Ex Parte Stansbery

702 S.W.2d 643, 1986 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1163
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 8, 1986
Docket69274
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 702 S.W.2d 643 (Ex Parte Stansbery) 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 Stansbery, 702 S.W.2d 643, 1986 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1163 (Tex. 1986).

Opinions

OPINION ON STATE’S MOTION FOR REHEARING

PER CURIAM.

This is a post-conviction application for writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to Art. 11.07, V.A.C.C.P.

Applicant was indicted for two offenses of murder. Applicant moved to suppress his oral and written statements. The trial court held a hearing on the issue and overruled the motion. On May 14, 1979, applicant pled guilty before the court and judicially confessed to the two murders. Pursuant to a plea bargain, the court assessed 25 years in each cause, the terms to run concurrently. On July 2, 1980, this Court affirmed both convictions in an unreported per curiam opinion. We held that “the judicial confessions are sufficient to support the pleas of guilty independent of the contested confession appellant gave to law enforcement officers.” Accordingly, we did not address the issue of the trial court’s denial of the motion to suppress.

In the instant habeas action, applicant alleges that his plea was involuntary. Applicant claims that he relied on his trial counsel’s advice that applicant would be able to appeal the denial of the motion to suppress despite his judicial confession. On original submission, we granted relief and remanded applicant to answer the indictments.

The State filed a motion for rehearing. The State pointed out that we had granted petitions for discretionary review in several cases to reexamine the rule of Mooney v. State, 615 S.W.2d 776 (Tex.Cr.App.1981) and Wooten v. State, 612 S.W.2d 561 (Tex.Cr.App.1981). The State asked that we take account of our decision on this issue in disposing of the instant claim.

[645]*645Since the State filed its motion for rehearing, we have decided Morgan v. State, 688 S.W.2d 504 (Tex.Cr.App.1985). In Morgan we held that, “Just as the plea itself no longer waives the right to complain of pre-trial rulings on appeal, so the [judicial] confession or admission will not bar an appellate court from reaching the merits of [those matters which have been raised by written motion filed prior to trial].” The holding in Morgan applies only to convictions by plea of guilty or nolo contendere before the court, where the court, upon the election of the defendant, assesses punishment and the punishment does not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by the defendant and his attorney. See Art. 44.02, V.A.C.C.P. In all other cases, the Helms rule applies:

“Where a plea of guilty is voluntarily and understanding^ made, all nonjuris-dictional defects including claimed deprivation of federal due process are waived.”

Helms v. State, 484 S.W.2d 925 (Tex.Cr.App.1972); see also Broddus v. State, 693 S.W.2d 459 (1985).

Accordingly, we deny applicant’s request to withdraw his plea. We grant review of the trial court’s denial of the motion to suppress. See Ex parte Hilliard, 687 S.W.2d 316 (Tex.Cr.App.1985). We will treat the merits of applicant’s suppression claim on the basis of the record in his original appeal, our Cause Nos. 64,103 and 64,104.

Neither party has summarized the facts. Nor were applicant’s written statements included in the record on appeal. We draw on the testimony at the pre-trial hearing to reconstruct the sequence of events.

On September 4, 1978, applicant was involved in a drug deal in El Paso. According to the first version applicant gave police, an argument broke out among the parties, with the result that applicant and Paul Head stabbed and shot two men, killing both. The killing took place at Head’s residence. One of the weapons used was applicant’s .22 rifle that he carried in his El Camino truck. Applicant and Head loaded the bodies into a van belonging to one of the victims. Applicant drove the van into the desert and abandoned it. Head followed in his car and drove applicant back to El Paso.

Applicant then fled to California in his El Camino. Head remained in El Paso. The two bodies were found on September 9. The subsequent investigation led El Paso Sheriff’s officers to conduct a search of Head’s residence on September 16. The results of the search gave rise to arrest warrants for applicant (issued on the 16th) and information connecting him with Susan Kingsberry of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

On September 17, Albuquerque police officers questioned Kingsberry, informing her that applicant was wanted for two murders and inquiring of his whereabouts. On September 21, a Thursday, applicant telephoned Kingsberry from Fresno, California, saying that he wanted to surrender himself in El Paso. Kingsberry persuaded applicant to surrender himself in Albuquerque so that they could see each other. Kingsberry alerted the police, and she and an Officer Jenkins met applicant when he arrived at the Albuquerque airport around midnight Thursday, September 21.

Officer Jenkins testified that he took applicant into custody and read him the Miranda warnings at that time. After taking applicant to the police station, Jenkins gave him the Miranda warnings again, obtained a written waiver, and began to question him.

Applicant contends that his oral statement to Jenkins is inadmissable “as he was not warned properly of his rights under the U.S. Constitution.” Applicant admitted on the stand that Jenkins warned him at the police station before questioning him, and applicant acknowledged his signature on the written waiver form. The waiver form was offered into evidence at the hearing. The record supports the trial court’s ruling.

Jenkins testified about the content of the oral statement as follows:

“A. He told me about a drug deal that was made in El Paso over that La[646]*646bor Day weekend. I believe it was the fourth. He relayed that there was some argument between the parties involved in the drug deal, and that a fight had erupted.
“A. He told me that, in order to stop the fight, he had shot the two individuals that were found.
“Q. What did he relate to you about the weapons used and so on?
“A. There was a twenty-two caliber rifle that he had purchased, and that he had the gun in his truck.

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Ex Parte Williams
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Ex Parte Stansbery
702 S.W.2d 643 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
702 S.W.2d 643, 1986 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-stansbery-texcrimapp-1986.