United States v. Albert Spearman, Jr.

Spearman was convicted on six counts of a seven-count indictment for possession of stolen mail, 18 U.S.C. § 1708 . The sole question on appeal is whether the district court properly denied a motion to suppress the stolen checks forming the basis for his conviction. We affirm.

On April 14, 1975, a Pasadena municipal court magistrate issued a search warrant for the persons of Spearman and an accomplice, an apartment located in Pasadena, and a 1973 Cadillac convertible registered in Spearman’s name. The affidavit in support of the search warrant request related circumstances under which a previously reliable informant made a controlled heroin purchase from Spearman at his Pasadena apartment. The police officer’s affidavit also stated that he had seen both Spearman and his accomplice in the Cadillac on numerous occasions, but there was no specific information that any heroin was ever seen in the automobile. The affidavit concluded: “It is commonplace for dealers of heroin to have heroin that is packaged for sale in the place where they live or sell from, in their vehicles or on their persons.”

April 22, Spearman was arrested while driving his Cadillac. Pursuant to the…