Hamilton v. State

772 S.W.2d 571, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1826, 1989 WL 76052
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 21, 1989
DocketNo. 2-88-041-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 772 S.W.2d 571 (Hamilton 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
Hamilton v. State, 772 S.W.2d 571, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1826, 1989 WL 76052 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

FARRIS, Justice.

Larry Dale Hamilton was convicted by a jury of possession of less than 28 grams of amphetamine. TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 4476-15, sec. 4.041(b) (Vernon Supp. 1989). The trial court sentenced him to twenty-five years in the Texas Department of Corrections after finding three enhancement paragraphs to be true. TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. sec. 12.42(d) (Vernon 1974).

On appeal, Hamilton argues that his war-rantless arrest was unlawful. He contends his arrest for traffic violations violated his rights under article I, section 9 of the Texas Constitution because it was a mere pretext used to investigate another offense and that all evidence obtained as a result of that arrest should not have been admitted at trial.

In two points of error, Hamilton argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress and in failing to charge the jury on the issue of pretext arrest. We reverse and remand this cause to the trial court because we find Hamilton was entitled to a jury question on pretext.

[573]*573When an arrest is used as a pretext to search for evidence, it is an illegal arrest and evidence discovered as a result of it may not be used at trial. Black v. State, 739 S.W.2d 240, 243-44 (Tex.Crim.App.1987); TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 38.23 (Vernon 1979).

In its brief, the State argues that the rule set out in Black is faulty and should not be applied. Although Hamilton alleges his arrest and search violate his rights under the Texas law and the Texas Constitution, the State urges this court to follow the lead of the Fifth Circuit, which allows such arrests. U.S. v. Causey, 834 F.2d 1179, 1184-85 (5th Cir.1987). In Causey, the Fifth Circuit refused to declare an arrest illegal on account of an officer’s subjective, pretextual motive and held that when police officers are objectively doing what they are legally authorized to do, the results of their actions are not to be challenged on account of their subjective intent. Id., citing Maryland v. Macon, 472 U.S. 463, 470-71, 105 S.Ct. 2778, 2783, 86 L.Ed.2d 370, 377-78 (1985); U.S. v. Villamonte-Marquez, 462 U.S. 579, 584 n. 3, 103 S.Ct. 2573, 2577 n. 3, 77 L.Ed.2d 22, 27-28 (1983); Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 138, 98 S.Ct. 1717, 1723, 56 L.Ed.2d 168, 178 (1978).

The State urges this court to follow the lead of the Fifth Circuit because the Court of Criminal Appeals has held that the Texas ponstitution does not impose any greater restrictions on police conduct than those imposed by the fourth amendment to the United States Constitution. Eisenhauer v. State, 754 S.W.2d 159, 162-64 (Tex.Crim.App.1988), ccrt. denied, — U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 127, 102 L.Ed.2d 101 (1988); Osban v. State, 726 S.W.2d 107, 111 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). Noting that article I, section 9 of the Texas Constitution and the fourth amendment to the United States Constitution are, in all material aspects, the same, the Eisenhauer court stated that the laws and constitution of the State of Texas impose no greater restrictive standard than that which exists under the federal constitution, “leaving the Texas courts free to follow the lead of the Supreme Court of the United States.” Id. at 164. However, as Judge Clinton points out in his dissent, “[ujnless we happen to agree that the standard adopted by the Supreme Court is the most efficacious, also in guaranteeing rights vouchsafed by our state constitution, the Supreme Court does not demand and we need not parrot its opinions.” Id. at 171. The most recent United States Supreme Court case on pretextual arrest is that of U.S. v. Lefkowitz, 285 U.S. 452, 467, 52 S.Ct. 420, 424, 76 L.Ed. 877, 884 (1932). The Lefkowitz decision was relied upon by the Court of Criminal Appeals in the Black decision. Black, 739 S.W.2d at 243-44.

The discussions of the relevance of an officer’s subjective intent to the determination of fourth amendment violations in the Scott (1978), Villamonte-Marquez (1983) and Macon (1985) decisions relied upon in the Causey decision, predate the Black decision by at least three years. The Court of Criminal Appeals, however, did not rely on these cases in reaching its decision in Black. Instead, the court relied on the rule of law set forth in U.S. v. Lefkowitz, 285 U.S. at 467, 52 S.Ct. at 424: “[a]n arrest may not be used as a pretext to search for evidence.” Insofar as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has held that when an arrest is used as a pretext, it is an illegal arrest and evidence discovered pursuant to it may not be used at trial, we are bound by the authority of their decision in construing a defendant’s rights under article I, section 9 of the Texas Constitution and TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. sec. 38.23 (Vernon 1979).

In his first point of error, Hamilton contends the trial court erred in failing to suppress the amphetamine seized during the search incident to his arrest and the statements he made regarding the amphetamine (“I thought I was out of dope”) because the arrest was used as a pretext to search for evidence of auto theft. The State contends there is no evidence that the traffic offenses were used as a pretext to investigate another offense. When determining whether the trial court erred in overruling a pre-trial motion, the general rule is that we only consider the evidence introduced at that hearing. However, [574]*574when the point of error on appeal complains of the admission of evidence at trial and the issue has been consentually relit-igated, it is proper to consider relevant portions of the trial testimony. Hardesty v. State, 667 S.W.2d 130, 133 n. 6 (Tex.Crim.App.1984).

The following evidence was introduced at trial. While on patrol in a high crime area of Fort Worth, Officers Ross and Jackson noticed a car parked on the wrong side of the street. The car was conspicuous because it was new and clean, a type and condition not normally seen in the neighborhood. The officers ran a computer check to see if the car was stolen and learned it was registered to an insulation company.

Later the officers noticed Hamilton leave the house the car was parked in front of and go sit in the car. They circled several blocks and returned from the opposite direction. As they rounded the last corner, they were almost struck head-on by Hamilton as he pulled away from the curb. Officer Ross testified he stopped Hamilton to talk to him about the dangers of driving on the wrong side of the road.

Hamilton was unable to produce a driver’s license or proof of insurance. He stated he had an Oklahoma identification card but could not find it. He told the officers his name was Larry Dale Wilson, but had difficulty spelling Wilson and was unable to produce anything with his name on it.

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Related

Hamilton v. State
831 S.W.2d 326 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
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786 S.W.2d 480 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1990)
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784 S.W.2d 143 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1990)
Speer v. Speer
766 S.W.2d 927 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1989)

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Bluebook (online)
772 S.W.2d 571, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1826, 1989 WL 76052, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hamilton-v-state-texapp-1989.