Opinion ID: 1670140
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: did the belzoni police department have probable cause to arrest the defendant and did the trial court err in allowing the money taken from him at the time of his arrest to be admitted into evidence?

Text: The third assignment is addressed only because the case must be remanded for a new trial. In Floyd v. State, 500 So.2d 989, 992 (Miss. 1986), cert. denied, Miss. v. Floyd, 484 U.S. 816, 108 S.Ct. 68, 98 L.Ed.2d 32 (1987), we stated: Since the arrest was made without the benefit of a warrant ... probable cause must be based on what the officer's knew at the time of Floyd's arrest. At the time of Smith's arrest in this case, the officers' knew: (1) Shelly Myles' truck had been broken into; (2) Mitchell Collins had said that he had seen Smith in the general vicinity of the burglary at 1:00 a.m.; (3) S.H. Brown and another guy had been seen in the same area at 4:15 a.m.; (4) Elijah Smith and S.H. Brown were suspects in the burglary; (5) that Jackie Sanders' brother, Barry Jefferson, was a suspect in the burglary; (6) that Jackie Sanders agreed to assist the police in gathering evidence against Smith; (7) that Jackie Sanders said that Smith had shown her $10,00.00. The trial record also reveals that Officer Hughes, who stopped the Sanders' vehicle and arrested Smith, testified that although he was aware that an investigation of some sort was underway, he was not informed of what exactly was going on. Officer Lewis testified that the investigation had zeroed in on Smith based upon what Jackie Sanders had told them. Smith argues to this Court that at best the officers had a mere suspicion and not probable cause for his arrest and, therefore, the search was illegal. This is a very close question even on the totality of the circumstances rule but as the case must be reversed anyway we decline to reverse on these grounds.