Crawford v. State

769 S.W.2d 331, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1281, 1989 WL 49869
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 31, 1989
DocketNo. 04-88-00057-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 769 S.W.2d 331 (Crawford 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
Crawford v. State, 769 S.W.2d 331, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1281, 1989 WL 49869 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

BUTTS, Justice.

This is an appeal from a conviction for possession of phenylacetone and methyla-mine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine. The trial court found appellant guilty and assessed his punishment at ten years’ imprisonment.

Appellant brings four points of error: first, he challenges the adverse ruling on his motion to suppress evidence; second, he questions probable cause for the warrant-less arrest of appellant; third, he challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction; and last, he argues that the judgment upholding the conviction for a first degree felony is void.

Department of Public Safety Officer Dennis Land testified at the pretrial suppression hearing that officers began investigation on and surveillance of rural property located a few miles from Junction in December 1984. Located on the land comprising over fifty acres was a cabin. Pictures of the cabin introduced in evidence show it to be a one-story frame building with boarded-up windows and an observation tower on top. There is no running water and no bathroom. The owner is Alan Gardner. Land testified that he surv-eilled the property on December 11, 1985, and saw a man outside the cabin. At that time he was on property of the adjoining land owner. He was directed by that person to a place where fifteen to twenty abandoned five-gallon ether cans were located on the Gardner ranch.1 Although he could see the empty cans while on the adjoining property, he could not confirm what they were until he crossed the fence and went onto Gardner’s land. See Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 179, 104 S.Ct. 1735, 1741, 80 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984) (unoccupied and undeveloped area is “open fields”). The Fourth Amendment does not have the same reach as extant trespass laws, for “the common law of trespass furthers a range of interests that have nothing to do with privacy and that would not be served by applying the stricture of trespass law to officers.” See 1 LAFAVE, SEARCH AND SEIZURE, Protected Areas § 2.1(d) (2d Ed.1987). At that time Land smelled strong odors of the chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The evidence showed that Land together with another officer and an informant went to the property in December 1984. The informant, presumably a hunter, had been in the cabin and apparently reported it had been “abandoned.” The informant had smelled strong chemical odors on the premises and went inside. He found what appeared to be a “clandestine methamphetamine lab.” Land and the other officer went into the cabin where they smelled strong chemical odors they associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine. Land began a periodic surveillance of the property trying to get by the location on a weekly basis. It was not until December 1985 that officers observed activity on the property which indicated the manufacture of methamphetamine was occurring. The trial court, subsequent to the preliminary hearing, carried the motion to suppress through the trial and overruled it at the close of trial.

On December 7, 1985, Land, observing from a pump station on adjoining property, saw a man outside the cabin, lights in the cabin, and a vehicle parked outside. This was appellant, who stayed until the morning of the 12th. Once on Gardner’s proper[333]*333ty, and “downwind,” Land detected the peculiar odors of the chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. He also saw and heard exhaust fans at the cabin. Appellant was inside the cabin. It was established that exhaust fans are used to rid the “lab” premises of strong and sometimes dangerous fumes.

In point of error one appellant attacks the validity of the search warrant in that the affidavit of officer Land did not contain allegations sufficient to constitute probable cause. Appellant argues the information in the affidavit was “stale”; the information does not show the surveillance disclosed criminal behavior; neither the credibility, reliability of the informant nor the basis of his knowledge is shown; the information discloses violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution as well as the Texas Constitution (unreasonable search and seizure); and the affidavit contains false information.

In the present case the “standing issue” was argued before the trial court, which ruled that neither appellant nor his co-defendant, Frank Lawson Reed, had the requisite standing to move to suppress the evidence resulting from execution of the search warrant at the cabin. The Court’s decision in Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978), makes it plain that the question of a defendant’s reasonable expectation of privacy is an issue going to the merits of his Fourth Amendment claim. The defendant bears the burden of proving that he had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the premises searched. Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980). See Wilson v. State, 692 S.W.2d 661, 667 (Tex.Crim.App.1984). The evidence here showed that appellant and Reed burned some of the materials from the methamphetamine lab, buried others, and disposed of others before loading a white pickup (Gardner’s) with phenylacetone and methylamine and other supplies and equipment. They abandoned any remaining items left in the cabin.

We find that appellant did not sustain his burden of showing a substantive Fourth Amendment and Texas Constitutional right to a legitimate expectation of privacy in the cabin and the surrounding land. Although appellant testified he had Gardner’s permission to be there, we agree with the trial court that appellant did not have a reasonable and legitimate expectation of privacy in the premises at the time of the search and seizure, because he had clearly abandoned the premises with no intention of returning. Villarreal v. State, 708 S.W.2d 845, 849 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). Point of error one is overruled.

The evidence showed that appellant had been at the cabin about five days when Reed drove a brown pickup truck to the location, stopping at the bottom of a hill. From there a steep road led to the cabin. The weather was very cold and icy. Appellant and Reed loaded all the saved items into a white pickup (Gardner’s) at the cabin. Observing them in these activities from early morning until their arrest later were several officers. One officer, Jesse Salazar, testified that he was a San Antonio city police officer with ten years experience who was assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration. He participated in the surveillance “twelve to fifteen times.” He located himself at the pump station early on the morning of December 12,1988. At trial he testified that the odors were strong, pungent chemical odors identified with the manufacture of methamphetamine at clandestine laboratories. He saw two men bum certain products and later identified appellant and Reed by the clothing they wore. Salazar and officer Bywaters observed the early morning events together.

Officer Tommy Reyna testified that he had been a narcotics investigator with the Department of Public safety for seven years. He was part of the surveillance team, arriving back at the scene about 8:00 A.M. on the 12th.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
769 S.W.2d 331, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1281, 1989 WL 49869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crawford-v-state-texapp-1989.