Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Henry A. REED
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1980-09-03
Citations: 388 So. 2d 776
Docket Number: No. 66576
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Henry A. REED.
Judges: LEMMON, J., concurs and assigns reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 388
Pages: 776–781

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Henry A. REED.
No. 66576.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
Sept. 3, 1980.
Dissenting Opinion Sept. 24, 1980.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Harry F. Con-nick, Dist. Atty., Julie C. LeBlanc, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.
Milton P. Masinter, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

Opinion:
BLANCHE, Justice.
A jury convicted defendant of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of R.S. 14:95.1. Subsequently, defendant was sentenced to three years at hard labor. On appeal, defendant raises five assignments of error. We address in this opinion only assignment of error number one, dealing with the trial judge's denial of defendant's motion to suppress the introduction of the firearm in evidence, as meriting discussion. For the benefit of the parties, we attach hereto an appendix containing a discussion of the remaining assignments which we designate as "Not for Publication".
On April 19, 1978, two New Orleans Police officers, on routine traffic patrol, noticed an expired brake tag on a car being driven by defendant. The officers stopped the vehicle and proceeded to investigate the traffic violation. Officer Rauch approached the driver's side of the car, while the other officer, because the car contained a passenger, approached the passenger side. Both defendant and the passenger were asked to step out of the car.
As defendant was exiting the vehicle, Officer Rauch spotted on the front seat a pistol with the barrel stuck into the crack of the seat. The officer then ordered defendant and the passenger to the rear of the car and removed the pistol, a .32 caliber revolver loaded with five rounds of ammunition. When Officer Rauch asked defendant if he had ever been arrested before, defendant replied that he was on probation for sale of heroin. Following a determination that defendant was a convicted felon, the officers placed him under arrest on the charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The defendant's passenger was allowed to drive the car away.
Defendant contends the firearm was seized in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. Both the United States and Louisiana Constitutions prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S.Const. Amend. 4; La.Const. art. 1, § 5. In Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), the Supreme Court recognized that, following a lawful investigatory stop, police officers, under certain circumstances, may constitutionally conduct limited searches without a warrant for weapons. (See also Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 147, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972).) In that case, an officer conducted a "pat-down" of the person's clothing. In holding the search reasonable, the Court stated:
"... where nothing in the initial stages of the encounter serves to dispel his reasonable fear for his own or others' safety, he [the officer] is entitled for the protection of himself and others in the area to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of such persons in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to assault him." [citations omitted] Terry, supra, 88 S.Ct. at 1884-5.
The opinion emphasizes that the sole justification for such a search was the safety of the officer and others and, consequently, the scope of the search must be limited to the discovery of weapons.
The central inquiry on governmental invasion of a citizen's constitutionally protected right of privacy and personal security is to determine its reasonableness under all of the circumstances. Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 107, 98 S.Ct. 330, 54 L.Ed.2d 331 (1977); Terry v. Ohio, supra. We decide the instant case on this basis.
First, we decide that the officers were in a place where they had a right to be when they stopped defendant's automobile. Reasonable cause for the stop was furnished by the traffic violation. Thereafter, the officers were confronted with a situation in which two individuals stood within possible reach of a dangerous weapon which was easily accessible and in open view on the front seat of the car. Although it is arguable that defendant was in custody, the officers had no reason to arrest the passenger. The exposed weapon was a source of potential danger to the officers' safety, just as contemplated in Terry v. Ohio, supra, when a search of one's person was permitted.
Under these circumstances, it seems reasonable for the officers to take temporary custody of the weapon for their own protection during the course of the investigation. As was stated in Terry, "it would be unreasonable to require that police officers take unnecessary risks in the performance of their duties." Consequently, we hold the seizure of the weapon from defendant's car was not in violation of defendant's constitutional rights, and the weapon may properly be introduced in evidence against him.
In State v. Blanchard, 374 So.2d 1248 (La.1979), police officers stopped defendant's car because of a traffic violation. Defendant existed the car, closed the car door, and approached the officers. Defendant was the only occupant. Because one officer had seen defendant hurriedly put something, which he thought might be a weapon, under- the seat, officers searched the car and found cocaine beneath the seat. In suppressing the evidence, we said that "to suggest that defendant could have dived through the window of his car and seized a weapon from under his seat, under these circumstances is unreasonable." The case is distinguishable on its facts because, unlike the instant case, the area searched was not within defendant's immediate control. In addition, the officers in Blanchard were not confronted with two individuals, but with one, nor with a weapon in plain view.
For these reasons, the conviction of the defendant is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
LEMMON, J., concurs and assigns reasons.
DENNIS, J., dissents with reasons.
LEMMON, Justice,
concurring.
The seizure in this case occurred in two phases, the first for the purpose of self-protection and the second for the purpose of securing evidence of a crime. Each phase must be viewed separately in order to determine whether the seizure was reasonable (and therefore constitutional) under the circumstances.
The police officer inadvertently discovered the gun in the course of investigating a routine traffic offense, and he reasonably seized or took temporary possession of the gun in order to protect himself for the duration of the investigation. Although defendant was outside the car when the officer discovered the gun, a passenger was still in the car. See State v. Williams, 366 So.2d 1369 (La.1978). But even if both persons were out of the car before the gun was inadvertently discovered (and there was arguably less danger to the officers), it was nevertheless reasonable for the officer to take temporary possession of the gun, located only a few feet away from these persons. Many police officers have been shot as a consequence of traffic stops. Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 98 S.Ct. 330, 54 L.Ed.2d 331 (1977). This Court should view the taking of temporary possession of the weapon as a minimal intrusion dictated and justified by the officer's interest in self-protection.
The second phase of the seizure occurred after the officer sighted and took possession of the gun, when inquiry revealed that defendant was a convicted felon. At that point the officer was certainly aware that the gun had possible evidentiary significance and reasonably retained it for that purpose.
. Whether the officer's interest in safety is enhanced by the driver's and passenger's being required to get out of the vehicle is not an issue here. See State v. Williams, above. The issue is the reasonableness of the officer's decision not to allow an apparently workable firearm to remain available to be used to assault him while he investigates a routine traffic matter. The officer's interest in his own safety far outweighs the citizen's minimal interest in not having his firearm held by an officer for the brief period required to complete the traffic investigation.