Cuff 'N Stuff
The Internal Newsletter of the Wise County Sheriff's
Department
06-01-01
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Cuff 'N Stuff 06-01-01 |
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Prisoner Escapes - To Another Jail SAN JOSE - An inmate at Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas broke out of a medium-security dorm at dawn last week, officials said, only to hop the wrong fence and end up next door at the women's jail. Officials said Arnold Ancheta, 25, apparently stood atop a bunk bed and punched holes in the wall to use as steps toward a skylight that he would eventually climb out of. Without revealing a how-to, authorities said Ancheta used a bed sheet and a mop handle to pry apart two of several bars that blocked the roof opening. He squeezed through the bars, balanced himself on top of them and broke out the Plexiglas-covered skylight. He jumped down about 20 feet from the roof. However, instead of heading toward the fence that leads to a public road, he jumped a smaller fence and ended up on the women's side of the facility, according to Mark Cursi, a Department of Corrections spokesman. The female inmates saw the man running around the yard and told correctional officers. Ancheta was found hunkered down in bushes, scraped and slightly bloody, officers said. They took him to a hospital, where he seemed to be in good condition, officials said. Officials took then Ancheta to the main jail in downtown San Jose and began retrofitting the dorm to prevent a repeat. Copyright ©2000 Dumb Crooks
I Am the Flag of the United States of America I am the flag of the United States
of America. I stand for peace, honor, truth and
justice. When I am flown with my fellow
banners, I bow to no one! I have fought in every battle of
every war I have been soiled upon, burned,
torn I have slipped the bonds of Earth When I am torn into strips MY NAME IS OLD GLORY LONG MAY I
WAVE.
Legal Issues - Search and Seizure SUSPECT’S BACKYARD CAN BE “SUSPICIOUS PLACE” JUSTIFYING WARRANTLESS ARREST Witnesses saw the car being driven by the defendant leaving the scene of a collision between the defendant’s car and one parked in a residential driveway. One witness followed the car until it pulled into a driveway and, after blocking the drive with his own car, the witness confronted the defendant. The defendant denied any recollection of the collision. Police officers were called to the scene, but before they arrived the defendant’s wife helped him from his car, and had to support him to keep him from falling. When the officers arrived, the defendant went into the house and to the backyard. The witness described to the police what had happened. The defendant’s wife confirmed that he was at home and had been driving the car. She then invited the officers into the house and told them that her husband was in the backyard. An officer found the defendant sitting in a chair in his backyard and asked the defendant what had happened. The defendant appeared intoxicated and admitted he had been drinking. He was arrested for DWI, and he eventually submitted to a breath test. The defendant later moved to suppress any evidence obtained as a result of his warrantless arrest. He claimed the arrest was unconstitutional and violated state law. Holding: When an arrest is made without a warrant, the State bears the burden of proving that the seizure nevertheless was reasonable. The State must show that probable cause supported a custodial arrest, based on the totality of the circumstances. In Texas, the State also must establish that some exception to the arrest warrant requirement justified the warrantless seizure. One of these exceptions is set forth in Article 14.03(a)(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In order to take advantage of the exception in Article 14.03(a)(1) the State must establish: (1) that probable cause existed to arrest the defendant and (2) that the defendant was in a “suspicious place.” “Whether a place is considered ‘suspicious’ for purposes of Article 14.03 is a highly fact-specific question.” Few places are “inherently suspicious.” A person’s backyard ordinarily would not be considered “suspicious,” but might become suspicious because of surrounding circumstances. The witnesses in this case followed the defendant home after he fled the scene of the collision. They related to the police officers who arrived at the defendant’s home the details of the incident, including their impression that the defendant was intoxicated. The defendant’s car had been damaged, and his wife admitted to the officers that he had been driving and was inside the house. After being admitted to the house and backyard, the officers asked the defendant whether he had been driving, and he admitted that he had. He also appeared to be intoxicated. The defendant’s backyard was not a “suspicious place” by itself, “or even coupled with probable cause to believe that a breach of the peace (had) occurred.” The nature of the offense did satisfy the requirement, though. Because the defendant was arrested for DWI and because “testing for alcohol levels is a time-sensitive matter,” the officers were authorized to treat the defendant’s backyard as a “suspicious place” that justified an immediate, warrantless arrest. Neither the Texas Constitution nor the United States Constitution was violated by this warrantless seizure. Probable cause existed under the totality of circumstances, and the defendant’s suppression motion was properly overruled. COMMENT: “Suspicious places” cases have proven difficult for courts, as they are for law enforcement. The confusion is caused largely by the fact that no place is necessarily suspicious; it is made suspicious by circumstances. If every place a suspect is found is considered “suspicious,” there is no significant warrant requirement left. The court in this case struggles with that problem and decides that there is an exigency (the loss of alcohol/intoxication evidence) that justified the warrantless arrest. In doing so, it makes clear that not every backyard is which a suspect is found will be a “suspicious place” for purposes of the statute. Sandoval v. State, 35 S.W.3d 763 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2000).
I would like to thank everyone who has called, visited, or said a prayer during my lengthy stay in the hospital. My recovery is ahead of schedule, but will still take some time. I hope to be out of the hospital soon to start my rehabilitation treatments. I appreciate all the concern and support. JEFF BROOKS Let’s keep Jeff in our prayers—ed.
From the Chaplain - Marilyn Featherstone CONTROLLING THE THINGS WE SAY We all could use a lesson in “biting our tongue.” A passage of scripture that has always had a lot of meaning to me is found in the New Testament in the book of James. Chapter three says, “We all make mistakes. If there were a person who never said anything wrong, then that person would be perfect. He would be able to control his whole body, too. We put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us. With these bits in the horses’ mouths, we can control their whole body.... it is the same with our tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it boasts about doing great things... “It is wild and evil; It is full of poison that can kill. We use our tongue to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people. Praises and curses come from the same mouth! My brothers and sisters, this should not happen...Do good water and bad water flow from the same spring? No! A well full of salty water cannot give good water.” So, keep a chain on your tongue: Never let an opportunity pass to say something kind to someone; Make it a rule to say nothing about a person unless it is something good; When someone is rude to you, don’t respond.. Your life and that of all the people around you will improve. Guaranteed!
You may be noticing some “missing computers” around the office during the next few weeks. We’re upgrading as many of the computers as we can, going to a computer chip that is about 10 times faster with four times as much memory, and also upgrading the operating system from Windows 98 to Windows 2000. Windows 2000 offers some great enhancements and security features. Once this upgrades are completed, we can get back on track with completing THOR—we needed the upgrades to get the massive capabilities of THOR to work efficiently. |
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Crime Does Not Have To Be A Fact Of Life |
