Opinion ID: 2147380
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: issues

Text: Defendant next contends that the trial court improperly admitted into evidence the defendant's coat and particles removed from his clothing from which these articles, according to the defendant, had been seized pursuant to an unlawful arrest. The Fourth Amendment does not permit a warrantless arrest and search in the absence of probable cause. New York v. Belton, (1981) ___ U.S. ___, 101 S.Ct. 2860, 69 L.Ed.2d 768. This Court has defined probable cause to be those facts and circumstances known to the arresting officer that would warrant a reasonable man to believe that a crime had been committed by the suspect. Pawloski v. State, (1978) 269 Ind. 350, 380 N.E.2d 1230. In this case, several friends and relatives of the decedent arrived at the hospital shortly after the ambulance carrying her body had arrived. Upon questioning by a security guard at the hospital, each member of this group described in an excited and spontaneous manner that he believed the defendant had killed the decedent. The security guard later testified at a suppression hearing that he had believed three or four of these persons who had said that they had actually witnessed the shooting. Furthermore, the guard had known that one of these informants was a reliable police officer, who, upon occasion, had served in an arresting capacity. The guard therefore had had an opportunity to acquaint himself with the mutually corroborating informants and to assess their statements and the circumstances surrounding them. An immediate decision concerning an arrest was called for when the defendant appeared on the scene at the hospital. Although the Fourth Amendment provides reasonable safeguards for defendants, it is also tolerant of quick ad-hoc judgments by arresting officers when they act, with reasonable caution and prudence, upon their belief that sufficient probable cause exists to arrest the defendant. United States v. Robinson, (1973) 414 U.S. 218, 94 S.Ct. 467, 38 L.Ed.2d 427. An arrest of a suspect based upon probable cause is a reasonable intrusion under the Fourth Amendment, and any following search of clothing needs no further justification. United States v. Edwards, (1974) 415 U.S. 800, 94 S.Ct. 1234, 39 L.Ed.2d 771. Gustafson v. Florida, (1973) 414 U.S. 260, 94 S.Ct. 488, 38 L.Ed.2d 456; Hatcher v. State, (1980) Ind., 410 N.E.2d 1187. Since the arrest of the defendant was proper and custodial search which followed it was reasonable, there was no error in admitting these exhibits.