Cuff 'N Stuff
The Internal Newsletter of the Wise County Sheriff's
Department
12-28-01
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Cuff 'N Stuff 12-28-01 |
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Dumb CrooksTM Crook Given Away by His ID-Containing Dallas Cowboys Jacket LARGO, FL -- At first, it seemed like the burglar had caught a lucky break. The man walked onto the Silver Bar's patio early Friday and tried the door. It was unlocked. The burglar stepped inside. He didn't go to the cash registers, which were empty anyway. Instead, he started pilfering the booze. He swiped 26 bottles of beer, most of them Michelob Lights. He also collected four bottles of the hard stuff: Stoli Vodka, Absolut Vodka, Capt. Morgan's coconut rum and 1800 Tequila. That's more than one man can carry, so the burglar shed his Dallas Cowboys jacket and started using it as a bag. He stuffed bottles in the arms and pockets and hauled the glass-bulked jacket outside the bar at 13707 58th St. N. But unbeknown to the burglar, he had tripped a silent alarm. And when a police officer walked up to the bar and put a flashlight in his face just before 6 a.m., the burglar dashed away. Police searched for about an hour, but the man got away. He did leave something behind: the Dallas Cowboys jacket. And inside one of the pockets were documents with a man's name, date of birth and personal information. Police say the name on those documents is that of Marvin Edington, a 44-year-old transient. One of the documents was an arrest affidavit dated Nov. 7 chronicling how Edington was arrested for trespassing. The other document was a printout that had Edington's mug shot on it, taken Oct. 26, when Edington was arrested for having an open container of beer. Police say it is likely Edington is their burglar. Police lifted fingerprints from the crime scene that they will compare with fingerprints taken when Edington was previously arrested. Police said the burglar had dragged more than $100 worth of booze out of the bar before the first officer arrived. "It appeared he was making trips in and out of the bar with the bottles," said Officer Randy Chaney, who was at the scene. "He was basically filling up his jacket with as much as he could carry away. "He didn't touch the cash registers," Chaney added. "He apparently had a single mission that evening." Copyright ©2000 Dumb Crooks
New Resource to Fight Domestic Violence WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Justice (DOJ), in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced today the launch of a new Web-based resource, Toolkit to End Violence Against Women, aimed to strengthen prevention efforts and improve services to victims of domestic violence. “Violence against women crosses all economic, educational, cultural, racial and religious lines,” said Attorney General John Ashcroft. “This invaluable tool was developed to aid in the effort to eradicate such violence from our society.” “It is far better to prevent violence against women than to deal with its devastating consequences for individual women, their children and their families,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. “This Toolkit will help communities around the country design and implement effective programs to prevent violence.” The Toolkit, developed by experts in the areas of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, was designed to assist individuals, policy leaders and community efforts to end violence against women. Comprised of 16 chapters, the Toolkit offers best practices and other recommendations to assist localities in an easily accessible, user-friendly format to help readers pinpoint topics of interest. The Toolkit is intended to be a valuable resource for communities, organizations and individuals who deal with these issues on a daily basis. For example, chapters cover areas such as the criminal justice system, health, sports, faith, the media, the military and entertainment. “The Toolkit is a living document that will continually evolve as new practices and resources arise in the effort to eliminate violence against women,” said Attorney General Ashcroft. The Toolkit was developed by the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women, which is co-chaired by DOJ and HHS. To access the Web-based Toolkit, go to toolkit.ncjrs.org. Information about this and other initiatives involving violence against women is available on the Violence Against Women Office’s Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo or the Office of Justice Program’s Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov, or by calling the National Criminal Justice Reference Service toll-free at 1-800/851-3420.
