Taylor v. State

443 So. 2d 1292, 1983 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4698
Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama·Decided August 16, 1983·No. 4 Div. 85·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinions

LEIGH M. CLARK, Retired Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction and sentence in a case in which a jury had found defendant guilty under an indictment charging that he did “unlawfully possess marijuana, a controlled substance, contrary to and in violation of the provisions of the Alabama Uniform Controlled Substances Act, in violation of Title 20-2-70 of the Code of Alabama, 1975.”

The principal issue raised by appellant is as to the admissibility of the evidence of the results of the search of defendant’s automobile, which, according to the undisputed evidence, including the testimony of a qualified “Crime Laboratory Analyst” experienced in chemical analyses, consisted of the following: “0.11 of a gram of marijuana found in the glove compartment of the automobile; 3.24 grams of marijuana contained in a penny match box found on or about the front seat of the automobile; 0.06 gram of marijuana contained in 2 partially smoked cigarettes and 1 ‘Joker’ brand cigarette papers also found in the automobile.”

The question as to the admissibility of the evidence arose during the testimony of Investigator Roy Tabb of the Covington [1294]*1294County Sheriffs Department, who testified in pertinent part as follows:

“I was sitting on a location in Opp, on the look-out for a vehicle that we thought may have been involved in the previous case that I was working on, and the car occupied by two subjects passed me. The license plate was hanging off the back of it in an awkward angle like it had been just tacked on, and they were driving on the wrong side of the road.
“Q. You observed the license tag, as they were driving on the wrong side of the road, of this vehicle?
“A. Yes, ma’am.
“Q. And then what did you do?
“A. I pulled over behind them. They pulled into the yard on Cummings Street. I pulled in behind them with my blue light on.
“Q. And, then, what happened, please?
“A. I went to the car.
[[Image here]]
“Q. Alright, you proceeded to the car. Is that what your last statement was, Mr. Tabb?
“A. Yes.
“Q. And, when you got to the car, what did you observe, if anything?
“A. I observed the driver appeared to be concealing something under his hand between him and the passenger.
[[Image here]]
“Q. Did you observe anything else at that time?
“A. At that time I thought that they may have had a weapon, and I asked them to get out of the car.
“Q. You were looking for a weapon?
“A. I didn’t know what he had concealed, ma’am.
“THE COURT: I believe he said he asked them to get out of the car.
“Q. And, when they got out of the car, then what happened, please.
“A. I asked the driver to produce a driver’s license, and he could not.
“Q. Alright.
“MR. COLQUETT [Defendant’s attorney]: Could not?
“A. He said he didn’t have one. He was only driving the car as a favor to his friend, the car belonged to his friend that was with him [the appellant herein],
[[Image here]]
“Q. And, then, what happened after that?
“A. I looked into the passenger’s compartment where I saw his hand earlier, and while I was looking in there, I observed a burned hand-rolled cigarette butt laying on the floorboard.
“Q. Was that on the driver’s side or the passenger’s side?
“A. It was laying in a compartment of a container on the drive shaft hump between the two of them.
[[Image here]]
“Q. They had already stopped when you stopped, had they not?
“A. They stopped when I pulled in behind them, yes sir. I didn’t know that they lived there at that time, or if that was where they were going. It just happened that way.
“Q. It wasn’t a period of time after they stopped before you got out?
“A. No, sir.
“Q. You are as sure of that as you are the rest of your testimony?
“A. Yes sir.
“Q. And, you asked if you could look inside the car. Is that your words?
“A. That’s correct.
“Q. And, you were told to go ahead?
“A. Yes sir.
“Q. Is that your words?
“A. Yes sir.
“Q. Alright.
“A. I’m not quoting directly, but that was an inference.
“Q. Was that all that was said? That’s all you asked, if you could look inside the car?
“A. Yes.
“Q. And, who told you to go ahead?
“A. Mr. Taylor.”

All of the testimony quoted above was taken out of the presence of the jury at the [1295]*1295request of the defendant, which was concluded as follows:

“RECROSS-EXAMINATION
“BY MR. COLQUETT [Defendant’s attorney]:
“Q. One further question, did you know for a fact that those roaches or cigarettes contained marijuana when you saw them?
“A. No sir. They appeared to be.
“MR. COLQUETT: That’s all, now, we move to exclude any testimony in regards to the search, anything that was found at the search or any statement that was made subsequent to it, by this defendant or any other person.
“THE COURT: Overruled.
“MR. COLQUETT: We accept [which we construe as except].
“(Whereupon court was recessed.)”

Soon thereafter, the same witness testified in the presence of the jury. A pertinent part of his testimony follows:

“Q. Then, what happened after you spoke with the driver?
“A. I looked in the car toward where I thought something was being concealed, and while doing so, with my flashlight, I could see a partially rolled, hand-rolled cigarette butt laying in the compartment on the hump between the two passengers of the car.
“Q. And, what did you do then?
“A. I then, looked further with my flashlight, and I saw another hand-rolled cigarette butt laying on the floorboard below the passenger’s seat, front seat.
“MR. COLQUETT: Now, if it please the Court, we move to exclude this entire testimony.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Taylor v. State, 443 So. 2d 1292, 1983 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4698 (Ala. Ct. App. 1983).

443 So. 2d 1292 (Taylor v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. U.S. Home Corp.
46 Fla. Supp. 2d 168 (Florida Circuit Courts, 1991)
State v. Calhoun
502 So. 2d 795 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1986)
Malone v. State
452 So. 2d 1386 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1984)