Hernandez v. State

190 S.W.3d 856, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 2853, 2006 WL 889798
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided April 6, 2006·No. 13-02-620-CR·Published·Cited by 124 cases

Opinions

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice YÁÑEZ.

On November 30, 2005, a panel of this Court issued an opinion in this case.1 We sua sponte withdraw our November 30, 2005 opinion and substitute this opinion in its place.

On January 1, 2002, appellant, Hugo Hernandez, was indicted on six counts of burglary of a building.2 After a jury trial, he was convicted on counts one, three, four, five, and six. Enhanced by two prior burglary convictions, the jury assessed his punishment at ten years’ imprisonment for each conviction, to be served concurrently. The record contains the trial court’s certification that this is not a plea-bargain case and the defendant has the right of appeal.3

In three issues, appellant contends (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, (2) the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support his convictions for burglary,4 and (3) the trial court improperly allowed the State to reopen evidence during the punishment phase of trial. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

Factual Background

After burglaries of several small businesses in Cameron County in mid-to-late 2001, the Brownsville Police Department initiated an investigation. After investigation of several crime scenes, police suspected that the burglaries may have been committed by the same individual. During their investigation, police received a tip from a crime-stopper’s hotline that appel[861] lant may have been involved in the burglaries. On April 18, 2001, police arrested appellant for violation of “several traffic laws.” During appellant’s processing at the police department for the traffic violations, without reading appellant his rights, police informed him of the tip they had received, and asked appellant whether he would allow them to photograph him. After appellant allegedly agreed, police took several photographs of him, and released him shortly thereafter. After more burglaries occurred, police decided to visit appellant again on September 21, 2001, while he was at a friend’s residence. During their visit, police approached appellant as he entered the front door of the residence and asked him whether he would allow them to take additional photographs of him. Appellant allegedly consented and police took several more photographs. After further investigation, police determined that appellant had committed the burglaries and arrested him shortly thereafter.

Motion to Suppress

In appellant’s first issue, he contends the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress the photographs because they were obtained as a result of an illegal search and seizure in violation of the United States and Texas Constitutions.5

Standard of Review

The appropriate standard for reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress is a bifurcated standard of review, giving almost total deference to the trial court’s determination of historical facts and reviewing de novo the trial court’s application of the law.6 The trial court is the sole trier of fact and judge of the weight and credibility of the evidence.7 We must afford almost total deference to the trial court’s determination of historical facts supported by the record and its rulings on application of law to fact questions, or “mixed” questions of law, when those fact findings involve an evaluation of the credibility and demeanor of witnesses.8 When, as here, the trial court does not make explicit findings of fact, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling and assume the trial court made implicit findings of fact that support its ruling so long as those findings are supported by the record.9 If the decision is correct under any theory of law applicable to the case, the ruling will be sustained.10

Applicable Law

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, section 9 of the Texas Constitution forbid unreasonable searches and seizures.11 Article 38.28 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure prohibits the admission of evidence obtained in violation of state or federal laws or constitutions against an accused at the trial of any criminal case.12 [862] However, constitutional prohibitions against warrantless searches and seizures do not come into play when a person gives free and voluntary consent to a search.13 Voluntary consent to a warrantless search violates neither the United States or Texas Constitutions, nor the laws of Texas.14

Relevant Facts

Immediately prior to trial, appellant’s trial counsel agreed that a previously-filed motion to suppress concerning the photographs would be carried through to trial. At trial, during direct examination of Officer Jesus Vallejo, who participated in the investigation of the burglaries, the State requested that the trial court admit into evidence the photographs of appellant taken on both occasions to support its theory that appellant had committed the burglaries.

The photographs show appellant in various poses. Some show appellant wearing a shirt, and others show appellant’s arms, hands, and shirtless upper-body. The photos are substantially similar in that they show several abrasions, cuts, and scratches on appellant’s limbs and upper-body. The State sought to show that appellant’s upper body had numerous abrasions, cuts, and scratches, consistent with injuries a burglar would have sustained climbing over walls and crawling through broken windows and holes in walls.

When the State requested admission of the photographs, appellant’s trial counsel moved to suppress them and objected to their admission. After a voir dire examination of Officer Vallejo, who admitted to participation in the photography sessions, trial counsel argued that the photographs should be suppressed because police knew appellant was the main suspect in the burglary investigation and chose to “violate his rights” by photographing him. The court, without stating its reasons, overruled trial counsel’s suppression motion and objection, and admitted all the photographs into evidence.

Analysis

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Hernandez v. State, 190 S.W.3d 856, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 2853, 2006 WL 889798 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

190 S.W.3d 856 (Hernandez v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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