Rainer v. State
| Docket Number: | 2003-KA-01868-COA Linked Case(s): 2003-KA-01868-COA |
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| Oral Argument: | 08-09-2005 | |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 11-28-2006 Opinion Author: King, C.J. Holding: Reversed and Rendered; Appellant Discharged |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Possession of cocaine - Motion to suppress - Warrantless arrest Judge(s) Concurring: Lee, P.J., Chandler, Barnes and Ishee, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Southwick and Roberts, JJ. Dissenting Author : Griffis, J. Dissent Joined By : Myers, P.J. Dissenting Author : Irving, J., without separate written opinion Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 07-07-2003 Appealed from: Hinds County Circuit Court Judge: Bobby DeLaughter Disposition: CONVICTED OF POSSESSION OF COCAINE; SENTENCED TO FIFTEEN YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF MDOC, EIGHT YEARS SUSPENDED, SEVEN YEARS TO SERVE AND THREE YEARS’ SUPERVISED PROBATION. District Attorney: ELEANOR JOHNSON PETERSON Case Number: 02-1-321 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Thaddious Rainer a/k/a Bennie Thompson a/k/a Thaddous Erantag Rainer |
Julie Ann Epps, Samuel H. Wilkins |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | Billy L. Gore |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Possession of cocaine - Motion to suppress - Warrantless arrest |
| Summary of the Facts: | The motion for rehearing is denied, and this opinion is substituted for the original opinion. Thaddous Rainer was convicted of possession of more than thirty grams of cocaine and was sentenced to fifteen years, with eight years suspended, seven years to serve and three years of post-release supervision. He appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Rainer argues that the court erred in denying his motion to suppress. An officer may, consistent with the Fourth Amendment, make a brief, investigatory detention without a warrant when the officer has a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot. An officer who makes such a stop must be able to point to specific and articulable facts that justify the intrusion. The reasonableness of official suspicion must be measured by what the officers knew before they initiated the search. The State argues that the officers in this case had reasonable suspicion to detain Rainer temporarily because he purportedly attempted to flee the scene when approached by police operating in what they believed to be a high crime area. There was no direct evidence that Rainer actually fled from the police. In his report, the officer stated that when he exited his car and identified himself as an officer, Rainer “began to back out of the parking lot in an effort to flee.” This bare, uncorroborated assertion is not supported by any facts submitted by the State. There is no evidence of the speed at which Rainer attempted to exit the parking lot, nor is there evidence that Rainer drove erratically upon trying to leave. As the officers in this case did not have reasonable suspicion to detain Rainer, the evidence against him should have been suppressed as the fruit of an unconstitutional search and seizure. |
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