Opinion ID: 1518722
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Illegal Arrest and Suppression of Statement

Text: Prior to trial, Henderson moved to suppress his statement to Pulaski County deputy sheriffs as the fruit of the poisonous tree. His point in part was that the underlying arrest was illegal because it was made by deputies from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department while in Lonoke County, which was outside their territorial jurisdiction. The trial court denied his motion, and he makes the same argument on appeal. At the suppression hearing prior to trial, Corporal Terry Ward testified about the circumstances leading up to Henderson's arrest and his statement to Pulaski County deputy sheriffs. He testified that Gary Harris, after confessing to his involvement in the murder, volunteered to wear a body mike in order to implicate Henderson. Corporal Ward testified that he contacted Ernest Bush, who was a member of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department and who was also a member of the Metropolitan Little Rock Violent Crimes Joint Task Force (MetRock). Detective Bush had been deputized both as a special agent with the F.B.I. and as a U.S. Marshal. He testified that his MetRock duties often caused him to act in an official capacity outside of Pulaski County, and, thus, he had been deputized throughout the state. Detective Bush testified that he acquired a body recording device from the F.B.I. and received permission to do so from his supervisor, F.B.I. Special Agent Peatross. He testified that he was not told by his supervisor to make an arrest; rather, he was given permission to use the recording device. However, he stated that Special Agent Peatross knew that he would be involved in the investigation of the crime. Corporal Ward testified that the decision was made to arrest Henderson without a warrant in Lonoke County after overhearing his conversation with Gary Harris. It was made, after discussing the matter with a deputy prosecuting attorney, because Henderson told Harris that he would not be taken alive and that there would be a shootout if the police came to his house. Corporal Ward testified that Henderson was taken into custody due to safety considerations. Shortly after his arrest, Henderson waived his Miranda rights and gave the statement that was the subject of the suppression motion, wherein he admitted doing all of the shooting. His statement to the deputy sheriffs contradicted his testimony at trial because he placed the blame for the fatal shots on Gary Harris. The central issue presented by this point is what effect, if any, the presence of Detective Bush, who was also a MetRock deputy and U.S. Marshal, had on the legality of a warrantless arrest by deputies of the Pulaski County Sheriff in Lonoke County. The State, citing Logan v. State, 264 Ark. 920, 576 S.W.2d 203 (1979), argues that the arrest was legal because Detective Bush, who was deputized across the state, participated in Henderson's arrest. In Logan , a Crittenden County deputy sheriff sought to arrest Logan on charges of aggravated robbery while he was in St. Francis County. In order to effect the arrest, deputy sheriffs from Crittenden County requested the assistance of a St. Francis County deputy sheriff. After the arrest, Logan confessed to the crime and consented to a police search of his apartment. At the suppression hearing and on appeal, Logan sought to exclude his confession and the items seized as the fruit of an illegal arrest. This court dismissed the argument in summary fashion: We need not discuss these contentions, because it is a fair inference from Davis's testimony that Sam Hughes, the St. Francis County deputy, participated in the arrest. Logan v. State, 264 Ark. at 922, 576 S.W.2d at 205. In the instant case, the State argues that, as in Logan , Detective Bush participated in the arrest, thus avoiding any illegality. The State also cites this court to the standard of review, which carries a presumption in favor of the trial court's determination that the arrest was legal, with the burden of proving error resting on the appellant. See Humphrey v. State, 327 Ark. 753, 940 S.W.2d 860 (1997); Ross v. State, 300 Ark. 369, 779 S.W.2d 161 (1989). Henderson, however, directs this court's attention to Perry v. State, 303 Ark. 100, 102, 794 S.W.2d 141, 142-43 (1990), where we stated the blackletter law: A local peace officer acting without a warrant outside the territorial limits of the jurisdiction under which he holds office is without official power to apprehend an offender, unless he is authorized to do so by state statute. (Citing authority.) Id. After citing Davis v. Mississippi, 394 U.S. 721, 89 S.Ct. 1394, 22 L.Ed.2d 676 (1969), this court went on to conclude that evidence obtained as a direct result of an illegal detention was subject to the exclusionary rule. In Perry , this court also listed the four instances where the General Assembly had delegated the authority for law enforcement officers to make an arrest outside of their jurisdictions: (1) fresh pursuit cases under Ark.Code Ann. § 16-81-301 (1987); (2) when the police officer has a warrant for arrest, as provided by Ark.Code Ann. § 16-81-105 (1987); (3) when a local law enforcement agency requests an outside officer to come into the local jurisdiction and the outside officer is from an agency that has a written policy regulating its officers when they act outside their jurisdiction, as stated in Ark. Code Ann. § 16-81-106(c)(3)-(4) (Supp.1995); and (4) when a county sheriff requests that a peace officer from a contiguous county come into that sheriff's county and investigate and make arrests for violations