20 Conn. App. 183 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1989
The defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction, after a jury trial, of illegal possession of cocaine with intent to sell by a person who is not drug-dependent, in violation of General Statutes § 21a-278 (b), and possession of drug paraphernalia, in violation of General Statutes § 21a-267 (a). The defendant claims that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress certain cocaine found in her purse, because the search of her purse was made without a warrant and without probable cause. She also claims that her inculpatory statement made subsequent to her arrest should have been suppressed because it was the fruit of the illegal search. The dispositive issue is whether the search of the defendant’s purse was incident to a lawful warrantless arrest. We conclude that the search was valid and that, therefore, neither the cocaine nor the statement was subject to suppression.
The following evidence was adduced at the suppression hearing. The defendant was in the apartment of John Santiago while a search warrant for narcotics located therein was being executed. The defendant was instructed by Detective Gerard Gaynor of the New London police department to remain seated on a couch in the living room. The defendant asked if she could take a “Tylenol,” and Gaynor approved her request. The defendant picked up her purse from the floor. Gaynor saw the defendant remove a prescription bottle from her purse. He asked her for the bottle and she handed it to him. Gaynor saw that the prescription label was not in the defendant’s name, and that the type of medication printed on the label was not Tylenol. He looked
The court denied the defendant’s motion to suppress. The cocaine found in the defendant’s purse and her inculpatory statement regarding it were introduced into evidence, together with the other incriminatory evidence found in the apartment. In addition, the trial court found that the search of the defendant’s purse took place when Gavitt directed the defendant to dump its contents on the floor. On appeal, neither the defendant nor the state challenges that finding. We therefore analyze this case accordingly.
One recognized exception to the warrant requirement is that evidence obtained pursuant to a search con
A lawful warrantless misdemeanor arrest requires, as does a lawful warrantless felony arrest, that the arrest be supported by probable cause. State v. Elliott, 153 Conn. 147, 152-53, 215 A.2d 108 (1965). “ ‘ “In order to establish probable cause, it is not necessary to produce a quantum of evidence necessary to convict. . . . Probable cause exists when the facts and circumstances within the knowledge of the officer and of which he has reasonably trustworthy information are sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution to believe that a felony has been committed.” (Citations omitted.)’ ” State v. Holder, supra, quoting State v. Cobuzzi, 161 Conn. 371, 376, 288 A.2d 439 (1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 1017, 92 S. Ct. 677, 30 L. Ed. 2d 664 (1972). “In testing the amount of evidence that supports probable cause, it is not the personal knowledge of the arresting officer but the collective knowledge of the law enforcement organization at the time of the arrest which must be considered.” State v. Holder, supra, 188.
Moreover, probable cause for an arrest is based on the objective facts available to the officer at the time of arrest rather than the subjective state of mind of the officer. See Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 138, 98 S. Ct. 1717, 56 L. Ed. 2d 168 (1978); State v.
The firsthand information obtained by the officers prior to the search of the defendant’s purse included Gaynor’s observation of the defendant holding a prescription bottle after she had stated that she was going to take a Tylenol, a nonprescription medication; the defendant’s statement that the pills were Valium; the fact that the prescription was not in the defendant’s name; the fact that the bottle’s contents as stated on the label were not Tylenol; and Gavitt’s inspection of the pills that led him to believe, on the basis of his experience, that the pills were not Tylenol. These observations, viewed objectively, provided probable cause to believe that the defendant was in illegal possession of a controlled substance in violation of General Statutes § 21a-279 (c).
A formal arrest need not always chronologically precede the search in order for the search to be valid. Where there is probable cause to arrest, a search before an arrest is reasonable under the fourth amendment as long as the arrest and search and seizure are substantially contemporaneous, and are integral parts of the same incident. Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 111, 100 S. Ct. 2556, 65 L. Ed. 2d 633 (1980); State v. Federici, 179 Conn. 46, 54-55, 425 A.2d 916 (1979). In this case, the search of the defendant’s purse was close in time and place to when the police initially obtained probable cause to arrest her for a violation of General Statutes § 21a-279 (c). The two events were integral parts of the same incident. State v. Holder, supra, 188-89. It is also of no moment that the defendant was neither charged with nor convicted of illegal possession of a controlled substance in violation of General Statutes § 21a-279 (c). A defendant need not be subsequently charged with or convicted of the offense that gave the police probable cause to- arrest. See United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218, 235, 94 S. Ct. 467, 38 L. Ed. 2d 427 (1973) (defendant convicted of narcotics offense arising from a search incident to arrest for driving under revoked license); State v. Copeland, supra (defendant convicted of arson arising from a search incident to arrest for disorderly conduct and breach of the peace).
The defendant also claims that her statement should have been suppressed because it was the fruit of an illegal search. See Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 484-87, 83 S. Ct. 407, 9 L. Ed. 2d 441 (1963). Since the search in question was lawful, there is no basis for this claim.
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
The defendant does not contest the admissibility of the evidence seized pursuant to the warrant.
General Statutes § 21a-279 (c) provides in pertinent part: “Any person who possesses or has under his control any quantity of any controlled substance other than a narcotic substance . . . except as authorized in this chapter, may be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned . A controlled substance, as defined in General Statutes § 21a-240 (9), is “a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in schedules I to V, inclusive, of the Connecticut controlled substance scheduling regulations . . . .” Valium, or diazepam, is one of the drugs listed in schedule IV of the regulations as “having a potential for abuse associated with a depressant effect on the central nervous system.” Regs., Conn. State Agencies § 21a-243-10 (a) (14).
Our conclusion that the search was valid as incident to the defendant’s lawful arrest renders it unnecessary to consider the state’s argument that the search of the defendant’s purse was within the authorization granted by the search warrant because probable cause existed that the objects named in the warrant were on her person.