Ex parte Lozano

542 S.W.2d 408, 1976 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1109
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 20, 1976
DocketNo. 52717
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 542 S.W.2d 408 (Ex parte Lozano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal 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 Lozano, 542 S.W.2d 408, 1976 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1109 (Tex. 1976).

Opinion

OPINION

GUPTON, Judge.

This is a post conviction habeas corpus proceeding under Art. 11.07, V.A.C.C.P. Petitioner alleges he was the subject of an illegal wiretap conducted by the Houston Police Department. He further contends that information obtained as the result of the wiretap led to his arrest and was a constitutionally impermissible seizure.

Initially, the trial court held an evidentia-ry hearing at which Anthony Zavala, a former Houston Police Officer, testified for petitioner that a wiretap had been placed on petitioner’s phone and had “paid off”. The State’s rebuttal witness, Officer E. D. O’Bryant, testified that he and his now deceased partner obtained the information leading to'petitioner’s arrest from an informant. He denied any knowledge of a wiretap on petitioner’s phone during the time period in issue. It was stipulated that the district attorney who tried the case would testify he had no knowledge of any wiretapping. There was neither stipulation nor testimony concerning possible federal authorization for an electronic surveillance. Accordingly, this application for writ of ha-beas corpus was returned to the trial court for an additional hearing to determine if a proper electronic surveillance was authorized by any state or federal agency.

The trial court held a second evidentiary hearing in which it was stipulated that the United States Attorney’s Office did not obtain or participate in obtaining a legal wiretap. The trial judge then found as a matter of fact “that there was no authorization to conduct an electronic surveillance by any agency, either state or federal . . .”

We will now consider the merits of petitioner’s claim. Petitioner took the stand at the initial habeas corpus proceeding and indicated he had possession of the heroin. (Petitioner was convicted for possession of heroin.) The State contends that this subsequent admission precludes complaint about the legality of the search, relying on Stein v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 514 S.W.2d 927. We do not agree. The defendant in Stein admitted on the stand that the police found marihuana in his van, making it unnecessary for this Court to consider the defendant’s contention that the seized marihuana was a product of an illegal search. Stein was a direct appeal from the trial on the merits, thereby distinguishing it from the instant collateral attack. It is not the purpose of a habeas corpus proceeding to determine guilt or innocence; therefore, although petitioner’s statement would be a judicial admission for any later proceeding, it does not serve to waive error in the event petitioner’s arrest is found to be the result of an improper search.

This Court is not bound by the findings of the trial court in a habeas corpus proceeding. Ex parte Bagley, Tex.Cr.App., 509 S.W.2d 332; Ex parte Lemay, Tex.Cr.App., 525 S.W.2d 1. Therefore it is necessary to review the record to determine if there is any evidence to support the trial judge’s recommendation. Ex parte Young, Tex.Cr.App., 479 S.W.2d 45. There was conflicting testimony from the two key witnesses at the evidentiary hearing:

Former Houston Police Officer Zavala testified that a surveillance unit was maintained in an apartment a few blocks from petitioner’s home. He stated that he saw a receiver and recorder in the apartment, although he did not see the electronic transmitter [which is typically installed at some point along the telephone line], nor did he personally install the device. Zavala further stated that the surveillance unit was in operation “. . . at least three days, because I was there two or three times.” Zavala testified that he personally heard information that was received from the electronic device. He was informed by fellow officers in the apartment “that is Frank’s [petitioner’s] voice.” Although he was unable to recall the precise conversation he overheard, Zavala testified, “. [410]*410I don’t remember the exact words, but in a general way that Lozano was waiting for a shipment and he had no stuff there.” After petitioner’s arrest, Zavala testified that he had conversations with Officer O’Bryant concerning the results of the surveillance:

“Well, I can’t recall any specific words, this is after the arrest, things to the effect that ‘it paid off’, ‘we waited it out’, ‘it finally went down’, ‘we finally got him.’
. all indications to me were that yes, it came off the wiretap.”

Zavala stated that these conversations indicated to him that the arresting officers obtained their information from the wiretap, even though “. . .we never used the term T got the information from a wiretap.’ ” He further testified that he and the arresting officers had never discussed whether there was an informant in petitioner’s case.

Officer E. D. O’Bryant’s testimony directly contradicts testimony given by Zavala. O’Bryant and his now deceased partner [Huerta] were the arresting officers. At the evidentiary hearing, he denied any knowledge of wiretapping:

“Q [PETITIONER’S COUNSEL] All right sir, now, with respect to the time from February 18,1971, and the period of two (2) or three (3) days in advance of that particular date, is it not a fact that you did maintain a surveillance which contained in it receiving equipment which would receive transmissions from the telephone of Frank Lozano?
A No sir, it is not.
Q Is it your testimony that you did not employ wiretapping in this case?
A Yes, sir, it sure is.
Q Have you ever seen a receiver that is used in receiving transmissions that'are the result of electronic surveillance?
A I don’t know.”

In addition to denying any knowledge of a wiretap, O’Bryant testified that an informant was the source of the information leading to petitioner’s arrest. At the evi-dentiary hearing O’Bryant stated that the informant “was Officer Huerta’s original informant . . .

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ex Parte Harris
593 S.W.2d 330 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1979)
Bernard v. State
566 S.W.2d 575 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1978)
Ex parte Ropollo
558 S.W.2d 869 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
542 S.W.2d 408, 1976 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1109, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-lozano-texcrimapp-1976.