of drug laws pursuant to Ark.Code Ann. § 5-64-705 (Repl. 1993). Perry v. State, 303 Ark. at 103, 794 S.W.2d at 143. None of those situations applies to the instant case. At the time of Henderson's arrest, three things are certain: (1) no federal offense was involved; (2) Detective Bush was not involved in a MetRock operation; and (3) Detective Bush was not given explicit permission by Special F.B.I. Agent Peatross to effect an arrest. While we can infer that he participated in the arrest under the reasoning of Logan v. State, supra , absent a federal crime or specific authority from his F.B.I. supervisor to make the arrest, Detective Bush had no authority to arrest Henderson for a state crime in Lonoke County. Hence, the arresting officers only had the authority to arrest that is granted a private citizen. Perry v. State, supra . Though we hold that Henderson's arrest was illegal, we still must examine whether that ultimately decides the matter. Before Henderson gave his incriminating statement to the deputy sheriffs in Pulaski County one hour after his arrest in Lonoke County, he was given his Miranda warnings. Thus, the question arises whether the Miranda warnings salvage a statement made by an accused irrespective of the illegality of the arrest. Though neither Henderson nor the State addresses the case of New York v. Harris, 495 U.S. 14, 110 S.Ct. 1640, 109 L.Ed.2d 13 (1990), we feel constrained to do so. In New York v. Harris, supra , police officers entered Harris's home without an arrest warrant, transported him to the police station, read him his Miranda rights, and took an incriminating statement. The New York Court of Appeals suppressed the statement as the fruit of a Fourth Amendment violation, and the Supreme Court reversed regardless of the fact that the arrest was made in Harris's home without a warrant in violation of Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). The Court stated: We hold that, where the police have probable cause to arrest a suspect, the exclusionary rule does not bar the State's use of a statement made by the defendant outside of his home, even though the statement is taken after an arrest made in the home in violation of Payton. New York v. Harris, 495 U.S. at 21, 110 S.Ct. at 1644-45. The case before us is not a Harris situation where the sanctity of the home was at issue. While probable cause clearly existed for Henderson's arrest before his statement was given, comparable to the circumstances in Harris , the arresting officers had no authority to make an arrest in a different jurisdictionLonoke County. To hold otherwise would countenance a procedure where an arresting officer could, with impunity, effect an arrest outside of his county, bring the accused back to his jurisdiction, and take an incriminating statement so long as the arresting officer advised the accused of his Miranda rights before obtaining the statement. We do not believe that Harris goes that far, and we decline to sanction police arrests beyond their territorial borders. The policy considerations behind our decision are significant. As we said in Perry v. State, supra: The traditional concept of territorial jurisdiction for peace officers is a sound one since a local community is best served by the requirement that local officers familiar with local neighborhoods make arrests in the community. People v. Hamilton, 666 P.2d 152 (Colo.1983). If such a concept were not followed a Pocahontas policeman could make an arrest in Paragould, a Texas Ranger could make an arrest in Fordyce, and a K.G.B. agent could make an arrest in Fort Smith. Such a practice would lead to more violence than it would suppress. McCaslin v. McCord, 116 Tenn. 690, 94 S.W. 79 (1906). Perry v. State, 303 Ark. at 103, 794 S.W.2d at 143. We hold that the statement of Michael Henderson given to deputy sheriffs in Pulaski County shortly after an illegal arrest in Lonoke County must be excluded. It was, therefore, error to receive it into evidence. Nor can we subscribe to the State's alternative argument that sufficient evidence remained at trial irrespective of Henderson's statement to the deputy sheriffs to support a guilty verdict and the sentence. Without Henderson's statement that he alone fired the fatal shots, the jury would be left with a swearing match between Gary Harris and Henderson as to who was the trigger man. Though under his own scenario, Henderson was an accomplice to the killing, we cannot say that his status as the actual killer did not influence the jury's verdict of capital murder as opposed to first-degree murder or second-degree murder as well as his sentence of life without parole. We reverse and remand this matter for further proceedings. There is one final matter that may reoccur on retrial. The prosecutor attempted to have Gary Harris testify about what Larry Harris told him about the plan to rob the Littles. Defense counsel objected on hearsay grounds and because the co-conspirator exception did not apply since Larry Harris had not been charged. We agree with the State that statements by a co-conspirator are not hearsay, if made during the course of and in furtherance of a conspiracy. See Ark. R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(v). Moreover, we agree that Rule 801(d)(2)(v) applies when a conspiracy is proved at trial by evidence independent of the statement regardless of whether the declarant is charged as a conspirator. Pyle v. State, 314 Ark. 165, 862 S.W.2d 823 (1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1197, 114 S.Ct. 1306, 127 L.Ed.2d 657 (1994); Smithey v. State, 269 Ark. 538, 602 S.W.2d 676 (1980). Reversed and remanded. ARNOLD, C.J., and GLAZE and THORNTON, JJ., dissent.