Cebula v. State

828 S.W.2d 234, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 763, 1992 WL 56537
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 26, 1992
DocketNo. C14-89-00780-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 828 S.W.2d 234 (Cebula v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cebula v. State, 828 S.W.2d 234, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 763, 1992 WL 56537 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

SEARS, Justice.

James Cebula brings this appeal from a conviction for aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. The jury found him guilty and assessed punishment for each offense at ten years confinement with a $10,000.00 fine. The jury also recommended that both the sentence and the fine be probated. As a condition of probation in each case, the trial court ordered [235]*235appellant to serve 120 days in the penitentiary. We affirm.

At 2:27 a.m., May 2,1988, Houston Police Officer M.W. Dew dispatched unit 2 Adam 21 to a disturbance at 5800 Fulton. Two minutes after the call was dispatched, the call was cleared by 2 Adam 52 stating that the call was unfounded, meaning there was no disturbance or no one at the scene. At that time, the complainant was at a club at 5800 Fulton where she had been drinking with her common law husband and some friends. Because she was drunk and making noise, an employee of the club called police. Although the complainant and the others were still on the scene, appellant cleared the call, apparently before talking to anyone at the scene.

Appellant approached Senovia Garcia and asked who owned the pickup which they were standing around. She said she did and he asked her for her identification and proof of insurance. Appellant told David Sanchez and Juan Payan to stand by the patrol car where Ferguson was standing. He told David to “get the f_away” and “stand where I can see you.” The complainant then yelled at appellant and told him he didn’t have to talk to them like that. Without questioning the parties about the reason he was dispatched to the location, appellant told them to leave, and said he was taking the complainant in for P.I. (Public Intoxication). Appellant never questioned the men or searched them for weapons, although David had an 18 inch knife and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, and Juan had a knife, a 25 caliber automatic, and was on parole.

The complainant was handcuffed and put in the back of the officer’s police car. The complainant’s friends were unsuccessful in trying to follow the police car and after repeated calls to the jail they were not able to find the complainant.

The complainant testified she fell asleep after she was placed in the police car, and she awoke to find herself in Memorial Park. Appellant asked the complainant if she wanted to go to jail and she said no. Appellant took her into a wooded area then left her there, handcuffed, while he went back to talk to Ferguson. When appellant returned, he removed the handcuffs and told the complainant to take off her pants. Even after the handcuffs were removed, the complainant testified she didn’t do anything until she saw appellant place his hand on his gun. The complainant then obeyed his demands, and appellant had sexual intercourse with her.

After appellant finished, he returned to the car and talked with Ferguson. Ferguson then had forced sex with the complainant and later told her he was sorry for what had happened. Although the parties referred to Ferguson as the “black officer,” he was actually a uniformed security guard.

The complainant was again handcuffed, returned to the patrol car, and subsequently appellant pulled the car over on the side of a freeway and let her go. The complainant ran to a nearby Stop-N-Go and tried to get someone to help her but she was told to go away. A woman in a white car finally gave her a ride. The two women drove around for a while discussing what to do and each of them called a friend for advice. The girl later took complainant to Rosewood Hospital and informed a doctor of what had happened. The complainant was examined and treated for scrapes and bruises.

Two Houston Police Internal Affairs investigators were called to the hospital to question the complainant. When they were told of the rape, they investigated and found out that appellant responded to the call dispatched the night of the offense. Internal Affairs attempted to question appellant but he invoked his rights to counsel and terminated the interview. He immediately contacted union attorneys. The next day he was ordered to go to Internal Affairs. He attended with his attorney and refused to answer questions. Appellant admitted he was not under arrest and had not been charged with any crime.

Internal Affairs talked with Ferguson but he would not cooperate and would not identify appellant from a photo array. The next day police officers went to Ferguson’s home and finally got him to agree to wear [236]*236a microphone and get appellant to admit his involvement in the abduction and rape of the complainant. They told Ferguson’s mother that appellant was a bad cop and that only her son could get the evidence necessary to convict appellant. She subsequently testified that if she had known her son was a suspect she would have gotten an attorney instead of talking him into helping the police. Ferguson tried to tape appellant from his parent’s home phone but it didn’t work so he used a pay phone. Appellant freely discussed his involvement and the events of the night of the rape.

In points of error one and two, appellant contends that the court erred in overruling his motion to suppress an audio recording because it violated his right to counsel under the United States and Texas Constitutions. Specifically, appellant argues that from the moment he invoked his constitutional rights to silence and to counsel, all law enforcement personnel were forbidden from any further questioning of him. Appellant relies on Maine v. Moulten for the proposition that assistance of counsel cannot be limited to the trial alone. Maine v. Moulten, 474 U.S. 159, 170, 106 S.Ct. 477, 484, 88 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). He asserts that these same standards are adhered to by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Forte v. State, 759 S.W.2d 128, 137-139 (Tex.Crim.App.1988).

The United States Supreme Court has held that a continuing criminal investigation of uncharged offenses does not invoke a defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights. Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675, 108 S.Ct. 2093, 2100, 100 L.Ed.2d 704 (1988). The right to counsel arises where a person has been formally charged with a particular case. Id. at 685, 108 S.Ct. at 2100. Likewise, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that the “critical” stage of the proceedings does not arise until formal charges are brought. McCambridge v. State, 778 S.W.2d 70, 76 (Tex.Crim.App.1989).

The law enforcement officials who asked the co-defendant to wear a tape-recording device were acting within legal parameters. Appellant was not under arrest or charged with the commission of any crime, therefore he had no constitutional right to counsel at that point in time. Points of error one and two are overruled.

In his third point of error, appellant contends that it was error to overrule his motion to suppress the audio recording because co-defendant Ferguson's consent was involuntarily obtained in violation of Tex. Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 38.23 (Vernon Supp.1991). Appellant argues that neither he nor Ferguson consented to the audio recording of their face-to-face conversation.

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Bluebook (online)
828 S.W.2d 234, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 763, 1992 WL 56537, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cebula-v-state-texapp-1992.