Mickel Wayne Lambeth, Jr. v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 5, 2007
Docket02-04-00140-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Mickel Wayne Lambeth, Jr. v. State (Mickel Wayne Lambeth, Jr. 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
Mickel Wayne Lambeth, Jr. v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

                                      COURT OF APPEALS

                                       SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS

                                                   FORT WORTH

                                        NO. 2-04-140-CR

MICKEL WAYNE LAMBETH, JR.                                             APPELLANT

                                                   V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS                                                                STATE

                                              ------------

             FROM THE COUNTY COURT AT LAW OF HOOD COUNTY

                        OPINION ON REHEARING EN BANC

Following the issuance of our original opinion, appellant Mickel Wayne Lambeth, Jr. filed a motion for en banc rehearing.  Appellant=s motion for en banc rehearing is granted.  We withdraw our opinion and judgment of November 23, 2005, and substitute the following in their place.

I. Introduction


Appellant appeals his conviction for possession of less than two ounces of marijuana.  In two issues, he contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress.  In his first issue, appellant argues that the troopers wrongfully detained him in the absence of continuing reasonable suspicion.  In his second issue, he asserts that the State failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that his consent to the search was voluntary.  We affirm.

II. Background Facts

At 10:11 p.m. on September 10, 2003, Department of Public Safety Troopers Randall Wilson and Jim Hatfield stopped appellant because he was speeding.[1]  After pulling appellant over, Trooper Wilson approached the driver=s side of the vehicle and asked appellant for his driver=s license and insurance card.  Appellant complied and informed Trooper Wilson that his license had expired and that the vehicle belonged to his mother.  Trooper Wilson then asked appellant to step outside of the vehicle.  Appellant volunteered that he was driving to his boss=s house to pick up paint.  When Trooper Wilson observed that the car was not registered, appellant explained that another officer had removed the expired registration sticker during a previous traffic stop.  Trooper Hatfield, who was standing on the passenger=s side of the vehicle, inspected the interior of appellant=s car with a flashlight.


At 10:13 p.m., appellant exited the vehicle.  Trooper Wilson then began questioning him about why he was driving with an expired driver=s license. Appellant told him that he had been unable to renew his license because of some legal trouble stemming from a family matter in Corpus Christi.  He went on to explain that the State had charged him with theft because he took some property from a cousin who owed him money.  Appellant denied having any outstanding warrants, however, and invited Trooper Wilson to run a warrant check on him.  Trooper Hatfield called in a warrant check at 10:14 p.m.

At approximately 10:15 p.m., four minutes into the stop, Trooper Wilson began administering field sobriety tests because he smelled alcohol on appellant=s breath.  While Trooper Wilson was administering the sobriety tests, appellant admitted drinking two beers just before leaving his mother=s house. The tests were completed at 10:22 p.m.


After determining that appellant was not intoxicated, Trooper Hatfield and Trooper Wilson questioned appellant about a suspicious object in his vehicle, his destination, and warrants.  Trooper Hatfield asked appellant to identify an object in the back seat of his vehicle,[2] which he did.  Trooper Wilson then asked appellant about his destination and warrants.  Appellant reiterated that he was on his way to his boss=s house, and, although he did not know the address, he explained how to get there.  When asked about outstanding warrants, appellant admitted having had some warrants in Hood County and a warrant for theft from Corpus Christi, but he said that he had taken care of them.

At 10:26 p.m., about fifteen minutes into the stop, Trooper Wilson then asked appellant if he had any contraband in the vehicle and if appellant would consent to a search of his vehicle.  Appellant said he had no contraband in the vehicle, but he refused to consent to a search because the vehicle belonged to his mother.  When Trooper Wilson suggested calling appellant=s mother to obtain her consent, appellant said he could not remember his mother=s phone number and then said that his mother did not actually have her own phone but used his sister=s cell phone. Appellant indicated that he had the cell phone number in his vehicle.  Trooper Wilson asked for appellant=s consent to search the vehicle several more times before turning to the matter of the vehicle=s ownership.[3] 


At 10:32 p.m., Trooper Wilson asked appellant, A

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Mickel Wayne Lambeth, Jr. v. State, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mickel-wayne-lambeth-jr-v-state-texapp-2007.