United States v. Thompson

292 F. Supp. 757, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11729
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedNovember 19, 1968
DocketCr. A. 1899
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 292 F. Supp. 757 (United States v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Thompson, 292 F. Supp. 757, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11729 (D. Del. 1968).

Opinion

OPINION

LATCHUM, District Judge.

In a one count indictment, defendant is charged with the unlawful possession of a sawed-off shotgun in violation of 26 *759 U.S.C. § 5851 because the weapon had been made in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5821 and had been transferred in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 5811, 5814. 1 Defendant has moved to suppress evidence on the ground that it is the fruit of a search incident to an unlawful arrest, and to dismiss the indictment on the ground that § 5851 violates his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The government and defendant have stipulated, with regard to defendant’s motion to suppress evidence, that the facts shall be determined from the testimony given before the United States Commissioner on April 25, 1968 and information contained in the police report of November 22, 1967.

The police report and the testimony of the officers before the Commissioner are not entirely consistent. But upon reading both, and giving deference to the fact that the police report is somewhat abbreviated, the testimony, though remote in time from the incident, is more descriptive and complete. Thus the essential facts surrounding defendant’s apprehension may be summarized as follows:

On November 22, 1967, shortly before 5:80 a. m. Officers Hedrick and Lehowit of the Wilmington Police Department were driving in a police truck north on Market Street in Wilmington when they observed defendant sitting in his automobile which was parked on the premises of a service station at the corner of Thirtieth and Market Streets. The officers were suspicious of defendant due to the early hour of the morning and the fact that his car was facing the street and was not located near the gas pumps, the station’s office or rest rooms. Officer Hedrick also recognized the defendant as a man who had been arrested approximately two weeks before for driving a motor vehicle without a driver’s Iieense. The officers parked their vehicle in a position to observe the defendant. Apparently, when the defendant saw the police, he hurriedly entered his car and drove east on Thirtieth Street. The police followed defendant for some distance observing that he entered a one-way street and drove in the wrong direction for approximately 50 to 75 feet. They also noticed that defendant’s car emitted an excessively loud noise due to an apparently defective muffler and that his windshield contained several holes stuffed with some paper materials, all in violation of the Delaware Motor Vehicle Code. 21 Del.C. §§ 4309, 4311.

As they were following defendant’s car the officers communicated with police headquarters by radio, informing the central office of their actions and requesting that a second police vehicle be assigned to “cover” their apprehension of the defendant. When they were joined by Sergeant Curtis they stopped defendant's vehicle at Eleventh and Bennett Streets. The police truck parked behind defendant’s car and Sergeant Curtis positioned his car in front of defendant’s vehicle to reduce the possibility of escape. The three officers approached defendant on the left side of his ear and Officer Hedrick asked defendant to produce his driver’s license and automobile registration. When defendant, who was alone in the vehicle, showed only a “learner’s permit” which requires that a licensed driver be with the permittee in the car, 21 Del.C. § 2708, defendant was *760 formally arrested for driving a motor vehicle in violation of his learner’s permit.

Defendant was seated in the front seat of his car during this time and after Officer Hedrick informed defendant that he was under arrest and advised him of his constitutional rights, Hedrick observed defendant reaching his right hand between his legs and under his seat. The officer saw that defendant had his hand on the butt of a gun and that he was attempting to pull it from under the seat. He immediately recognized the weapon as a sawed-off shotgun. Hedrick told Curtis “He is going for something” whereupon the sergeant removed defendant from the vehicle. Officer Hedrick then retrieved the gun from the ear. Defendant attempted to escape but was subdued by Sergeant Curtis. Numerous charges were thereafter placed against defendant at Central Headquarters in addition to the learner’s permit violation, including driving a motor vehicle with improper equipment. The shotgun, which is the subject matter of the present prosecution, was fully loaded with the safety off at the time it was found. It measured 25 inches in length with a double barrel 16%, inches long and thus is within the statutory definition of a “firearm” under the National Firearms Act. 26 U.S.C. § 5848(1).

I. MOTION' TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE

The basis for defendant’s motion to suppress evidence is that the police arrested defendant without a warrant when they- directed him to stop his vehicle and that the arrest was made without probable cause. Defendant claims that the police obtained the shotgun through a search incident to an unlawful arrest, thus requiring suppression of the weapon as evidence and any other material gathered as a result of the arrest. At oral argument the government conceded, for the purposes of the present motion, that the arrest took place at the time the police stopped defendant’s automobile. The question of when an arrest takes place, particularly in motor vehicle cases, is a most difficult one, subject to a diversity of opinion. 2 In *761 the absence of a controlling federal statute, the nature of an arrest is determined by the law of the state where the “seizure” of the defendant took place. See Busby v. United States, 296 F.2d 328, 331 (C.A. 9, 1961). It is not necessary, however, to decide here whether the stopping of defendant’s vehicle satisfies the Delaware definition of an arrest. 3 By ordering defendant to stop his automobile and by positioning their vehicles in such a manner that defendant’s car could proceed no further, the police effectively deprived defendant of his freedom or liberty in a significant way. If at the time the police had “probable cause” to take this action, the detention was lawful regardless of whether it is considered an arrest or a mere investigatory detention.

“Probable cause exists when ‘the facts and circumstances within * * * [the officers’] knowledge and of which they had reasonably trustworthy information [are] sufficient in therhselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that’ an offense has been or is being committed.” Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 162, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 1310, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949), quoting Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 162, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1924).

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Related

State v. Bryan
551 A.2d 807 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1988)
Thompson v. State
539 A.2d 1052 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1988)
State v. Cochran
372 A.2d 193 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1977)
United States v. Carney
328 F. Supp. 948 (D. Delaware, 1971)
Wise v. Murphy
275 A.2d 205 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1971)
Thomas Patterson Weyer v. United States
429 F.2d 74 (Fifth Circuit, 1970)
Arthur Earl Marshall v. United States
422 F.2d 185 (Fifth Circuit, 1970)
United States v. Clyde Marvin Thompson, Jr.
420 F.2d 536 (Third Circuit, 1970)
United States v. Wolfe
303 F. Supp. 671 (D. Maryland, 1969)
United States v. Hostetter
295 F. Supp. 1312 (D. Delaware, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
292 F. Supp. 757, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11729, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-thompson-ded-1968.