SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
No. CR 06-496
RANDY MELVIN BRUCE,
APPELLANT;
VS.
STATE OF ARKANSAS,
APPELLEE;
Opinion Delivered OCTOBER 26, 2006
APPEAL FROM THE POINSETT
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT; NO. CR-05-
213; HON. DAVID N. LASER, JUDGE;
AFFIRMED.
DONALD L. CORBIN, Associate Justice
Appellant Randy Melvin Bruce appeals the order of the Poinsett County Circuit Court
denying his motion to suppress photographs, computer disks, 8-millimeter films, and VHS
tapes seized from his home. Bruce entered a conditional plea of guilty to one count of rape,
pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 24.3(b), and was sentenced to a term of forty years’
imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction. On appeal, he now argues that the
trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence on the basis that it was obtained
in violation of his constitutional rights, as a result of his wife searching his things and turning
them over to law-enforcement officers. Additionally, Bruce argues that an officer’s action
of viewing the materials prior to the issuance of a search warrant also constituted an illegal
search. We find no error and affirm.
In the early morning hours of May 22, 2005, Investigator Joey Martin of the Poinsett
County Sheriff’s Office received a call requesting that he go to a home on Raby Road to
investigate items discovered by Tomasina Bruce, Appellant’s wife, that she described as
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CR 06-496
child pornography. When Investigator Martin arrived at the home, Mrs. Bruce handed over
several items that she said belonged to her husband. The items included nude photographs
of Mrs. Bruce’s granddaughter and great-niece. Mrs. Bruce also turned over some VHS
tapes, 8-millimeter films, and computer disks. Mrs. Bruce told Investigator Martin that she
thought her husband was having an affair, so she searched the house and found these items
that she believed Bruce had hidden from her. According to Mrs. Bruce, she located the
majority of the items on a shelf in a closet located in a home office, while the computer disks
were si