Legal Issues - Search and Seizure UNSOLICITED INFORMATION FROM CITIZEN FORMS BASIS FOR INVESTIGATIVE STOP As an officer was in the process of arresting a man on a traffic warrant, a taxi pulled into the parking lot where the officer was standing. The taxi driver approached the officer and told him he had seen a white pickup truck driving “all over the road” and that he “believed [the driver] was drunk.” About that time, a white pickup pulled into the parking lot, and the taxi driver said to the officer, “That’s it right there.” The truck, driven by the defendant, drove around the parking lot before being stopped by the officer. As the driver got out of the truck, at the request of the officer, he grabbed the side of the truck to keep his balance. The man’s eyes were bloodshot and he smelled strongly of alcohol. A second officer administered field sobriety tests which the defendant failed. Following his arrest for DWI, the defendant moved to suppress evidence obtained as a result of the stop. He claimed that the detention was without reasonable suspicion that he was involved in criminal activity, and, therefore, was unlawful. During the suppression hearing, the officer testified that the “sole basis” for stopping the defendant was the unsolicited information provided by the taxi driver who approached and spoke to him in the parking lot. The trial judge ordered all evidence suppressed on the grounds that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause to support the stop. The court also expressly found that the officer’s testimony, which was the only testimony at the hearing, was credible. The State appealed the suppression order. Holding: A temporary investigative stop depends on an officer having a reasonable suspicion, based on specific, articulable facts, that the detained person was involved in some unusual activity related to crime. “Reasonable suspicion, like probable cause, is dependent upon both the content of the information possessed by the police and its degree of reliability.” Both of these factors are considered in the “totality of the circumstances” to determine whether reasonable suspicion existed. Because the trail judge expressly found the officer’s testimony to be credible, the question for resolution in this case was whether the statements related to the officer by the citizen informant constituted reasonable suspicion. “A tip by an unnamed informant of undisclosed reliability standing alone rarely will establish the requisite level of reasonable suspicion necessary to justify an investigative detention.” In a case in which the informant’s reliability is unknown, some additional reason usually must exist to indicate the tip is reliable and the detention is justified. Courts that have considered the reliability of “unsolicited information” given to an officer by an informant “in a face-to-face manner,” have sometimes concluded that such information “should be given serious attention and great weight by the officer.” The most significant reason for the officer in this case to trust the information he received about the defendant was that it was unsolicited and given by the taxi driver in a face-to-face manner,” have sometimes concluded that such information “should be given serious attention and great weight by the officer.” The most significant reason for the officer in this case to trust the information he received about the defendant was that it was unsolicited and given by the taxi driver in a face-to-face conversation with the officer. By presenting himself to the officer, the taxi driver “put himself in a position where he could have been held accountable for his intervention.” Nothing in the circumstances of the encounter would have caused the officer to doubt the good faith or reliability of the cab driver. The information was specific about the kind of criminal activity and other details. Based on the information he had from the citizen informant, and taken in light of his experience and personal knowledge, the officer possessed reasonable suspicion that supported his stop of the defendant. Because reasonable suspicion based on the taxi driver’s tip existed for the stop, the trial court should not have granted the defendant’s suppression motion. COMMENT: Information obtained from a citizen may provide reasonable suspicion or even probable cause. In either case, though, the information must be shown to be credible. Where an informant presents himself to the police and relates facts, thereby subjecting himself to what the court calls “accountability,” the information is likely to be truthful and accurate. An anonymous tip by telephone, on the other hand, lacks that kind of presumption of reliability. It might also supply probable cause or reasonable suspicion, but other means – often corroboration by an officer’s investigation for observation – must be used to establish the reliability of the informant and his information. It is useful in “citizen informant” cases for officers to obtain the identity of the informant, and detailed information about the suspected offense and the persons involved. State v. Fudge, 42 S.W.3d 226 (Tex. App. – Austin 2001).
From the Chaplain - Marilyn Featherstone FOR THE NEW YEAR THANK GOD, WE CAN START ANEW! In December 1914, a great sweeping fire destroyed Thomas Edison’s laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, wiping out nearly two million dollars worth of equipment and the record of much of his work. Edison’s son Charles ran around frantically trying to find his father. Finally he came up on him, standing near the fire, his face ruddy in the glow, his white hair blown by the winter winds. “My heart ached for him,” Charles said. “He was no longer young, and everything was being destroyed. He spotted me. ‘Where’s your mother?’ he shouted. ‘Find her. Bring her here. She’ll never see anything like this again as long as she lives.’” The next morning, walking about the charred embers of so many of his hopes and dreams, the sixty-seven-year-old Edison, said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew.” This New Year’s Day, let’s make this a time when WE start anew.
Cyber Space—Trojan Virus WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! |
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Crime Does Not Have To Be A Fact Of Life |
