Ex parte Dupuy

498 S.W.3d 220, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 6252, 2016 WL 3268442
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 14, 2016
DocketNO. 14-15-00677-CR, NO. 14-15-00678-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by55 cases

This text of 498 S.W.3d 220 (Ex parte Dupuy) 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
Ex parte Dupuy, 498 S.W.3d 220, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 6252, 2016 WL 3268442 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

J. Brett Busby, .Justice

Appellant was charged in two cases with third-degree felony online impersonation. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 33.07(a) (West Supp.2015). The magistrate originally set bail in each case at $300,000. Appellant [224]*224filed motions and pretrial applications for writ of habeas corpus requesting a reduction in bail to $10,000 in each case. After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the trial court reduced appellant’s bail to $200,000 in each case. Appellant appealed. Because appellant has not established that the trial court abused its discretion in declining to reduce his bail further, we affirm the trial court’s orders.

Background

A. Complaints and investigation

On December 17, 2014, complainant A.E. reported to the Harris County Sheriffs Office that she had been receiving numerous calls and text messages from unknown telephone numbers. She told Deputy J. Lewis the calls began around 10:20 pm on December 16. Within an hour, she received seven calls and 26 texts. A.E. said she finally answered her phone and, through the discussion with the caller, determined the calls and texts resulted from an advertisement in the escort section of an adult website.

The ad displayed multiple photographs of A.E., provided her phone number, and said she charged $70 for a half hour. A law enforcement officer later said the ad “gave the clear impression that the poster was offering sexual services in exchange for money.” A.E. told Deputy Lewis she did not post the advertisement and did not give anyone permission to post the advertisement or to use her persona for such purpose. She said she believed the advertisement was created by appellant.

On January 25, 2015, Deputy Scott Hardcastle of the Harris County Sheriffs Office interviewed A.E. She explained she had known appellant for approximately 20 years and they had dated about six years previously, before she married someone else. She recently employed appellant as her lawyer in divorce proceedings, which were finalized in late November 2014. During his representation of her, appellant told A.E. he wanted to be in a relationship with her. A.E. declined his advances. She told Deputy Hardcastle that her saying no angered appellant. He reportedly began monitoring her personal Facebook page and made comments to her about other men with whom she communicated on Facebook. A.E. also said appellant copied photos from her Facebook page and sent them to her with derogatory remarks about them. A.E. described appellant’s behavior and advances toward her as aggressive. She said she communicated with appellant only to the extent necessary to finalize her divorce. After that, she said, she ceased all contact with him and ignored all his communications.

Deputy Hardcastle learned the ad was created by someone with the user name Don Tequila. Don Tequila’s account was created on December 16, 2014.

The same user had posted another advertisement for escort services, this one in the name of the second complainant in this case, C.N. That ad displayed three photos of C.N., two of her face and one of her breasts only. Deputy Hardcastle interviewed C.N., who confirmed she did not post the ad and did not give anyone permission to post the ad or use her persona for that purpose. C.N. said she and appellant had dated in the past. While they were dating, she sent him the photo of her breasts displayed in the ad. The relationship ended in August 2014. She said appellant had been harassing her since that time. C.N. said she believed the ad was created by appellant. At that time, Deputy Hardcastle had not told C.N. that appellant was a suspect in the case regarding AJE.

The person who created the Don Tequila account provided a physical address on [225]*225East Parkwood. That address is the business address of Greg Hughes, a lawyer who represented C.N. in her divorce.

Over the next four months, Deputy Hardeastle investigated the creator of the two advertisements. Eventually he determined the ads were created from an IP address that resolved to appellant’s apartment.

B. Execution of search warrant

On June 25, 2015, Deputy Hardeastle and other law enforcement officers executed a search warrant for appellant’s apartment. The officers repeatedly knocked and announced themselves as police. Deputy Hardeastle said he was not sure how long they knocked and announced themselves, but it was “quite some time” and “longer than normal.”

Appellant eventually acknowledged the officers’ presence and asked them what they wanted. They repeatedly told him they had a search warrant. Appellant was uncooperative and would not open the door, so Deputy Hardeastle forcibly kicked open the door. Appellant was described as hesitant but cooperative once the officers were in the apartment.

When he first entered the apartment, Deputy Hardeastle could see only appellant’s right side. Appellant did not appear to have anything in his right hand. The deputy could not see appellant’s left side, so he instructed him to raise his hands so they were both visible. When he raised his hands, appellant dropped a bullet from his right hand onto the countertop to his right. Deputy Hardeastle directed appellant to step out- of the kitchen and asked him where his weapon was. Appellant said it was in the kitchen. The deputy stepped into the area of appellant’s left side and saw a 9-millimeter handgun equipped with a laser sight within appellant’s reach.

In addition to the 9-millimeter handgun on the countertop, the officers found or seized several other pieces of evidence from appellant’s apartment. The officers retrieved appellant’s current passport, a laptop, several cell phones, and a GPS tracking device. They also found a laptop-style bag in the bathroom containing many items, including:

• appellant’s driver’s license;
• a checkbook;
• an LG cell phone;
• a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun with a laser sight and a silencer;
• four heavy-grade plastic restraints;
• a 950,000-volt stun gun;
• a KA-BAR military-style large knife;
• campfire starters;
• a multipurpose lighter;
• two handgun magazines;
• ducf tape;
• electrical tape;
• a knit cap;
• black gloves;
• a hoodie; and
• two boxes of ammunition.

Appellant was arrested six days later. At the time of his arrest, appellant was on deferred adjudication community supervision for. abuse of official capacity, a class A misdemeanor to which he pleaded guilty on September .19,2013.

C. Bail hearing

The trial court held a hearing on appellant’s pretrial applications for writ of habe-as corpus to reduce ‘.his bail.1 Appellant [226]*226did not testify, but his mother, Janice Du-puy-Green, did.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
498 S.W.3d 220, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 6252, 2016 WL 3268442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-dupuy-texapp-2016.