Williams v. State

898 N.E.2d 400

Josa WILLIAMS, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 49A02-0806-CR-505.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

December 22, 2008.

Barbara J. Simmons, Oldenburg, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Zachary J. Stock, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

CRONE, Judge.

Josa Williams appeals his conviction for class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of marijuana seized from Williamss person during his arrest. We affirm.

On the evening of January 23, 2008, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer Demetric Smith stopped Williams for a routine traffic violation. During the stop, Officer Smith obtained Williamss identification and vehicle registration and ran a check on his police computer in his vehicle. At that time, he discovered that there was an outstanding warrant for Williamss arrest. He returned to Williamss vehicle, placed him under arrest, handcuffed him, and searched his person, at which time he discovered a bag of marijuana in Williamss pocket.

On January 24, 2008, the State charged Williams with class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The trial court conducted a bench trial on March 12, 2008. At trial, the trial court overruled Williamss objection to the introduction of "evidence gained as a result of the allege[d] warrant." Tr. at 8. Following the trial, Williams filed a motion to suppress evidence of the marijuana. On April 18, 2008, the trial court denied Williamss motion and found him guilty as charged.

On appeal, Williams contends that the trial court violated his constitutional rights when it admitted evidence of the marijuana seized from his person. On review, we apply an abuse of discretion standard to trial court rulings on the admissibility of evidence. Cox v. State, 854 N.E.2d 1187, 1193 (Ind.Ct.App.2006). An abuse of discretion occurs when the decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before the court. Morris v. State, 871 N.E.2d 1011, 1015 (Ind.Ct.App.2007), trans. denied. As in sufficiency cases, we do not reweigh evidence; rather, we consider the evidence most favorable to the trial courts ruling as well as any uncontroverted evidence favorable to the defendant. Herbert v. State, 891 N.E.2d 67, 70 (Ind.Ct.App.2008).

The State contends, and Williams concedes, that a police officer may search a defendant pursuant to a lawful arrest. Hollowell v. State, 753 N.E.2d 612, 615 (Ind.2001). Searches incident to arrest are permissible without a warrant and include search of the arrested person and the area within his immediate control. Id. In order for such a search to be lawful, the initial arrest must be lawful. Jones v. State, 467 N.E.2d 1236, 1239 (Ind.Ct.App. 1984). Here, Officer Smith learned of an active warrant for Williamss arrest when he accessed his police computer during a routine traffic stop. He subsequently arrested Williams, searched his person, and found marijuana in his pocket.

Williams argues that the State failed to prove that the arrest was lawful and that, as such, evidence of the marijuana produced in the search should not have been admitted. See Best v. State, 817 N.E.2d 685, 689 (Ind.Ct.App.2004) (holding search of defendants person impermissible where arrest warrant is invalid at time of search). Here, Williams never challenged the validity of the warrant, and there was no evidence that the warrant was invalid. However, he argues that the States failure to place the arrest warrant in evidence amounts to reversible error.

Indiana courts have not addressed the question of whether the State must produce an active arrest warrant when the defendant has not challenged the warrants validity. In Guajardo v. State, 496 N.E.2d 1300 (Ind.1986), our supreme court addressed contested search warrants, noting that "the State was obligated to introduce the search warrant and probable cause affidavit into evidence after [the defendant] challenged the adequacy of the warrant." Id. at 1303 (emphases added). In Carter v. State, 367 Md. 447, 788 A.2d 646 (2002), the Court of Appeals of Maryland addressed the question of whether the State must produce an arrest warrant at a suppression hearing where a search of the defendants lunch box incident to arrest produced marijuana cigarettes:

We can find no authority in Maryland or elsewhere that the lawfulness of an arrest can be vitiated by the States failure to produce an arrest warrant at a suppression hearing when the defendant...