Opinion ID: 2417351
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Arrest Without Probable Cause

Text: Tokar contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because there was no objection made to his arrest, which he alleges was without probable cause. This claim fails on its merits. Probable cause to arrest exists when the arresting officer's knowledge of the particular facts and circumstances is sufficient to warrant a prudent person's belief that a suspect has committed an offense. State v. Heitman, 589 S.W.2d 249, 253 (Mo. banc 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 941, 100 S.Ct. 2164, 64 L.Ed.2d 795 (1980). Witnesses identified a yellow station wagon as the vehicle in which the murderer of Johnny Douglass used to go to and from the victim's home. They also claimed the suspect was with a white female. The sheriff's office knew Tokar had been stuck in a ditch with a white female in a yellow station wagon near Centralia only days before the murder. Douglass was killed in the course of a burglary and Tokar had prior arrests for burglary and assault. Additional information existed that Tokar preferred to burglarize earth contact homes and to pack items into pillowcases. Both of these factors were also present in the Douglass home burglary. All of these circumstances demonstrate there was probable cause to arrest Tokar. Because there was probable cause to arrest Tokar, there is no ineffective assistance of counsel for not objecting to the arrest warrant. The trial court's determination on this issue was not clearly erroneous. The point is denied.