Jason Allen Via v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 4, 2019
Docket01-18-00182-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Jason Allen Via v. State (Jason Allen Via 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
Jason Allen Via v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

Opinion issued April 4, 2019

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-18-00182-CR ——————————— JASON ALLEN VIA, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 412th District Court Brazoria County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 82367-CR

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury found appellant Jason Via guilty of possession of a controlled

substance (methamphetamine) in an amount of four grams or more but less than 200

grams, a second-degree felony, which was enhanced to a first-degree felony by at least one prior felony conviction. The jury assessed punishment at 50 years’

imprisonment.

On appeal, Via’s first two issues assert that the trial court erred in overruling

his motion to suppress. In his third issue, Via argues that the evidence is insufficient

to support his conviction. We affirm.

Background

Lake Jackson Police Officer Z. Jacoby testified at the suppression hearing and

at trial that, on the evening of July 13, 2017, he was on patrol and was surveilling a

home known for recent drug activity (the Jenkins residence) when he noticed a red

2006 Dodge Caravan that he had recently located narcotics (methamphetamine) in.

He stopped the Dodge Caravan after observing the driver fail to signal within 100

feet of a turn. The officer asked Via, the driver, for his driver’s license and proof of

insurance. Via replied that he had left his license at his mother’s residence in

Freeport, Texas, but he did provide Officer Jacoby with his name, license number,

and date of birth. Via also told the officer that he was staying at the Jenkins residence

after first stating his mother had kicked him out and he was staying with a friend in

Freeport. Officer Jacoby did not detect any narcotics odor in the vehicle.

Because Via appeared nervous to Officer Jacoby—“more nervous” than

people commonly are when stopped by police—he asked Via to get out of the Dodge

Caravan and to move to its front. The officer then contacted dispatch to verify that

2 Via had provided accurate personal information. At trial, Officer Jacoby testified

that Via provided conflicting information about where he was coming from, where

he was going to, and where he was living; Via’s story was “not adding up” and he

thought Via was not being honest.

While waiting for a response for verification of Via’s personal information,

the officer conducted a pat-down search of Via’s clothing for weapons after Via had

denied having any weapons on his person. While conducting the pat-down, Officer

Jacoby felt something in Via’s left front pocket. When the officer asked Via what

was in his pocket, Via replied that it was a cell phone and a lighter underneath the

phone. Officer Jacoby testified that he asked Via for consent to remove the item from

his pocket and that Via consented.

The video of the pat-down from Officer Jacoby’s body camera reflects that,

after Via said that a cell phone and then a lighter were in his pocket, Officer Jacoby

asked: “I’m gonna grab it, okay?,” to which Via replied, “Okay, go ahead.” He then

recovered what he observed to be a small bag of marihuana from Via’s pocket. Via

admitted to Officer Jacoby that the substance was marihuana.

The front-seat passenger was Krista Glockzin; Officer Jacoby had recently

stopped her in the same vehicle and found methamphetamine. When Officer G. Soria

arrived as back-up, Officer Jacoby had Via sit on the ground while Glockzin was

removed from the vehicle. Officer Jacoby then asked Via if there was anything else

3 in the vehicle, and Via replied that there was a “roach”—a partially smoked

marihuana cigarette. Glockzin also told Officer Jacoby that there was a “roach” in

the vehicle.

Officer Jacoby searched the Dodge Caravan for narcotics based on Via’s

statement that there was marihuana in it. During that search, he found a green, Crown

Royal bag inside a larger purse-type bag that was between the front passenger seat

and the driver’s seat; that bag contained a large quantity of methamphetamine

wrapped in three separate packages. He also recovered a small digital scale from

inside the bag that had a white crystal-like residue that indicated it had been used to

weigh methamphetamine.

Officer Jacoby then detained Via in the back of Officer Soria’s patrol car

while he further searched the Dodge Caravan. Officer Soria’s patrol car was

equipped with video surveillance that recorded Via while he was detained in the

back seat. Despite being handcuffed behind his back, Via was able to answer several

calls on his cell phone, and during one call was recorded saying, “I’m in the back of

a . . . cop car. They caught me.”

Officer Jacoby asked Via and Glockzin if the narcotics belonged to either of

them, and initially they both denied responsibility for the methamphetamine and

were arrested. After she was arrested and was being placed in his patrol car, Glockzin

told Officer Jacoby that the methamphetamine was Via’s. Laboratory analysis later

4 confirmed the recovered substances to be between four and two hundred grams of

methamphetamine and less than two grams of marihuana.

Via was indicted for the offense of possession of a controlled substance with

intent to deliver—habitual. Glockzin, meanwhile, pled guilty. At trial and after the

jury was seated, Via filed a motion to suppress. After an evidentiary hearing, the trial

court denied the motion. The trial court found that Officer Jacoby was objectively

justified in conducting the pat-down search and that Via had consented to the

officer’s search and seizure of the items in his pocket.

The jury found Via guilty of the lesser-included offense of possession of a

controlled substance. At punishment, Via pled true to the two enhancement

paragraphs. The jury assessed punishment at 50 years confinement in the Texas

Department of Criminal Justice—Institutional Division, and a fine of $10,000.

Suppression

Via’s first issue asserts that Officer Jacoby’s pat-down was an unreasonable

search. His second issue contends that the trial court erred in finding that Via

consented to the search and seizure of the item in his pocket.

We review a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress under a bifurcated

standard of review. Lerma v. State, 543 S.W.3d 184, 189–90 (Tex. Crim. App.

2018). We review the trial court’s factual findings for an abuse of discretion but

review the trial court’s application of the law to the facts de novo. Id. at 190. We

5 give deference to the trial court’s factual determinations because the trial court is the

sole trier of fact and judge of witness credibility and the weight to be given their

testimony. Id.; Valtierra v. State, 310 S.W.3d 442, 447 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010). Our

deferential review also applies to the trial court’s conclusions regarding mixed

questions of law and fact that turn on credibility or demeanor. State v. Ortiz, 382

S.W.3d 367, 372 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012). We review de novo mixed questions of

law and fact that do not turn on credibility and demeanor, as well as purely legal

questions. State v. Woodard, 341 S.W.3d 404, 410 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011).

When the trial court makes explicit findings of fact, we determine whether the

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