Opinion ID: 1763919
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the arrest of the defendants

Text: One of the principal issues of this case concerns the motion to suppress evidence which was filed by defendants. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the following facts were brought forth. Officer Difrisco testified that he had partial descriptions of the suspects prior to the observation of the two automobiles from the stakeout. He further testified that they were believed to be using a large, late model brown car. Before arriving at J.D.'s Bar, Officer Difrisco had interviewed the bartender of the lounge next door, Smokey's, an establishment which, it was testified, had also been robbed by the suspects a few days before. While in J.D.'s Bar, Detective Rice received a telephone call from the bartender at Smokey's telling him that the men who had robbed Smokey's had just passed. Before and as he spoke on the phone the detective observed a large brown car pass by the bar three times and, after the call, a fourth time. The witness stated that the vehicle was traveling very slowly and that there was no other traffic except for a large white car which appeared to be following the brown one closely, turning as it did, and it too was passing back and forth in front of the barroom with precisely equal regularity. The police officers promptly left J.D.'s and entered their respective unmarked vehicles. As Officer Difrisco headed toward his vehicle he passed Smokey's and, as he did, the bartender of that bar told him that the white car is with the brown car. The police in their two unmarked units followed the brown and white cars. When the brown car went one way and the white another, one police vehicle followed each. Officer Difrisco, who followed the white vehicle, testified that he trailed the car for a few blocks and radioed for a marked unit nearby to block the road ahead. The white vehicle, which was said not to have been speeding nor committing any other traffic violation, was then stopped and the occupants, the defendants, were ordered out of the car. Officer Difrisco then testified as follows: I asked them to get out of the car, keep their hands where I could see them. I was standing in front of my car in the middle of the street with the blue and white police car of them, (sic) And they got out of the car, put their hands on the top of the car. When the examination continued, Officer Difrisco stated: I patted the subjects down and I was standing on the side of Martin, which was on the passenger side door. And I observed the pistol and red bandana laying on the floor board of the car. I verbally advised the subjects of their rights and of their rights to counsel, that they didn't have to tell me anything. I advised that they were suspects in an armed robbery. However, upon later cross-examination by defense counsel the witness gave a version of the arrest with some slight variation: Q. Okay. When you looked in there and saw a bandana and the gun, then that's when you advised them of their rights? A. I advised them of their rights after I patted them down. Q. You advised them of their rights after you patted them down that they were suspects? A. Right. Q. Okay. Then you went and looked in the car, is that correct? A. I looked in the car from where I was standing. Q. You looked in the car? A. Right. Q. You saw the gun on the floor and the bandana? A. Yes sir. Q. Alright. Then you looked on the seat and saw a coat with some money in it, is that correct? A. From the passenger side I could only see a coat and a hat. I walked over to the neutral ground and when I looked in the car from that side, I could see money sticking out of the pocket of the jacket. When I walked to the driver's side from the passenger side which was the neutral ground side of the street. Q. When did you notify them that they were under arrest for armed robbery?
This version of the facts indicates that the defendants were arrested when their vehicle was stopped and they were ordered to get out. The officer's later clarification of the arrest here at the suppression hearing is also more consistent with the testimony he gave at the trial wherein he described stopping of the vehicle, ordering the defendants out, making them assume the positions with their hands on the car, and then his viewing the evidence. The brown car was also stopped, but by Detective Rice, who testified that as he exited his vehicle to apprehend the occupants who had stopped at a traffic sign, a passenger bolted and ran but was apprehended after a chase on foot. The driver of the car also was arrested and from the front seat of that vehicle a pistol, sawed-off shotgun, and other evidence was seized.