Looney v. State

745 S.W.2d 927, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 66, 1988 WL 2799
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 21, 1988
DocketNo. B14-87-017-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 745 S.W.2d 927 (Looney 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
Looney v. State, 745 S.W.2d 927, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 66, 1988 WL 2799 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

ELLIS, Justice.

Appellant, Edward Ross Looney, appeals from a conviction for the misdemeanor offense of driving while intoxicated (DWI). Trial was to the court. Appellant pled no contest in exchange for an agreed sentencing recommendation by the State, with the understanding he could appeal the court’s denial of his pretrial motion to suppress the result of an intoxilyzer (breath) test. The court found appellant guilty and assessed punishment at 120 days, probated for two years, together with a $400 fine. We affirm the judgment as modified.

In two points of error, appellant argues the trial court erred by failing to suppress the intoxilyzer test results, and by accepting his no contest plea. The State asks us to correct an error in the judgment.

Appellant was formally charged with DWI in a two paragraph information dated August 23, 1986. The first paragraph alleged he was intoxicated, the second alleged his breath alcohol concentration was “at least 0.10” (ten percent). Pasadena police had taken him to a videotaping room at police headquarters shortly after they arrested him. There they videotaped the events which preceded filing of formal [929]*929DWI charges. The record shows the following sequence of events.

On arrival at the video room, Pasadena Police Officer Deringer warned appellant of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). After reciting each warning, Deringer asked appellant if he understood his rights. When asked if he understood his right to consult an attorney, appellant apparently stated “I advise to make a call” or “I request to make a call,” although the videotape is not entirely clear. When Der-inger again asked appellant if he understood his rights, appellant indicated he did. He then agreed to perform certain motor skills tests and a reading test. When Der-inger reminded appellant of his Miranda warnings, he indicated he remembered them.

Prior to asking appellant to submit to an intoxilyzer test, Deringer warned appellant pursuant to Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6701l-5 § 2(b) (Vernon Supp.1988) [hereinafter “Article 6701l-5 § 2(b)”]. Deringer and appellant apparently had a discussion concerning his right to counsel as it related to the intoxilyzer test. Following the discussion appellant consented to take the in-toxilyzer test, although he indicated he felt his attorney would advise him not to. Appellant was formally charged after he took the test.

The trial court held a pre-trial hearing on appellant’s motions to suppress the audio portion of the videotape and the results of the intoxilyzer test. The court admitted the videotape as Defendant’s Exhibit One. When appellant asserted he had invoked his right to counsel while being videotaped, the court suppressed the oral portion of the tape “from the point where the defendant invoked his right of counsel,” but did not view the tape. The court refused to suppress the intoxilyzer results. The State then abandoned the first paragraph of the information and the case proceeded to trial on the sole theory that appellant’s breath contained at least ten percent alcohol at the time of his arrest.

We address appellant’s second point of error first. Appellant asserts the trial court should not have accepted his no contest plea, pursuant to which he understood he had preserved review of his pre-trial motion to suppress the intoxilyzer test results. Appellant postulates that if this court should find he failed to preserve the right to appeal from denial of his pre-trial motion to suppress, his no contest plea was neither knowingly nor intelligently entered.

Because appellant entered into a plea bargain agreement with the State, and because the trial court assessed punishment consistent with that agreement, appellant preserved his right to urge his first point of error challenging the trial court’s denial of his pre-trial motion to suppress. Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 44.02 (Vernon 1979) [hereinafter “Article 44.02”]; Statman v. State, 740 S.W.2d 464, 465 (Tex.Crim.App.1987); Johnson v. State, 722 S.W.2d 417, 418 (Tex.Crim.App.1986) (en banc) (opinion on appellant’s motion for rehearing).

It is true that this case involves a misdemeanor plea of no contest, following which it was proper for the trial court to convict appellant without hearing any evidence. Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 27.14(a) (Vernon Supp.1988). Yet appellant’s right to appeal denial of his pre-trial motion survived his no contest plea notwithstanding the misdemeanor nature of the charges against him. See Crump v. State, 711 S.W.2d 56, 57-8 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1986, no pet.) (opinion on motion for rehearing). As this Court explained in Crump, Isam v. State, 582 S.W.2d 441, 444 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1979), assures a defendant the same right to appeal from pre-trial motions to suppress in a misdemeanor case as in a felony case, provided that compliance with Article 44.02 has occurred, notwithstanding the court’s statutory right to enter judgment based solely on the plea without hearing any evidence. Crump, 711 S.W.2d at 57-58.

Furthermore, the record shows that the State abandoned its simple DWI theory and [930]*930proceeded to try appellant for driving with a breath alcohol concentration of at least ten percent. Consequently, the intoxilyzer test results are clearly dispositive of his case. Because appellant seeks review of the trial court’s failure to suppress disposi-tive evidence, he provides an additional basis for our finding he has properly invoked the jurisdiction of this court. See Statman, 740 S.W.2d at 466; Garcia v. State, 726 S.W.2d 231, 237 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1987, no pet.) (Robertson, J., concurring). Compare McGlynn v. State, 704 S.W.2d 18 (Tex.Crim.App.1986) (en banc) (opinion on State’s motion for rehearing) (in absence of showing that evidence seized was dispositive of case, Court of Criminal Appeals would not decide whether search recovering evidence was constitutionally permissible, notwithstanding appellant’s having satisfied jurisdictional requirements of Article 44.02).

Appellant has never disputed the results of the intoxilyzer test. His sole contention is that the police violated his rights before he took the test. See McCambridge v. State, 712 S.W.2d 499, 501 & n. 7 (Tex.Crim.App.1986) (en banc). Our Court of Criminal Appeals has expressly held that one purpose of Article 44.02 is to encourage guilty pleas when a defendant seeks appellate review of precisely the type of matter which appellant raises here. Isam, 582 S.W.2d at 444. Because appellant preserved his right to appeal from denial of his motion to suppress, and because the evidence he sought to suppress is disposi-tive of his case, we find no merit in his contention that the trial court should not have accepted his no contest plea in that it was neither knowingly or intelligently entered. We overrule appellant’s second point of error and turn to the merits of his appeal.

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745 S.W.2d 927, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 66, 1988 WL 2799, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/looney-v-state-texapp-1988.