turned over the container to Investigator Doug Nelson at a prearranged spot on a little dirt road in Daleville behind some abandoned houses where they could not be seen. He further stated that when he gave Nelson the container in which he put the tablets, they were in the same condition they were in when they were delivered to him by appellant as he had not opened the package.

Smith further testified that he arranged to have himself and appellant arrested at a prearranged place. He had appellant in the van with him and drove past the Coca Cola place where the officers were going to be parked. As he was driving down the road the officers stopped the van and arrested him and appellant. They were searched at the place of arrest and carried to the Dale County Jail. Later Smith was released from jail. The arrangements for the sale and delivery of the amphetamines were actually made in Dale County but the actual sale and purchase were made in Coffee County.

On cross-examination he testified that this was not the first occasion that he had dealings with appellant pertaining to drugs. He had dealings with him on three occasions. His first contact with appellant was at his home in Daleville where appellant sold him marihuana. On the second occasion the discussion was about drugs but the deal fell through. The third occasion occurred on October 24, 1973, when he bought the amphetamines from appellant for $45.00 cash.

On being questioned by the court Smith testified that appellant never offered to sell him drugs, or marihuana, or amphetamines or anything without Smith asking him for it.

Corporal Doug Nelson was the next witness called by the state. He testified that he was employed by the Alabama Department of Public Safety and is still with the Department. That in October, 1973, he was working in the Narcotics Unit, stationed in Dothan, and was in charge of ten counties. He stated that in the early marning hours of October 25, 1973, he met Patrolman George Donald Smith on a small county dirt road close to Cairn’s Army Air Field in Daleville, Alabama. He said he knew Smith as a State Trooper [149]*149assigned to the Narcotics Unit, under his direct supervision, working undercover in Daleville and Enterprise. He further stated that he and Smith had routine meeting places and on October 25, 1973, he met Smith at the place above described and received from him 87 tablets of “white cross” amphetamines. When asked what he did with these tablets, he replied:

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Related

Suiter v. State
326 So. 2d 680 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1976)

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Bluebook (online)
326 So. 2d 675, 57 Ala. App. 146, 1975 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/suiter-v-state-alacrimapp-1975.