Opinion
No. 2-306 / 01-0744.
Filed June 19, 2002.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, JAMES C. BAUCH, Judge.
Shane Johnson appeals his conviction of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. AFFIRMED.
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Shellie Knipfer, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Mary Tabor, Assistant Attorney General, Thomas J. Ferguson, County Attorney, and John Lammers, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by SACKETT, C.J., and HUITINK and HECHT, JJ.
Shane Johnson appeals his conviction of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver in violation of Iowa Code section 124.401(1)(c) (1999). Johnson argues that the district court erred in overruling his motion to suppress evidence seized incidental to his warrantless arrest without probable cause. We affirm.
I. Background Facts and Procedures .
The record below includes the following evidence: Johnson was arrested and charged with this offense based on information furnished by a confidential informant. The informant told Waterloo police officer Richard Knief that a man named Shane was supplying methamphetamine for sale at a residence located at 718 Dawson Street in Waterloo. The officer was also told that Shane's presence there could be confirmed by a blue Ford Escort parked on the street in front of the residence.
Knief's subsequent surveillance disclosed the presence of the blue Escort as indicated by the informant. Knief also observed several vehicles stop at the residence and their occupants enter and leave after a brief stay. Knief, based on his investigative experience, believed this traffic was consistent with drug dealing. Knief stopped and searched one of the cars leaving the residence. This search yielded both marijuana and methamphetamine. As a result, the occupants of this vehicle were arrested for possession of the drugs seized. The driver, Roland Anderson, told Knief that he lived at 718 Dawson and consented to Knief's request to search those premises. Anderson also told Knief that his friend Shane was the driver of the blue Escort Knief saw earlier. Anderson further indicated that Shane had borrowed his Explorer and was running some errands with it at that time. On the return trip to 718 Dawson to conduct the requested search, Knief encountered Johnson driving Anderson's Explorer. Knief thereupon stopped and arrested Johnson. During the search of Anderson's Explorer incidental to Johnson's arrest, Knief found both marijuana and methamphetamine.
As noted earlier, Johnson moved to suppress any evidence seized as a result of this arrest claiming Knief lacked the requisite probable cause for a warrantless arrest. The district court, citing the foregoing evidence, denied Johnson's motion, resulting in this appeal.
II. Scope of Review .
Because Johnson raises issues implicating his constitutional rights, our review of the district court's ruling on Johnson's motion to suppress is de novo. State v. Turner, 630 N.W.2d 601, 606 (Iowa 2001).
III. The Merits .
Johnson argues Knief lacked the requisite probable cause to arrest him without a warrant. He cites the absence of any fact known to Knief at the time of the arrest linking him to the possession or sale of narcotics. We disagree.
A police officer may make a warrantless arrest if the officer has "reasonable ground for believing that an indictable public offense has been committed and has reasonable ground for believing that the person to be arrested has committed it." Iowa Code § 804.7(3). If probable cause exists the police are not required to obtain a warrant before apprehending a suspected felon in a public place. United States v. Watson, 423 U.S. 411, 423-24, 96 S.Ct. 820, 828, 46 L.Ed.2d 598, 609 (1976); State v. Luloff, 325 N.W.2d 103, 105 (Iowa 1982). Probable cause exists when the facts and circumstances within the arresting officer's knowledge would warrant a person of reasonable caution to believe that an offense has been committed and the person to be arrested committed it. State v. Bradford, 620 N.W.2d 503, 508 (Iowa 2000). All of the evidence available to the arresting officer may be considered, regardless of whether each component would support a finding of probable cause by itself. State v. Harris, 490 N.W.2d 561, 563 (Iowa 1992).
We, like the district court, find the foregoing evidence provided sufficient probable cause for Johnson's warrantless arrest. At the time he arrested Johnson, Knief had been told by a previously reliable informant that a man named Shane was selling drugs at 718 Dawson Street. Additionally, Knief had confirmed Johnson's earlier presence at that address, observed activity consistent with drug dealing, and arrested the occupant of the residence at 718 Dawson for possession of marijuana and methamphetamine. The district court's ruling denying Johnson's motion to suppress and resulting judgment of conviction are therefore affirmed.
AFFIRMED.