Court Opinion

ID: 9721902
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:12:11.195369+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:05:23.501681
License: Public Domain

GIVAN, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion that officers had no probable cause to arrest the appellant on November 26, 1978. At page 742 of the majority opinion there is a quotation from the examination of Sergeant McClellan as to the appellant’s arrest on November 26. However, close examination of this entire testimony, as found in the transcript beginning at page 246, discloses that Officer Shane McClellan was not in on the initial investigation of the crime, but came into the investigation at about 10:00 a. m. on the morning of November 26. He stated that he was not satisfied with the reports he read of the investigation up to that point and that he and other officers decided they should talk to the appellant, J. W. Morris, his brother, Dana Morris and one, Johnny Ray Jones, once more. He pointed out in his testimony that in addition to those three persons, eight other persons had been questioned at police headquarters concerning the facts of the night before. It was during this further questioning, on the morning of the 26th, that it finally became apparent to police officers, based upon statements made by the appellant himself, that the appellant was a prime suspect in the case. It was at that time, from Officer McClellan’s point of view, that appellant was placed under arrest. However, more important to the issues in this case, is the question of when the Muncie police officers actually obtained evidence which could be considered to be probable cause for the arrest of the appellant.
An overall examination discloses that on the night of the shooting, police officers first investigating the case discovered that a window had been shot out of a house by shotgun blast a short distance from where the victim of the crime had been killed by a shotgun. Upon making investigation at the house where the window had been shot out, police learned that one Hugh Morris, father of the appellant, was residing there at the time and that on a prior occasion appellant had broken the windows out of Hugh Morris’ automobile. Further investigation *745showed that a short time before the shooting appellant, asked to talk with Hugh Morris “ but was refused that opportunity. Hugh Morris told police officers that he suspected his son as being the one who shot out the window with a shotgun belonging to Hugh Morris. Hugh Morris then went with police officers to the home where appellant was staying in an attempt to recover the shotgun. A shotgun was recovered that night, but turned out not to be the one used in the killing.
Unfortunately, this record does not contain all of the evidence obtained by the police officers that night in their interview of the eight persons in addition to the three suspects, but contains only the conclusion of officers that after conducting such interviews they came to the conclusion that J. W. Morris, Dana Morris and John Jones were suspects. However, notwithstanding the confusion as to exactly when appellant J. W. Morris was arrested, if we presume for the sake of argument that he was arrested when taken into custody a little after 10:00 on the morning of the 26th of November, the police officers at that time had ample evidence from which the trial judge could logically deduce that there was probable cause for the arrest of the appellant. The statements of appellant’s father alone, to the police officers on the night of the shooting would constitute ample evidence of such probable cause. The mere fact that appellant was one of at least 11 people who were talked to by various police officers on the night of the shooting and was allowed to remain at large following that first interview, does not detract from the fact that once police officer reassembled at police headquarters and discussed their collective information in the matter, they came to the conclusion they had probable cause for the arrest of the appellant. This becomes apparent from the testimony of Officer Shane McClellan, found in the transcript at page 265.
Furthermore, the case at bar is a far cry, factually, from the cases cited in the majority opinion, for the proposition that a war-rantless arrest without probable cause requires the suppression of all evidence obtained as a result of that arrest. In those cases the conviction turns upon the evidence received in such a manner. In the case at bar, although there was evidence by way of a shotgun which was obtained as a result of the arrest, as well as an inculpatory statement made by the appellant, which one might say was the result of the arrest, the evidence actually presented to the jury far exceeded the evidence obtained as a result of the arrests. The co-defendant John Jones testified in detail as to the happenings on the night of the killing, implicating both himself and the appellant. Appellant’s wife also testified in detail concerning a conspiracy between appellant, Jones, Dana Morris and appellant’s mother, to kill appellant’s father. She also stated that after the shooting appellant, Jones and Dana all returned to the house, after which she learned they had shot the decedent. Appellant himself testified at his own trial, contradicting the statement he made on the 26th of November, stating at the trial that it was in fact Jones who had done the shooting and not the appellant, although he admitted freely that he had accompanied Jonés on the night of the shooting. The appellant’s brother Dana also testified that he was present when the shooting occurred but backed up the appellant in stating that it was Jones who did the shooting. He freely admitted that his brother, the appellant, was present, at the time. In his testimony the appellant attempted to convey the idea to the jury that although he was present during the time of the shooting, the conspiracy actually did not include him but was between Jones and appellant’s mother and that he did not really realize what Jones was attempting to do on the night of the killing. If one completely disregards all evidence obtained as a result of appellant’s arrest, there is still more than ample evidence in this record to sustain the decision of the trial court.
In summation, there is no question but what the record contains ample evidence from which the trial judge could determine there was probable cause for the arrest of the appellant on November 26, 1978. *746Therefore the evidence obtained as a result of the questioning following such arrest was admissible. I therefore would not reverse this case on that point of law.
PIVARNIK, J., concurs.