Court Opinion

ID: 9660235
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 22:08:24.437419+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:16.871282
License: Public Domain

John I. Purtle, Justice, dissenting. Neither the Arkansas General Assembly nor the Supreme Court of Arkansas has the power to invalidate the 4th and the 14th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America. The majority opinion, it seems to me, has attempted to either annul or circumvent the provisions of those Amendments. The court cannot contravene the United States Constitution through the use of misnomers. That is precisely what the majority opinion has attempted to do by substituting the word “inspection” for “search.” A rose by any other name smells the same. The locked cargo trailer, a part of an 18 wheeled rig, was parked alongside the highway and a number of law enforcement officers were present and in total control of the situation. There is absolutely no reason why these officers could not have obtained a search warrant for the cargo trailer, even if they had to wait a few hours. The cargo was secured and in the safe keeping of the officers and the driver had already been arrested and placed in custody. The actual reason for failing to obtain a search warrant pursuant to the 4th Amendment to the Constitution was summed up by the transportation officer’s statement that they had authority under the Arkansas Motor Carrier Act, Ark. Stat. Ann. § 73-1754 et seq. (Repl. 1979), to search the cargo compartment. It is one of our most fundamental principles of government that a state statute cannot override the Constitution. If the officers had probable cause to believe the cargo trailer contained contraband then a search warrant was required before cutting the lock from the container compartment. Richard Birtcher stated, as he was breaking the lock from the cargo container, that he “didn’t have any idea what was inside the sealed unit.” The answer to the Constitutional question is clearly resolved in Article 6 section 2 of the Constitution of the United States which states: This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof... shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding. The above quoted language from the Constitution needs no further explanation in relation to the facts in the case before us. Today we authorized the breaking into a person’s sealed trailer without benefit of a search warrant. Tomorrow we may authorize breaking off a lock from the front door of a citizen’s home if it is suspected he has contraband therein. The majority opinion relating to the qualifications of John Scott is most amusing. They boldly assert that John Scott was not an expert, indicating in the process that there is no particular value to the art of graphology. Yet, the majority opinion clearly sets out enough qualifications and credentials to indicate that John Scott was qualified to testify as an expert. It is my opinion that John Scott’s testimony should have been admitted pursuant to Uniform Rules of Evidence, Rule 702. His testimony could have been tested by the state pursuant to Rule 703. I still believe in a strict construction of the Constitution of the United States and submit that the search and seizure as conducted in this case clearly violated the 4th Amendment.