Opinion ID: 2495571
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion-to-Suppress Hearing

Text: ¶ 3. Officer Jefferson provided the only testimony at Eaddy's motion-to-suppress hearing. He explained that, on the day of Eaddy's arrest, an unnamed informant [1] had called Officer Edwards on his personal cell phone and had stated that Wendell Barnes was in town driving a red Cadillac with Texas plates. Officer Edwards had related the caller's information to Officer Jefferson. Both officers knew that Wendell Barnes had three arrest warrants, [2] but only Officer Edwards could identify Barnes. Eventually, the officers stopped a vehicle fitting the caller's description. According to Officer Jefferson, when he approached the car, he saw the butt of a gun under the driver's seat, smelled alcohol, and saw an empty liquor bottle. So, he took the driver from the vehicle to pat him down for officer safety. During the search, he discovered two pill bottles that each appeared to hold cocaine. He explained that one pill bottle contained a white substance separated into individual bags, and the other bottle contained a white substance cut into blocks. After he had conducted the search, Officer Edwards told him the suspect was not Barnes. ¶ 4. On cross-examination, Eaddy's counsel pointed out that Officer Jefferson's arrest report contained a different version of the events. In his report, Officer Jefferson explained that he had noticed the driver was not Wendell Barnes after he had asked him to exit the car. But since he had seen a liquor bottle by the driver's seat, he had frisked the driver for his safety. Officer Jefferson's report further explained that, after finding the two pill bottles with cocaine, he then had handcuffed Eaddy, had searched the car, and had discovered the gun. Aside from the report, Eaddy's counsel questioned Officer Jefferson as to the validity of Barnes's arrest warrants. ¶ 5. Officer Jefferson attempted to clarify the differences between his report and his testimony before the court. He explained that his report stated when he had told Eaddy that he had seen the gun and not when he actually had seen it. In other words, although his report indicated that the liquor bottle had prompted the protective search, the gun was actually the reason. Thus, Officer Jefferson did not collect the liquor bottle from the car, and Eaddy was not charged with driving under the influence. He further explained that any time you stop a car, you're going to search the individual and get [him] out of the car for officer safety. ¶ 6. In ruling on Eaddy's motion to suppress, the court recognized that Officer Jefferson's report recounted a different version of the events; typically, an officer's report would clearly reflect that the presence of a firearm had raised the officer's suspicion. But the trial court noted that an arrest report does not represent the officer's entire description of the arrest, and that no evidence contradicted Officer Jefferson's testimony before the court. More specifically, the court found that the officers had acted on a warrant in stopping the vehicle. After Officer Jefferson had seen a firearm and had smelled alcohol, he had conducted a protective search for his safety. Therefore, the court denied Eaddy's motion to suppress evidence of the cocaine and the gun derived from the search.