Jackson v. State

745 S.W.2d 4, 1988 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 27, 1988 WL 6373
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 3, 1988
Docket69434
StatusPublished
Cited by153 cases

This text of 745 S.W.2d 4 (Jackson v. State) 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
Jackson v. State, 745 S.W.2d 4, 1988 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 27, 1988 WL 6373 (Tex. 1988).

Opinions

OPINION

DUNCAN, Judge.

The appellant, Tommy Ray Jackson, was convicted of capital murder, V.T.C.A. Penal Code, § 19.03(a)(2).1 Thereafter, the jury made affirmative findings to the special issues required by Art. 37.071(b)(1) and (2), V.A.C.C.P., and accordingly punishment was assessed by the trial court at death. Appellant’s cause is now before us on direct appeal pursuant to Art. 4.04, § 2, V.A. C.C.P.

At the outset we are confronted with the threshold question as to the legality of the warrantless stop and ultimate search and seizure of the appellant and the automobile which he was driving through the streets of Austin, when it was detained by William Pruitt, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, and Dunny Donovan an officer with the Austin Police Department. The appellant contends that the arrest and search of his person and search of the vehicle was in contravention of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.2

[6]*6We will now as concisely as possible identify the facts and circumstances that the State relied upon to show that probable cause existed to arrest and search the appellant’s person and the motor vehicle he occupied at the time he was stopped.

The deceased, Rosalind Robison, was a student at the University of Texas at Austin, and resided with her roommate, Maria Salazar, in an apartment located in the vicinity of the University. On Thursday, November 17, 1983, at approximately 10:00 p.m., the deceased informed Ms. Salazar that she was going to the Petroleum Engineering Building at the University to pick up some study notes from James Dupree, a teaching assistant in the Engineering Department. After the deceased phoned Du-pree to confirm that he was still in his office, she proceeded to the University. According to Dupree’s testimony, she met with him, retrieved the notes, and between midnight and 1:00 a.m. left the Petroleum Engineering Building through the front exit. Salazar testified she believed her roommate would return to the apartment within an hour of her departure, and when she did not Salazar stayed up until 4:00 a.m. maintaining a vigil out of concern for Robison, at which time she retired. When Salazar woke-up at 7:00 a.m. she discovered that Robison still had not returned. Later that morning she attempted to find the deceased at some of her morning classes and when that failed, Salazar contacted Dupree who informed her he did not know her (the deceased’s) whereabouts, although he had seen her the previous evening at the Petroleum Engineering Building.

Suspecting that something was wrong, Salazar contacted an officer with the Missing Persons Section of the Austin Police Department and filed a missing persons report on Rosalind Robison. William Rice an officer assigned to the Missing Persons Section revealed that although the original report was received by a patrol officer on the 18th of November it came to his attention on the morning of the 19th. The report noted that Rosalind Robison, a white female, twenty-four years of age, was last seen at approximately 10:00 p.m. on the 17th of November, 1983, and was driving her vehicle: a white, two-door, 1979 Oldsmobile, bearing an Indiana license plate, number 84F5245.

Shortly after receiving the report, Rice entered the information concerning the deceased into the National Crime Information Center computer and on the following day teletyped a description of the deceased and her vehicle to several regions in Texas.

William Pruitt, an assistant commander with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Narcotics Service, on November 23, 1983, received a telephone call from Bill Small, an employee with the federal government at the El Paso Intelligence Center in El Paso. Small advised Pruitt that Robison was a relative and the family desired to employ a reputable private investigator to assist in locating her. After speaking with Small, Pruitt contacted the Austin Police Department and confirmed that Robison had indeed been reported missing and that the information concerning her description and that of the vehicle was correct. At that time an officer with the Austin Police Department gave Pruitt the pertinent information concerning the deceased’s disappearance, including her physical description, when she was last seen, all of the information identifying the vehicle and the license number, and the Austin Police Department case number.

Later that evening, while proceeding down Airport Boulevard in Austin, Officer Pruitt, by pure coincidence, observed a vehicle matching the description of the Robi-son vehicle. He drove his unmarked patrol car directly behind the vehicle, confirmed the license number and description, and determined that it was the vehicle which Robison was last known to have been using. Further, Pruitt was able to observe that the Robison vehicle was operated by a black male, and occupied by a black female and several black children. Obviously, the operator of the questioned vehicle did not match the description of Rosalind Robison.

[7]*7Pruitt continued to follow and observe the vehicle as it proceeded into a Quickie-Pickie gasoline station. While the vehicle was stopped, Pruitt called the Department of Public Safety and requested that the Austin Police be contacted and that a unit meet him at the location. The dispatcher did so and also advised the Austin Police Department exactly as to what was taking place in reference to Officer Pruitt and his observations. Officer Dunny Donovan of the Austin Police Department rendezvoused with Pruitt who explained the situation to Donovan. The vehicle was followed by both officers to a Market Basket Grocery Store and kept under observation while the occupants were in the store. After their return, the vehicle left the parking lot. Immediately thereafter, Pruitt and Donovan, armed with the information provided by Pruitt, stopped the vehicle.

The driver of the automobile, later identified as the appellant, was ordered out of the vehicle where a patdown search was conducted and Donovan commenced to interview appellant as to how he came into possession of the Robison vehicle. In reply to Donovan’s queries concerning the vehicle, appellant responded that a friend of his from Houston had loaned the vehicle to him at a U-Tote-M Store somewhere in Austin; however, he did not know his friend’s name, how the friend got to the U-Tote-M Store or left there, and had no idea how to locate this friend. When pressed further as to this friend’s name, appellant first replied it was a man by the name of Robert Richardson. On a subsequent inquiry, appellant interpolated the names and stated that Richard Robertson had loaned him the vehicle.

Appellant was then ordered to open the trunk of the automobile, where the officers discovered personal items which belonged to the deceased, including a brown purse containing her student identification card. Appellant was then placed under arrest for the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and transported to the Travis County Jail.

Following his arrest the automobile was photographed, processed for finger prints, and searched. Several items of evidence were acquired and seized, such as finger prints, hairs, tissue papers, a tampon, a bank slip, gravel, the appellant’s bank card, and the deceased’s purse. Taken from the person of appellant was his check book, which contained a “Teller 24” bank card in the name of the deceased. Over appellant’s objection all of the items seized were introduced into evidence during the course of the trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
745 S.W.2d 4, 1988 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 27, 1988 WL 6373, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-state-texcrimapp-1988.