People v. Boyd

PETERS, P. J.

After a trial before the court without a jury, defendant was convicted of the illegal possession of narcotics. He admitted a prior conviction for the same offense. On this appeal his sole contention is that his arrest and search were illegal because made without warrants and without reasonable and probable cause.

A federal narcotics agent, Prizborowski by name, testified that on May 14,1957, he received information from an informant that defendant, whom the informant described, was engaged in the narcotics traffic. The informant stated that defendant was a runner for a notorious narcotic dealer who was operating in the Fillmore District and who was known to the agent. The informant also stated that on several occasions he had purchased narcotics from the defendant, and that both the informant and defendant had used narcotics in the defendant’s place of abode. The address and apartment number of defendant’s residence were given. The agent also testified that the informant had previously given him information on four or five occasions and that such information had proved to be reliable. In each case, as a result of such information, arrests and convictions were secured. The defendant did not request the name of this informant.

The agent testified that several hours after receiving this information he and two other agents visited defendant’s apartment. Prizborowski knocked on the door. The defendant opened it just far enough to peek out. The officers identified themselves and the defendant then “opened the door wider and admitted us into the premises.” In response to a question from the officers the defendant stated that his name was “James Boyd.” As Prizborowski was talking to defendant he noticed what appeared to be old hypodermic needle marks on the hands and forearms of defendant. The defendant was then placed under arrest and the premises searched. In the pocket of a raincoat belonging to defendant two cellophane bags containing heroin were found. One of the officers remarked that it looked as if each bag had contained an ounce of heroin. Defendant then stated: “No, I spilled'a spoon of heroin in the bags and the powder that was left kind of stuck to the bags, but they weren’t full. They didn’t contain an

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ounce each. ’ ’ The agent admitted that he had neither a warrant of arrest nor a search warrant.