Sellars v. State

Hornby, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. On this appeal from his conviction for breaking and entering and grand larceny, the defendant (Billy Eugene Sellars) contends that cigarettes found in the trunk of the automobile he was operating with a defective license tag light were improperly admitted in evidence. A state trooper engaged in patrolling the Baltimore-Washington Boulevard at night observed a nineteen-fifty Plymouth sedan traveling thereon with no light over its rear temporary registration tag. The trooper followed the automobile for about an eighth of a mile, and as the patrol car was about to pull abreast of the automobile, the defendant drove onto the shoulder of the highway, stopped and got out.

The trooper came to a halt a few feet behind the automobile, put his high beam ⁶⁰ lights on and also got out as the defendant approached him. Two passengers in the automobile remained therein. After informing the defendant that he had been stopped because his tag light was out, the trooper volunteered to show the defendant what he was talking about. When asked to produce his operator’s license and registration card, the defendant exhibited his, operator’s license and another card.

The license was in order, but the trooper never had an opportunity to even see the other card. There was a conflict in the evidence as to what thereafter transpired. The trooper testified that as he took hold of the tag light to jiggle it while he and the defendant were standing between the two vehicles, the trunk of the sedan flew open. The defendant testified that the trooper turned the trunk handle and lifted the lid without his permission.

An automobile mechanic testified that the trunk mechanism on nineteen-fifty Plymouths was such that the lid would not open unless it was manually raised by a pull upwards after turning the handle, but stated that while it was improbable, it was not impossible for the lid to spring up as the result of pressure from the inside. The opened trunk revealed a large quantity of cigarettes in cartons partially covered with what appeared to be blood. When asked where the cigarettes came from, the defendant stated that he was hauling them for someone. The trooper, disbelieving the explanation, drew his revolver and placed the defendant under arrest.

While the trooper kept him covered and attempted to approach the other occupants of the automobile, the defendant fled and successfully escaped as the trooper fired a warning shot. After a search of the other two persons (and the discovery on them of a large number of cigars), they, along with the cigarettes found in the trunk, were taken to a state police station. At the time of arrest and the ensuing seizure of the cigarettes, the trooper was not aware that a service station located within a mile of the place of arrest had been broken into and robbed of the cigarettes seen in the automobile. Nor was the trooper patrolling the area in search of any particular person.

On the contrary, except for the traffic