CHARLES CHAVIS, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court affirmed conviction for heroin possession, holding that police inventory search of defendant's bloodied clothing at a hospital was lawful as a valid evidence preservation procedure requiring no warrant.
Police may conduct a warrantless inventory search of clothing impounded as evidence in the course of investigating a crime.
[1] Police may conduct a warrantless inventory search of clothing impounded as evidence during the investigation of a crime for purposes of preserving material evidence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDefendant was stabbed and taken to a hospital emergency room. While being treated, police arrived to investigate the stabbing and impounded the defend…
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On this appeal by the defendant from a judgment of conviction of possession of a narcotic drug, the appellant contends it was error to deny his motion to suppress the evidence, consisting of a quantity of heroin, which it is argued was obtained by an unlawful search and seizure.
The appellant was stabbed by a known person. The wound was substantial. *545While he was in the emergency room of a hospital being treated therefor, lying on a cot or treatment table, a police officer investigating the crime arrived at the hospital. Certain of the victim’s clothing, which had been removed from him, and which was bloodied, was lying at his feet in a plastic bag. The police officer impounded the bloody clothing as evidence. Upon making an inventory search thereof the officer found a package of heroin, which then became the basis of the charge imposed.
In the circumstances presented the trial court ruled correctly in denying the motion to suppress. The action of the police was properly regarded by the court to have been in the course of valid procedure in the investigation of a crime, for the preservation of material evidence, justifying the inventory search of the (clothing) evidence without warrant. Ker v. California, 374 U.S. 23, 83 S.Ct. 1623, 10 L.Ed.2d 726; Harris v. United States, 390 U.S. 234, 88 S.Ct. 992, 19 L.Ed.2d 1067; Godbee v. State, Fla.App.1969, 224 So.2d 441.
Affirmed.
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Cited By
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Pineda v. State, 332 So. 2d 677 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See State v. Hines, Fla.1967, 195 So. 2d 550 and State v. Padilla, Fla.App. 1970, 235 So. 2d 309; Moore v. Wainwright, Fla.App.1971, 248 So. 2d 262; Riley v. State, Fla.App.1972, 266 So. 2d 173; Chavis v. State, Fla.App.1973, 274 So. 2d 544; Jones v. State, Fla.App.1973, 276 So. 2d 550.…
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Chavis v. Louie L. Wainwright, 488 F.2d 1077 (5th Cir. 1973)…avis was convicted in a Florida state court for the offense of unlawful possession of a narcotic drug. On direct appeal he unsuccessfully argued that the drug was obtained as a result of an unlawful search and seizure. Chavis v. State, Fla.App.1973, 274 So. 2d 544. He has therefore exhausted his state remedies. McCluster v. Wainwright, 5 Cir. 1972, 453 F. 2d 162. The facts are largely uncontradicted. Chavis was stabbed in the back by his girl friend. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition. He was…
Authorities Cited
- KER et ux. v. California, 374 U.S. 23 (U.S. 1963)
- Harris v. United States, 390 U.S. 234 (U.S. 1968)
- Felda Douglas Godbee v. State, 224 So. 2d 441 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969)