Deeantoine Reed Lewis v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 8, 2023
Docket01-22-00558-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Deeantoine Reed Lewis v. the State of Texas (Deeantoine Reed Lewis v. the State of Texas) 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
Deeantoine Reed Lewis v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

Opinion issued August 8, 2023

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-22-00558-CR ——————————— DEEANTOINE REED LEWIS, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 506th District Court Waller County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 21-12-17920

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury found appellant Deeantoine Reed Lewis guilty of the felony offense of

evading arrest or detention.1 The jury returned a special issue affirmatively finding

that Lewis used a deadly weapon, namely, a motor vehicle, during the commission

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE § 38.04; TEX. TRANSP. CODE § 541.201. of the offense. After finding true the allegations in two felony enhancement

paragraphs, the jury assessed his punishment at confinement for 50 years.2 The trial

court sentenced Lewis in accordance with the jury’s verdict and entered its

affirmative finding.

Before trial began, Lewis filed a motion to suppress the “fruits of []his arrest

and detention,” challenging the lawfulness of his arrest under Texas law.3 After an

evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied Lewis’s motion to suppress. Lewis now

challenges that ruling.

In his sole issue, Lewis contends that the trial court erred in denying his

motion to suppress because the arresting officer “was not primarily motivated by his

community caretaking function and any encounter quickly escalated to a detention

unsupported by reasonable suspicion.”

We affirm.

Background

At the hearing on Lewis’s motion to suppress, Waller County Sheriff’s Office

Deputy C. Rodriguez testified that, at around 10:30 p.m. on September 1, 2021, he

was on patrol in southern Waller County, approximately three miles from the City

2 See TEX. PENAL CODE § 12.42. 3 TEX. CONST. art. 1, § 9; TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 38.23(a). 2 of Brookshire. He noted that “it’s a remote area,” in that “[t]here is not very much

around there,” other than “a lot of pastures, rice fields, [and] a lot of farming.”

While on patrol, Deputy Rodriguez came upon Lewis’s car “sitting in the

roadway” on Morton Road, near Farm-to-Market Road 362. Initially, Lewis’s car

was “blacked out,” but Lewis activated his hazard lights a few seconds later.

Rodriguez testified that Lewis’s vehicle constituted a traffic hazard because there

were no streetlights—it was “completely blacked out in that area”—and another

driver “probably wouldn’t see that vehicle sitting on the roadway.”

Deputy Rodriguez activated his emergency lights and parked his patrol car

behind Lewis’s car. Rodriguez stated that his intention was to determine why the

vehicle was stopped in the middle of the road and to get it off the roadway.

When Deputy Rodriguez got out of his car and approached the driver’s-side

door of Lewis’s car, he noted that the engine was not running. Lewis, who was the

car’s sole occupant, was sweating profusely, and Rodriguez surmised that Lewis

“had been sitting there for quite awhile.”

The trial court admitted into evidence Deputy Rodriguez’s body-camera

video, which depicts his face-to-face encounter with Lewis.4

4 Both parties, in their briefs, direct us to “State’s exhibit 3,” the unredacted version of Deputy Rodriguez’s body-camera video. However, during the suppression hearing, the trial court admitted “State’s Exhibit No. 3-A,” which is the redacted version. Thus, we consider the trial court’s ruling in light of Exhibit 3-A, the redacted version.

3 In the video, Deputy Rodriguez, who was holding a flashlight, approached the

open driver’s-side window of Lewis’s car and asked, in a light tone, “What’s going

on, man?” Lewis replied that his car was “running a little hot.” Rodriguez asked,

“Where [are] you coming from?” And Lewis replied that he was coming from a

friend’s house on Katy Hockley Road. Rodriguez inquired about the nature of the

car problem and explained that he could not leave Lewis sitting “in the middle of the

road.” Lewis stated that the car should be operable in about “20 or 30 minutes.”

Deputy Rodriguez asked if Lewis had his driver’s license. Lewis responded

that he had an identification card and handed Rodriguez a Texas Identification Card.

Rodriguez asked Lewis why he did not have a driver’s license. Lewis replied that

he had been unable to get an appointment, referring to the Texas Department of

Public Safety. Rodriguez stated that “the county [was] cracking down real hard on

people who don’t have driver’s licenses, and they want us to tow vehicles and stuff

like that if you don’t have a driver’s license.” Rodriguez asked if Lewis at least had

proof of insurance with him, and Lewis replied that he did not.

Deputy Rodriguez told Lewis that he was going to check for outstanding

warrants and then they might have to push Lewis’s car off the road. Rodriguez asked

Lewis if the address on his identification card was current, and Lewis replied in the

affirmative. Rodriguez asked where his street was located. When Lewis replied that

it was on Barker Cypress Road, Rodriguez asked, “So what are you doing over

4 here?” Lewis again stated that he was visiting a friend on Katy Hockley Road and

added that he was “trying to get back home.”

Deputy Rodriguez pointed out to Lewis that if he was on Katy Hockley and

was going home to Barker Cypress, he would have traveled east. Instead, he had

traveled west and was “going the complete opposite way” from where he lived.

Rodriguez told Lewis that he was not being “straight up.” Lewis replied, “I just got

confused.”

Deputy Rodriguez asked Lewis to step out of his car while Rodriguez checked

for outstanding warrants. Rodriguez explained to Lewis that he had “ma[d]e

contact” with him because his car was in the roadway. And, subsequently, he had

learned that Lewis was not a licensed driver. Rodriguez noted that he would likely

write Lewis a warning and that, after he ran Lewis’s information, he would help push

the car out of the roadway.

As Deputy Rodriguez began to step away, Lewis started his car. Rodriguez

commanded him to turn it off, but Lewis ignored him and sped away. Rodriguez

ran to his patrol car, activated his emergency sirens, and pursued Lewis.

Deputy Rodriguez testified that Lewis drove at speeds in excess of 100 miles

per hour in a 55 mile-per-hour zone for approximately 4 miles. He drove on the

wrong side of the road, through stop signs, and against a traffic light.

5 Once inside the City of Brookshire, Lewis “slammed on his brakes” to make

a turn, and Rodriguez’s patrol car collided with Lewis’s car. Lewis then climbed

out through the passenger side of his car and fled. Rodriguez pursued Lewis on foot

for approximately 300 yards before apprehending him.

After the hearing, the trial court denied appellant’s motion to suppress.

Motion to Suppress Evidence

In his sole issue, Lewis contends that the trial court erred in denying his

motion to suppress because Deputy Rodriguez “was not primarily motivated by his

community caretaking function and any encounter quickly escalated to a detention

A. Standard of Review

We review a trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress evidence under a

bifurcated standard. State v. Espinosa, 666 S.W.3d 659, 667 (Tex. Crim. App. 2023).

“On the one hand, we afford almost total deference to the trial court’s determination

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