Alamia, Anthony v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided February 5, 2014·No. 05-12-00992-CR·Published

Opinion

Affirmed and Opinion Filed February 5, 2014

S In The

Court of Appeals

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-12-00992-CR

No. 05-12-00993-CR

ANTHONY ALAMIA, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 199th Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas

Trial Court Cause Nos. 199-82134-2011, 199-82135-2011

OPINION

Before Justices FitzGerald, Francis, and Myers Opinion by Justice FitzGerald Appellant was charged by two indictments for online solicitation of a minor. The trial

court found appellant guilty as charged in the first indictment and guilty on one of two counts in the second indictment, and assessed punishment at ten years’ imprisonment, probated for ten years, and a $1,000 fine. In four issues on appeal, appellant contends the trial court erred in admitting his involuntary statement, the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction, and the Texas online solicitation of a minor statute is unconstitutional because it violates the due process and due course of law provisions of the United States and Texas constitutions. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the trial court’s judgments.

I. BACKGROUND

Sergeant Chris Meehan is a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that investigates online predators. In late June and early July, Meehan entered a Yahoo Internet chat room posing as a thirteen-year-old girl. Meehan used the screen name “brooke_chick13.” In late June, he began getting messages from appellant using the screen name “a420kindofguy.” During the conversations that followed, brooke_chick13 told a420kindofguy that “she” was thirteen and a420kindofguy responded that he was a lot older than that. He told brooke_chick13 that he worked for AT&T Wireless adding cell sites and lived with his girlfriend and asked her a number of sexually-explicit questions. He wanted to know how far she had gone with a boy, details about who touched whom and how, whether she liked it, whether she “play[ed]” with herself, whether she had ever seen “man parts,” whether she and a friend wanted to takes turns on him, and other such topics. He also inquired if she deleted her chats.

Eventually, appellant displayed his penis and masturbated for brooke_chick13 on his webcam. Meehan recorded this display. Appellant also asked brooke_chick13 to meet him the following week at a lake near her house where they could hide and engage in oral sex, possibly with one of her friends. He told brooke_chick13 he did not want to pick her up in his car to take her to the lake, and Meehan testified this was because predators are careful not to be seen with a minor in their car.

As a result of his chats with a420kindofguy, Meehan obtained information on the suspect’s screen name, the AT&T account information, and the IP address for the suspect’s computer, which he traced to a house owned by April and Derek Crowell. April’s name was also listed as the subscriber on the AT&T internet account a420kindofguy used. Because Derek was the only male associated with that house at that time, Meehan initially thought he was a420kindofguy and

obtained a warrant for Derek’s arrest. When Meehan observed April leave the house with a man he believed to be Derek, he followed them to Wal-Mart.

The Mesquite police made the initial contact with April and the man they thought was Derek in the parking lot. As Meehan approached, the officers patted the man down, separated him from April, and handcuffed him. They did not place him under arrest. In questioning the man, Meehan subsequently discovered he was not Derek but appellant. Initially, appellant denied being involved in the chats, but after Meehan showed him images he finally admitted that the images were of him and he had chatted with brooke_chick13. When Meehan showed appellant a picture of an individual from the neck down, Meehan stated “That’s you, brother.” Appellant admitted the image was of him. Once he admitted to the offense, Meehan placed him under arrest. Meehan subsequently discovered the screen name a420kindofguy belonged to appellant and it was appellant who lived with April in her house. The officers’ encounter with appellant in the Wal- Mart parking lot was recorded.

Derek, the man officers initially believed was a420kindofguy, testified at trial. Derek stated that he is April’s brother and he, appellant, appellant’s eighteen-year-old godson, and Derek’s two small nephews lived in April’s house in June 2011. Derek was away in June and July doing an on-campus internship. He explained that appellant and April were not married but had been living together for five or six years and had children together. Appellant worked for AT&T putting up cell sites. Derek denied ever having the Yahoo screen name a420kindofguy or sending any of the chat messages. He described appellant’s godson as five feet nine inches tall with lighter skin and a thinner build than appellant. When shown the internet video of a420kindofguy, Derek testified that the man was not appellant’s godson and he was certain it looked like appellant.

The trial court found appellant guilty of two counts of online solicitation of a minor for sending sexually explicit communications to brooke_chick13 and not guilty of soliciting a meeting with her with the intent to have sexual contact.

II. ANALYSIS

Admission of the Oral Statement In his first issue, appellant argues that his statements to Meehan in the Wal-Mart parking lot resulted from custodial interrogation without article 38.22 or Miranda warnings and were involuntary. Therefore, appellant contends the trial court erred in admitting these statements. The State responds that appellant was not in custody, or alternatively, any error was harmless.

When the State offered appellant’s recorded interview at Wal-Mart as exhibit 1, appellant objected under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, article 1, sections thirteen and nineteen of the Texas Constitution, and article 38.22 of the code of criminal procedure. Prior to ruling, the trial judge heard the testimony of Sergeant Meehan, as well as appellant’s limited testimony in support of his objections and motion to suppress.

Appellant testified that he was approached by three to four Mesquite police officers. One of the officers told appellant he thought he was going to run, and handcuffed him. He was already handcuffed when Meehan approached him, identified himself, and asked questions about the incident.

Appellant believed he was under arrest, and was never told he was free to leave. He was not advised that he could refuse to answer questions or that he had a right to a lawyer. He admitted, however, that no one told him he was under arrest until he told Meehan that he sent the chat messages to brooke_chick13.

Meehan testified that by the time he met appellant in the Wal-Mart parking lot, the Mesquite police had already separated appellant from his companion and had handcuffed him.

The officers mistakenly thought appellant was Derek, and thought that Derek was the perpetrator (a420kindofguy). Meehan did not realize that appellant was actually the suspect he was looking for until appellant admitted that the images and chat messages were his. According to Meehan, until appellant admitted guilt, he was not under arrest and was free to go.

After hearing the evidence, the trial court ruled that appellant was in custody and should have been advised of his Miranda rights once Meehan realized appellant was the perpetrator and appellant became the focus of the investigation. As a result, the judge suppressed all of appellants’ statements after he became “the focus of the investigation.” In so ruling, the trial court made some informal findings of fact. The court found that Meehan was originally looking for Derek and did not realize appellant was the perpetrator until he identified him by saying, “That’s you, brother.” The court also found that Meehan initially detained and questioned appellant as part of an investigation.

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