Harper v. State

217 S.W.3d 672, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 116, 2007 WL 57247
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 9, 2007
Docket07-06-0129-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 217 S.W.3d 672 (Harper 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
Harper v. State, 217 S.W.3d 672, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 116, 2007 WL 57247 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

MACKEY K. HANCOCK, Justice.

Appellant, Jacqueline V. Harper, appeals her conviction for possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, in [674]*674an amount less than one gram and her sentence of one year incarceration in a state jail facility in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in overruling her motion to suppress evidence. We affirm.

Background

On the morning of April 4, 2005, Lubbock Police Officer John Hayes was dispatched to a Walgreen’s parking lot to investigate a report of a person passed out in a vehicle in the store’s parking lot. Upon his arrival, Hayes observed that an ambulance had already arrived and that EMS personnel were speaking to a female sitting inside a vehicle. From Hayes’s observation, he noticed that appellant was slow in responding and appeared groggy. The EMS personnel determined that appellant was not in medical distress and left the scene. Hayes opined that, at that point, he was uncertain as to whether appellant was intoxicated or simply very tired. Being uncertain of appellant’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle and drive herself home, Hayes decided to ask appellant to step out of her vehicle. As appellant stepped out of the vehicle, a small baggie containing a white, crystal-like substance fell from her lap. Hayes then arrested her for possession of a controlled substance. The substance was later verified to be methamphetamine.

At a pretrial hearing, appellant challenged the admission of the methamphetamine by a motion to suppress contending that the controlled substance was obtained as a result of an illegal detention. The trial court overruled appellant’s motion to suppress. At trial, a jury found appellant guilty of possession of a controlled substance, state jail felony, and the trial court assessed her punishment at one year in a state jail facility. Appellant appeals the trial court’s ruling on the motion to suppress the admission of the methamphetamine. We affirm.

An appellate court reviews a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress for abuse of discretion. See Villarreal v. State, 935 S.W.2d 134, 138 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). Under this standard, we give almost total deference to a trial court’s determination of historical facts supported by the record, especially when the trial court’s fact findings are based on an evaluation of credibility and demeanor. Guzman v. State, 955 S.W.2d 85, 89 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). When, as in this case, the trial court makes no explicit findings of historical fact, we presume that it made those findings necessary to support its ruling, provided that they are supported in the record. Carmouche v. State, 10 S.W.3d 323, 327-28 (Tex.Crim.App.2000). We give the same amount of deference to a trial court’s ruling on “application of law to fact questions” if the resolution of those ultimate questions turns on an evaluation of credibility and demeanor. Guzman, 955 S.W.2d at 89. We review de novo mixed questions of law and fact that do not turn on an evaluation of credibility and demean- or. Id. We review a trial court’s decisions regarding detention and reasonable suspicion de novo. Loserth v. State, 963 S.W.2d 770, 772-73 (Tex.Crim.App.1998).

A police officer’s interaction with a citizen can be classified as an encounter, detention, or seizure. See Citizen v. State, 39 S.W.3d 367, 370 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, no pet.). Encounters occur when police officers approach an individual in public to ask questions. Id. Encounters do not require any justification whatsoever on the part of an officer. Id. (citing U.S v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 555, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980)). An investigative detention is a confrontation of a citizen by law enforcement officers wherein a citizen yields to a [675]*675display of authority and is temporarily detained for purposes of an investigation. Johnson v. State, 912 S.W.2d 227, 235 (Tex.Crim.App.1995). An investigative detention is permitted if it is supported by reasonable suspicion. Citizen, 39 S.W.3d at 370. See also Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). Reasonable suspicion is a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the person is, has been, or soon will be engaged in criminal activity. Citizen, 39 S.W.3d at 370 (citing Crockett v. State, 803 S.W.2d 308, 311 (Tex.Crim.App.1991)). A determination of whether the police interaction is an encounter, detention or seizure is assessed by looking at the totality of the circumstances. See Hunter v. State, 955 S.W.2d 102, 104 (Tex.Crim.App.1997).

The issue presented on appeal is whether Hayes’s interaction with appellant, specifically Hayes’s request to step out of the vehicle, constituted a sufficient display of authority to raise the encounter into an investigative detention, such that appellant no longer felt free to decline the officer’s request or otherwise terminate the encounter. See Citizen, 39 S.W.3d at 370 (quoting State v. Velasquez, 994 S.W.2d 676, 679 (Tex.Crim.App.1999)). If we conclude that the interaction became an investigative detention, we must then determine whether the officer had reasonable suspicion to support such detention.

Appellant contends that the interaction was a detention and that Hayes, at the time, did not have reasonable suspicion to justify the detention of appellant. However, nothing in the record indicates the officer’s actions were such a display of authority that a reasonable person would not have felt free to decline an officer’s request for compliance. See Brewer v. State, 932 S.W.2d 161, 168 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1996, no writ) (holding that consensual encounter occurred when a uniformed officer approached defendant in a parking lot, did not block defendant’s path or order him to stop, and did not indicate that defendant was required to comply with request to step back from car door); Ashton v. State, 931 S.W.2d 5, 7 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, writ ref'd) (holding that no investigatory detention occurred when unidentified officer approached defendant, who was sitting in a parked car in a public place, and asked her to roll down the window); Reyes v. State, 899 S.W.2d 319

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

Related

Michael Wayne Williams v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Peter Ortiz v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Adrienne Klein v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Travis Bell v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Christopher Raymond Cisneros v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
State v. James Ray Junek
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015
Dennis Salzido v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011
Sheldon Keith Crain v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009
Michael Dean Perry v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009
Tyrone Green v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008
Robert Vance Murry v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008
State v. Rudd
255 S.W.3d 293 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Stephen Mark Hurley v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008
State v. Earl Cody Rudd
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008
Partee v. Texas Department of Public Safety
249 S.W.3d 495 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
State v. Jerome Paul Marroquin
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007
Baldwin v. State
237 S.W.3d 808 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Jeremy Wayne Baldwin v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
217 S.W.3d 672, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 116, 2007 WL 57247, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harper-v-state-texapp-2007.