Court Opinion

ID: 9744332
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:01:00.755956+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:48.616931
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE BARRY, specially concurring: I agree fully with the result reached by the majority in this case, but feel compelled, however, to comment briefly upon the validity of the inital stop of the Blixt vehicle which the majority labels as “questionable.” Deputy Thompson’s testimony was that in investigating the burglary at the Sward’s home, Mr. Sward mentioned that a pair of small wooden cabinet stereo speakers were missing, among other items. Thompson stated that at that point in time he remembered having seen a similar pair of speakers in the back of the defendants’ car at the Boughton’s home. Incidental to his investigation of the Sward burglary he uncovered evidence that the Swards themselves were suspected burglars, and many stolen articles were discovered. When the defendants’ car was observed driving by the Sward home in direct contravention of police instructions that they stay away, Deputy Thompson testified that he thought of the speakers he had previously seen in defendants’ car. I believe the connection between the speakers that Mr. Sward reported as having been stolen from his home and the similar speakers the officer observed in the Blixt auto was sufficient justification to stop the Blixts for further investigation. It could reasonably be inferred from the circumstances presented to Officer Thompson that the Blixts had committed an offense in connection with the Sward burglary. Under the Illinois statute allowing temporary questioning without arrest (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, §107 — 14) the police officer was justified in stopping the Blixts’ vehicle. The Blixt car being a fleeting mobile target presented a strong likelihood that if they were not then stopped the suspected stereo speakers could be removed and secreted from any further police investigation. These exigent circumstances justified a stop of the defendants on the basis of probable cause to believe that their moving vehicle contained the fruits of a recent burglary which might be destroyed if the stop and investigation was not conducted forthwith. (See Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 69 L. Ed. 543,45 S. Ct. 280 (1925).) I, therefore, believe the initial stop of the defendants’ automobile and investigation concerning stolen speakers was legally justified. The further police action in searching the entire vehicle including the locked glove compartment was not justifiable, and I concur with the disposition of those aspects of the case as presented in the majority opinion.