Court Opinion

ID: 9713946
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:26:53.640172+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:21.959146
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE RYAN, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I concur in the majority opinion insofar as it relates to the defendant Jimmy Bean, but I dissent from that part of the opinion of my colleagues which remands the case of Jessie and Frank Byrd to the trial court for a determination of the circumstances surrounding their arrest. The burden was on the Byrds to prove the illegality of their arrest. They relied, in the trial court and in our court, on the fact that Bean was illegally arrested and that Bean’s statement could not supply probable cause for their warrantless arrest. The opinion disposes of this contention by finding that Bean’s arrest was legal. Whatever other reason there may be for holding the arrest of the Byrds to be illegal, the burden was on them to establish facts in support of such a determination in the trial court. The opinion of my colleagues states that we are unable to determine from the record the circumstances surrounding the Byrds’ arrest. To me, this says that the Byrds have not proved that they were illegally arrested and thus they have not sustained their burden of proof. I can see no reason for giving them another opportunity to do so. I would therefore reverse the holding of the appellate court as to the Byrds and remand their cause to the trial court for trial on the question of guilt. MR. JUSTICE UNDERWOOD joins in this partial concurrence and partial dissent.