Gilbert v. State

874 S.W.2d 290, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 739, 1994 WL 112869
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 7, 1994
Docket01-93-00387-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by295 cases

This text of 874 S.W.2d 290 (Gilbert 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
Gilbert v. State, 874 S.W.2d 290, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 739, 1994 WL 112869 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

HUTSON-DUNN, Justice.

After trial by jury, appellant, Nila Junior Gilbert, was convicted of possession of co- *292 came. The trial court assessed punishment at 25-years confinement.

BACKGROUND

On July 23, 1992, Officers of Bryan Police Department’s Street Crime Apprehension Team (SCAT), were conducting a narcotic surveillance of a residence located at 1000 West Martin Luther King Boulevard in Bryan. Two weeks before SCAT’S surveillance of the residence, SCAT had made an arrest at the same location and had seized 39 rocks of crack cocaine.

On July 23, 1992, Officer Dennis Thane was positioned in the bushes of an empty lot near the residence under surveillance. He observed appellant’s vehicle drive past the residence, make a U-tum, and then return and stop in the street next to the residence. Appellant was driving the vehicle at the time, and his nephew, Richard Gilbert, was a passenger. After a few moments, a female approached the car on the passenger side. As the female approached the car, she was looking all around, and was observant of passersby as well as vehicles. When she reached the vehicle, she extended her arms into the vehicle. Officer Thane testified that it looked as if she were making an exchange with both appellant and the passenger because she extended her arms totally inside the vehicle, and moved them back and forth as if exchanging some item. The female then turned and walked back toward the residence with her hands cupped at waist level.

Officer Thane radioed to the other SCAT members in the area and informed them of what he had observed. A marked patrol unit initiated a stop of appellant’s vehicle. After the marked unit activated its lights, appellant’s vehicle slowed down, but continued for several blocks before stopping.

After appellant stopped the car, both he and Richard Gilbert quickly exited the car. At that time, the SCAT officers noticed several chips of crack cocaine in the vehicle. Chips of crack cocaine were recovered from both the driver’s side and the passenger’s side of the vehicle. Both appellant and Richard Gilbert were placed under arrest. The officers also recovered several single-edged razors from the passenger’s seat. In the glove compartment the officers found $90. Approximately $700 was recovered from Richard Gilbert’s pockets.

MOTION TO SUPPRESS

In two points of error, appellant challenges the denial of his motion to suppress the evidence seized as a result of his stop and subsequent arrest.

1. Continuance of the motion to suppress after arguments completed

In his second point of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred by admitting additional evidence at a pretrial hearing on the motion to suppress after both appellant and the State had submitted their legal arguments to the court.

On March 12, 1993, a pretrial hearing was held on appellant’s motion to suppress. However, several of the State’s witnesses were unable to attend due to illness. Nevertheless, the State agreed to proceed by affidavit. Appellant introduced into evidence a certified copy of a probable cause statement executed by one of the SCAT officers. The State entered no other evidence. Appellant and the State made their legal arguments. The Court concluded that the evidence was incomplete, and continued the suppression hearing until the date of trial in order to “give the State the opportunity to marshall its missing evidence.”

On March 22, 1993, the motion to suppress was taken up again. At this time, the State wished to produce the testimony of one of the SCAT team officers. Appellant objected to the additional evidence, but his objection was overruled.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred by allowing this additional evidence at the second suppression hearing, and urges this Court to consider only the evidence presented at the first suppression hearing, i.e., the affidavit of probable cause. In support of his position, appellant cites several cases that prohibit the re-opening of the evidence of a cause after argument has been concluded. See Andrews v. State, 199 S.W.2d 510, 513 (Tex.Crim.App.1947). This rule is em *293 bodied in article 36.02 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides in part, “[t]he court shall allow testimony to be introduced at any time before the argument of a cause is concluded, if it appears that it is necessary to a due administration of justice.” TexUode Grim.P.Ann. art. 36.02 (Vernon 1981).

However, we find the rule inapplicable to a pretrial motion to suppress. In Montalvo v. State, 846 S.W.2d 133, 137-38 (Tex.App.—Austin 1992, no pet.), the defendant and the State had both presented their evidence and legal arguments at the motion to suppress, and the trial court had ruled in the defendant’s favor. The trial judge then allowed the State to reopen the evidence. After receiving the State’s new evidence, the trial court reversed his earlier ruling, and denied the defendant’s motion to suppress. The court of appeals held that the trial court did not err in allowing the evidence at the suppression hearing to be reopened after argument. Id. at 138.

Because the trial court may, in its discretion, reopen the evidence on a motion to suppress even after legal arguments are completed, we will consider all of the evidence presented at both suppression hearings to determine whether the trial court’s ruling on the motion to suppress was proper.

Appellant’s second point of error is overruled.

2. Validity of the investigatory stop

In his first point of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence. Specifically, appellant contends that the SCAT officers had no grounds to warrant an investigatory stop of his vehicle.

The trial court is the sole fact finder at a hearing on a motion to suppress evidence and may choose to believe or disbelieve any or all of the witnesses’ testimony. Cantu v. State, 817 S.W.2d 74, 77 (Tex.Crim.App.1991); Johnson v. State, 803 S.W.2d 272, 287 (Tex.Crim.App.1990), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 111 S.Ct. 2914, 116 L.Ed.2d 1078 (1991). Because the trial court is the sole fact finder at the suppression hearing, we are not at liberty to disturb any finding that is supported by the record. Johnson, 803 S.W.2d at 287; Harris v. State, 827 S.W.2d 49, 50 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, pet. ref'd).

It is well settled that a police officer may temporarily detain a person for purposes of investigating possible criminal behavior even though there is no probable cause for arrest. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 22, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1880, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1972). Occupants of automobiles are as subject to a brief detention as are pedestrians. Gearing v. State, 685 S.W.2d 326, 328 (Tex.Crim.App.1985);

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Bluebook (online)
874 S.W.2d 290, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 739, 1994 WL 112869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilbert-v-state-texapp-1994.