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State v. Pinela3/5/1992
BLACK, Judge.
Defendant appeals his conviction for possession of cocaine. He argues that the Roswell Municipal Court bench warrant was invalid, and if it was not, Officer Steinbeck was not authorized to execute it in Dexter. The trial court made the following rulings: (1) the warrant was valid, even though not based on a sworn affidavit; and (2) the arrest was legal because a Chaves County sheriff's deputy has the authority to arrest a person in Chaves County based on a Roswell Municipal Court bench warrant. We affirm.
FACTS
Marvin Steinbeck, a police officer in Dexter, stopped Defendant in that city because he was not wearing a seat belt. After Defendant gave Officer Steinbeck his driver's license, Steinbeck ran a license check and a local warrant check on Defendant. The routine check revealed there was an outstanding bench warrant from Roswell on Defendant. Officer Steinbeck took Defendant into custody and did a pat-down search. During the pat-down search, Officer Steinbeck found a small metal tin in Defendant's right trouser pocket. Officer Steinbeck opened the tin and found a small brown vial and three wrapping papers that tested positive for cocaine.
Prior to trial, Defendant filed a motion to suppress on the ground that the Roswell bench warrant was invalid, but that even if it had been valid, Officer Steinbeck lacked authority to execute the warrant.
Lorraine Lucero, a senior clerk at the Roswell Municipal Court, testified at the suppression hearing concerning that court's warrant procedures. She stated that when the clerk's office first receives notice a party has been cited, a card is completed and a computer file is opened. The computer file contains the necessary information about the individual and the fine imposed. If an individual does not pay the fine on or before the date listed on the original citation or any authorized extension, the court's computer automatically prints an order to show cause. Ms. Lucero further testified that in processing the show cause orders, a court clerk mails the original order to the defendant, and places a copy of the order in the court's file. The show cause order contains a deadline by which the defendant must pay the fine or request an extension. If an individual fails to pay or appear by the requisite date, a bench warrant is automatically printed by the court's computer. When the bench warrant is issued, the clerk's office checks each party's file and makes sure that a show cause order was printed and mailed before the bench warrant is sent to the Judge for signature. Although the clerks do not swear out an affidavit, they do write the amount of the bond or fine for the Judge on an affidavit form. Ms. Lucero testified that this "affidavit" is also filled out by the clerks to indicate when the show cause order expired, and other general information for the Judge's use.
At the suppression hearing, Officer Steinbeck testified that although he was a Dexter police officer at the time of Defendant's arrest, he was also commissioned as a sheriff's deputy in Chaves County, where both the city of Roswell and Dexter are located.
VALIDITY OF THE BENCH WARRANT
SCRA 1986, 8-206 (Repl. Pamp. 1990) (Rule 8-206), governs the issuance of bench warrants by municipal Judges. Rule 8-206(A) provides that unless the transgression on which the bench warrant is based is
within the court's "personal knowledge," the warrant may not be issued "except upon a sworn written statement of probable cause." Defendant argues that because the Judge had no "personal kno
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