Jeremy Wayne Baldwin v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 25, 2007
Docket14-06-00632-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Jeremy Wayne Baldwin v. State (Jeremy Wayne Baldwin 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
Jeremy Wayne Baldwin v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Affirmed and Majority and Dissenting Opinions filed September 25, 2007

Affirmed and Majority and Dissenting Opinions filed September 25, 2007.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

____________

NO. 14-06-00632-CR

JEREMY WAYNE BALDWIN, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 180th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 1046027

D I S S E N T I N G   O P I N I O N

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides, in part, AThe right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated[.]@  U.S. Const. amend. IV.  At every level of the detention, search, and arrest of appellant, appellant=s Fourth Amendment rights were violated by Deputy Smith.  Nevertheless, the majority utilizes sophistry to sustain Deputy Smith=s unlawful search and seizure, thus damaging appellant=s reputation with an illegitimate arrest for merely walking down a public sidewalk. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.

Factual and Procedural Background

A.      Appellant Goes For a Walk

Appellant testified that during the evening of November 3, 2005, he left his parents= home in the Turtle Lake subdivision to take a walk and smoke a cigarette.  After a ten year absence, appellant had moved back into his parents= home about a week and a half before he was arrested on November 3, 2005.

B.      Just the Facts, Ma=am

Deputy Tommy Smith, a Harris County Deputy Sheriff, testified that on November 3, 2005, he was working as the contract deputy patrolling the Turtle Lake subdivision, his regular assignment.  According to Deputy Smith, Turtle Lake has a moderate crime rate.  At about ten o=clock that evening, while patrolling the subdivision, Deputy Smith was flagged down by a middle-aged female citizen.  While the citizen informed Deputy Smith she had reported her observations to the authorities by telephone, he was not dispatched to her as a result of her alleged report, but merely happened to see her as he was patrolling.[1]  Deputy Smith recognized the citizen as someone who lived in the neighborhood.  Deputy Smith did not know the citizen other than having seen her in the subdivision on several prior occasions.  Deputy Smith did not obtain any contact information from the citizen, as she did not want to be involved and did not want her name mentioned.  The anonymous citizen told Deputy Smith she had spotted a white male, dressed in black, walking around looking into homes.  She also informed Deputy Smith she did not recognize the man in black to be from the neighborhood.  The anonymous citizen also volunteered to Deputy Smith that she was aware there had been burglaries in the neighborhood, that she did not know if the man in black was part of those burglaries or not, but he may have been.  Deputy Smith admitted during cross-examination that the anonymous citizen did not report seeing the man in black committing a crime and that she did not specify the manner in which the man in black was allegedly looking into houses or whether he approached the houses.  The anonymous citizen pointed out the direction she had last seen the man in black walking.

Deputy Smith testified that despite the fact he did not personally know the anonymous citizen, had previously spoken to her only in passing, and had never had to rely on any information she had given him in the past, he believed she was very credible and he had no reason to doubt her.  Deputy Smith quickly drove off in the direction the anonymous citizen had indicated, looking for the man in black, even though he knew walking around a subdivision looking at windows was not against the law and he had received no reports that evening of any burglaries in the area.  A few moments later, Deputy Smith saw appellant, dressed in black, walking on the sidewalk.

C.      Deputy Smith Detains Appellant

As Deputy Smith approached appellant in his patrol car, appellant turned around, saw Deputy Smith=s patrol car, and began walking at a very fast pace; but not running.  Deputy Smith quickly caught up with appellant, exited his patrol car, and asked appellant for his identification.[2]  According to Deputy Smith, appellant did not refuse to produce his identification, but became nervous when he questioned why Deputy Smith wished to see his identification, and stated Deputy Smith had no right to stop him for walking down the street.[3] At that point, mere seconds after he had initially approached appellant, Deputy Smith handcuffed appellant.  Deputy Smith testified on cross-examination the only reason he handcuffed appellant was because appellant became nervous and anxious and it was his standard policy to handcuff suspects when they become nervous and anxious because, in his experience, they are about to run or fight.[4]  Deputy Smith also testified that appellant had not refused to produce his identification prior to being handcuffed.  Deputy Smith did not conduct a pat-down search of appellant for weapons prior to handcuffing appellant.

After he handcuffed appellant, Deputy Smith asked appellant where his identification was located.  Appellant told him it was in his pants pocket.  Deputy Smith reached into appellant=s pocket and grabbed appellant=s wallet pouch.  Appellant=s wallet pouch had a slot, with a clear plastic covering, on one side. Appellant=s driver=s license was in this slot, behind the plastic cover.  Deputy Smith testified that, despite the clear plastic cover, parts of appellant=s driver=s license were obstructed, so he removed the license.  Once he removed the license, he saw a small baggy containing a white powder in the same slot.  According to Deputy Smith, appellant immediately said: AThat dope is not mine. I found it.@

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