Joe Saenz Martinez v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 28, 2008
Docket07-07-00187-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Joe Saenz Martinez v. State (Joe Saenz Martinez 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
Joe Saenz Martinez v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

NO. 07-07-0187-CR

 

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

AT AMARILLO

PANEL D

JULY 28, 2008

______________________________

JOE SAENZ MARTINEZ, APPELLANT

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE

_________________________________

FROM THE 287TH DISTRICT COURT OF BAILEY COUNTY;

NO. 2452; HONORABLE GORDON H. GREEN, JUDGE

_______________________________

Before QUINN, C.J. and CAMPBELL and PIRTLE, JJ.

OPINION

           Appellant, Joe Saenz Martinez, pled guilty to a third degree felony for driving while intoxicated. Punishment was assessed at six years confinement and a $2,500 fine. Appellant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence because: (1) Cochran County Deputy Sheriffs exceeded their authority when they detained him in Bailey County; (2) a citizen’s cell phone tip was insufficient to provide probable cause for his detention; and (3) a county-line policing agreement between Bailey and Cochran counties was insufficient to vest jurisdiction in the Cochran County Deputies at the time of Appellant’s detention. We affirm.

Background

           On November 22, 2006, Cochran County Deputy Sheriff George De La Cruz and Deputy Joe Orosco were on patrol in Morton, Texas. They received a call from their dispatcher describing a reckless driver, possibly intoxicated, traveling south toward Morton on Highway 214. The dispatcher indicated the driver was located at the intersection of FM 54 and Highway 214 approximately eight miles north of the Cochran County line in Bailey County. The dispatcher described the car as a maroon, two-door vehicle and gave them the license plate number. The dispatcher’s information came from a cell phone tip from a second driver following the maroon car.

           De La Cruz and Orosco headed north on Highway 214. Approximately one mile north of the Cochran-Bailey County line, in Bailey County, they spotted a car matching the citizen’s description headed south. The car first drifted into their lane of traffic and then off the roadway onto the shoulder. The car then came back onto the roadway and drifted back onto the shoulder a second time. The deputies passed the car and turned around. They verified that the car’s license number matched the number described by the dispatcher and pulled the car over based upon the citizen’s tip and the driver’s erratic behavior.

           De La Cruz and Orosco approached the vehicle and smelled alcohol when they were close to Appellant. After Appellant got out of the car, he was handcuffed. A man stopped by the roadside and identified himself as the person who phoned in the tip. He gave the deputies his name, phone number, driver’s license information, and stated he had been following Appellant the entire time. The dispatcher informed them a Bailey County Deputy was en route to the scene.

           No field sobriety tests were administered, however, alcoholic beverages were discovered inside the car and its trunk compartment. When the Bailey County Deputy arrived, she took the information on the person who supplied the tip, placed Martinez in her cruiser, and transported him to the Bailey County Jail for processing.

           De La Cruz and Orosco testified to a “working agreement” or “policy” between Cochran and Bailey Counties whereby each county assisted the other when there was an “emergency call” related to an incident located near the county-line such as a car accident or suspicious vehicle. In this instance, they estimated their arrival preceded the Bailey County Deputy by approximately seventeen minutes.


Discussion

           Appellant contends evidence of his intoxication should be suppressed because the Cochran County Deputies were out of their home jurisdiction when he was stopped, and no exception in article 14.03 of the Code of Criminal Procedure permitted the deputies to detain him. Appellant next asserts, even if the deputies were empowered by article 14.03, the Cochran County Deputies lacked probable cause to detain him because the information provided by the citizen informant was insufficient to justify his detention. Finally, he asserts the Inter-County Policing Agreement cannot provide the justification necessary for his detention.

Standard of Review

           A trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Balentine v. State, 71 S.W.3d 763, 768 (Tex.Crim.App. 2002). When, as here, no findings of fact were requested nor filed, 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 supported by the record. See State v. Ross, 32 S.W.3d 853, 855-56 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000). If the trial court’s decision is correct on any theory of law applicable to the case, it will be sustained. Armendariz v. State, 123 S.W.3d 401, 404 (Tex.Crim.App. 2003). Additionally, the legal question whether the totality of circumstances justified the officer’s actions is reviewed de novo. Hudson v. State, 247 S.W.3d 780, 784 (Tex.App.–Amarillo 2008, no pet.).

Issues One and Two: Traffic Stop and Detention Pursuant to Citizen’s Tip

           No one disputes that the Cochran County Deputies were out of their jurisdiction when they stopped and detained Appellant. Generally, “a peace officer is a peace officer only while in his jurisdiction and when the officer leaves that jurisdiction, he cannot perform the functions of his office.” Thomas v. State, 864 S.W.2d 193, 196 (Tex.App.–Texarkana 1993, pet. ref’d). Nevertheless, there are statutory exceptions to this general premise. Article 14.03 states, in pertinent part, as follows:

(d) A peace officer who is outside his jurisdiction may arrest, without warrant, a person who commits an offense within the officer’s presence or view, if the offense is a felony, a violation of Chapter 42 or 49, Penal Code, or a breach of the peace.[

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Related

Brother v. State
166 S.W.3d 255 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Armendariz v. State
123 S.W.3d 401 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
State v. Kurtz
152 S.W.3d 72 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2004)
Leonard v. State
135 S.W.3d 98 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2004)
In Re Coronado
980 S.W.2d 691 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Balentine v. State
71 S.W.3d 763 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2002)
State v. Kurtz
111 S.W.3d 315 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Hudson v. State
247 S.W.3d 780 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008)
State v. Purdy
244 S.W.3d 591 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Mitchell v. State
187 S.W.3d 113 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2006)
State v. Ross
32 S.W.3d 853 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)
State v. Nelson
228 S.W.3d 899 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Davis v. State
947 S.W.2d 240 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Thomas v. State
864 S.W.2d 193 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)

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Joe Saenz Martinez v. State, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/joe-saenz-martinez-v-state-texapp-2008.