Opinion ID: 1975262
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Validity of the Grounds for the Arrest

Text: Defendant contends that there was no valid ground for his arrest. The police arrested defendant on a six-year-old New Hampshire fugitive warrant. The underlying offense was a sexual assault charge that New Hampshire authorities had agreed to drop when defendant pled guilty to a sexual assault charge in Vermont. At the time of the arrest, however, the officers also had probable cause to believe that defendant possessed a firearm, in violation of federal law. The trial court found the arrest was properly grounded on the federal felony. We agree and do not reach the validity of the New Hampshire warrant. The trial court found that the officers knew that the Defendant was a convicted felon and that he possessed a firearm in the vehicle. Defendant acknowledges that possession of a firearm by a convicted felon violates federal law. He also recognizes that state law enforcement agents may perform an arrest for a violation of federal law in conjunction with federal agents. Defendant contends, however, that state law enforcement officers may not independently make arrests for federal felonies. A number of federal courts have stated in dicta that state officers may make warrantless arrests for violations of federal law as long as the arrests are lawful under state law. See United States v. Bowdach, 561 F.2d 1160, 1168 (5th Cir. 1977); United States v. Swarovski, 557 F.2d 40, 49 (2d Cir.1977). These decisions rest on United States Supreme Court cases holding that arrests for violations of federal law by state officers accompanied by federal agents having no power to arrest are lawful as long as they conform to state law. See Miller v. United States, 357 U.S. 301, 305, 78 S.Ct. 1190, 1193, 2 L.Ed.2d 1332 (1958); United States v. Di Re, 332 U.S. 581, 591, 68 S.Ct. 222, 227, 92 L.Ed. 210 (1948). Vermont law authorizes law enforcement officers to arrest without a warrant when the officer has probable cause to believe a person has committed or is committing a felony. V.R.Cr.P. 3(a)(1). The rule does not limit an officer's authority to make arrests where probable cause exists to believe that a state felony was or is being committed, and we conclude that it permits state officers to make an arrest without a warrant where they have probable cause to believe that a federal felony is being or has been committed. See Swarovski, 557 F.2d at 46-47 (great weight of opinion in the federal courts and in the courts of the State of New York, as well as the understanding and practice of the executive branches of the federal and state governments supports the view that New York statutes authorizing arrest of person in the act of committing a felony in the state apply to federal as well as state felonies); see also United States v. Janik, 723 F.2d 537, 548 (7th Cir.1983) (Illinois officers' implicit authority to make federal arrests inferred because an arrest had never been invalidated by a court where state officers made a federal arrest). Because the arrest was valid under state law, under the reasoning of Swarovski and Bowdach, it was also valid under federal law. That defendant was arrested without a warrant does not alter the validity of the arrest. The United States Supreme Court has recognized the prevailing common-law rule permitting warrantless arrest for a felony committed in [a peace officer's] presence as well as for a felony not committed in his [or her] presence if there was reasonable ground for making the arrest. United States v. Watson, 423 U.S. 411, 418, 96 S.Ct. 820, 825, 46 L.Ed.2d 598 (1976). This well-established rule should apply equally where a state officer makes a federal felony arrest. Because state law enforcement officers may arrest for federal offenses pursuant to arrest warrants issued by state judicial officers, we conclude that a state law enforcement officer, who has a reasonable belief that a federal felony has been or is being committed, may make a warrantless arrest.