Linder v. State

734 S.W.2d 168, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 7796
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 9, 1987
Docket10-86-208-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 734 S.W.2d 168 (Linder 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
Linder v. State, 734 S.W.2d 168, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 7796 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

HALL, Justice.

Pleading not guilty, appellant Daniel Lin-der was found guilty by a jury for the kidnapping of Steven Woods, the principal of a bail bond issued by appellant’s employer. Punishment was assessed by the court at confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections for a period of two years, probated.

Appellant was a licensed bail bondsman in Brazos County. Occasionally he did side-line work for Sonny Ellen’s bonding company. In this latter capacity, appellant wrote bail bonds and re-arrested principals of bonds who failed to appear in court. In the case before us, appellant was found guilty of kidnapping when he re-arrested Steven Woods who was the principal of a bail bond issued by Sonny Ellen’s bonding company. As was the usual practice, Mr. Ellen had given appellant a copy of an arrest warrant that Ellen had received from the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office when Woods failed to appear in court. Armed with this arrest warrant, appellant proceeded with his brother to Woods’ residence to apprehend Woods and surrender him to the sheriff’s department. When appellant arrived at Woods’ residence, he shined the high beams of the headlights of his truck on the door of Woods’ trailer house to prevent Woods from seeing who *170 was outside, and honked his horn. When Woods emerged from the trailer house and approached appellant’s truck, appellant, armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and handcuffs, got out of the truck along with his brother and told Woods he was under arrest. Appellant then handcuffed Woods and drove him to the Sheriffs Office where Woods was booked into jail by a deputy sheriff.

Appellant contends through seven points of error that his arrest of Woods was valid, even though he was not specially named in the warrant to make the arrest. We overrule these contentions, and we affirm the judgment.

In point of error number one, appellant contends the trial court erred in refusing to grant his motion for instructed verdict since he arrested Woods pursuant to an arrest warrant authorizing the arrest of Woods.

When a surety seeks to surrender a principal of a bail bond he must comply with articles 17.16 and 17.19 of Vernon’s Ann.C. C.P. Article 17.16 provides: “Those who have become bail for the accused, or either of them, may at any time relieve themselves of their undertaking by surrendering the accused into the custody of the sheriff of the county where he is prosecuted.” Article 17.19 provides: “Any surety, desiring to surrender his principal, may upon making affidavit of such intention before the court or magistrate before which the prosecution is pending, obtain from such court or magistrate a warrant of arrest for such principal, which shall be executed as in other cases.”

These statute's have been interpreted by our Court of Criminal Appeals to provide two methods by which a surety may surrender his principal: article 17.16 allows surrender of a principal without a warrant “if the principal will surrender willingly and without the use of force”; if not, the surety must comply with article 17.19 and secure a warrant of arrest for the principal. Austin v. State, 541 S.W.2d 162, 165 (Tex.Cr.App.1976). Appellant argues he satisfied the requirements of article 17.19 in that he had an arrest warrant for Woods, and that the fact that he was not specially named to execute the warrant was merely an error of form and not substance, which did not invalidate the arrest.

However, articles 15.01, 15.14 and 15.15 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provide the necessary requirements for a private person to be granted authority to make a valid arrest pursuant to a warrant. Article 15.01 prescribes that if someone other than a police officer is to execute the warrant he must be specially named. Article 15.14 provides:

If it is made known by satisfactory proof to the magistrate that a peace officer cannot be procured to execute a warrant of arrest, or that such delay will be occasioned in procuring the services of a peace officer that the accused will probably escape, such warrant may be directed to any suitable person who is willing to execute the same; and in such case, his name shall be set forth in the warrant.

(Emphasis added). Article 15.15 of the Code provides that when a private person undertakes proper authority to execute a warrant, he then has the same liabilities and rights as apply to peace officers. It is apparent from a reading of these statutes that a private person must be specially named on the arrest warrant to effectuate a valid arrest pursuant to that warrant. Hernandez v. State, 600 S.W.2d 793, 795 (Tex.Cr.App.1980); Stephenson v. State, 93 Tex.Crim. 578, 249 S.W. 492, 493 (1923). Therefore, the absence of appellant’s name on the arrest warrant rendered appellant’s arrest of Woods unauthorized and invalid.

Appellant further contends that the arrest of Woods falls under the authority of article 17.16 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in that Woods willingly accompanied him to the sheriff’s office. This argument has no merit because appellant apprehended Woods through coercion and threat of force using a 12-gauge shotgun and handcuffs. Point of error number one is overruled.

Closely related to point of error number one, appellant’s seventh point asserts that the trial court erred in refusing to grant *171 appellant’s requested instruction to the jury. The requested instruction read:

You are instructed that you must find beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendants re-arrested the alleged victim knowing that their prior practice with the sheriff’s office at Brazos County and other counties in Texas of rearresting bail jumpers without a warrant made out in their name was no longer acceptable to the Sheriff.

In support of this contention, appellant relies heavily on a historic United States Supreme Court case that construed the common law as authorizing sureties to arrest principals without an arrest warrant. Taylor v. Taintor, 83 U.S. (16 Wall) 287, 21 L.Ed. 287 (1873). However, the common law rule as pronounced in Taylor is not the law in Texas since statutory guidelines have been promulgated and interpreted by Texas’ courts to define the law as it applies to sureties who seek to surrender principals. Vernon’s Ann.C.C.P. articles 17.16, 17.19; Austin, 541 S.W.2d at 165. Appellant’s seventh point is overruled.

In point of error two, appellant complains that the trial court erred by refusing to hear testimony from the District Attorney for Robertson County by which appellant sought to establish the affirmative defense of mistake of law according to V.T. C.A., Penal Code, article 8.03.

Article 8.03 of the Penal Code provides the affirmative defense of mistake of law if the defendant can establish that he reasonably believed his conduct did not constitute a crime and that he reasonably relied upon:

(1) an official statement of the law contained in a written order or grant of permission by an administrative agency charged by law with responsibility for interpreting the law in question; or

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Bluebook (online)
734 S.W.2d 168, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 7796, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/linder-v-state-texapp-1987.