Middleton v. State

9 S.W.3d 428, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 9314, 1999 WL 1189060
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 16, 1999
DocketNo. 14-98-00964-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 9 S.W.3d 428 (Middleton 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
Middleton v. State, 9 S.W.3d 428, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 9314, 1999 WL 1189060 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION

BILL CANNON, Justice

(Assigned).

Sean Middleton appeals from the denial by the trial court of his motion to suppress all the evidence in the charge against him for possession of marihuana of more than 50 but less than 2000 pounds. Appellant pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea bargain with the State, and the trial court assessed appellant’s punishment at three years imprisonment. In three points of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because his warrantless arrest and subsequent search of his luggage were unlawful under the state and federal constitutions and article 38.23, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. We affirm.

The trial court decided appellant’s motion to suppress on the basis of affidavits. The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure provides:

When a hearing on the motion to suppress evidence is granted, the court may determine the merits of said motion on the motions themselves, or upon opposing affidavits, or upon oral testimony, subject to the discretion of the court.

Tex.Code Crim. PROC. Ann. art. 28.01, § 1(6) (Vernon 1989 & Supp.1999).

In his affidavit, Officer Billy Corley stated he was monitoring outbound passengers at Terminal C, Bush Intercontinental Airport on April 8, 1998, when he observed appellant check two suitcases. The suitcases were new and had no personal identifiers on them. The claim checks indicated the suitcases were destined for Newark, which is considered a demand city for narcotics. Based on his training and experience, Corley knew it was common for drug couriers to use new luggage with no personal identification. Corley had “Bubba,” a narcotics dog, check appellant’s luggage, and Bubba alerted on both pieces of luggage indicating he smelled narcotics. Cor-ley contacted Officer Dewayne Hartman, gave him a description of appellant, and took the suspected luggage into the jetway at gate 1-1 and waited there with the luggage.

In his affidavit, Officer Dewayne Hartman stated he received the information [430]*430from Corley and located appellant in the seating area for gate 1-1. Hartman approached appellant, identified himself as a police officer, and asked to speak to appellant. Appellant told Hartman he was traveling to Newark, and showed Hartman his ticket which contained two baggage claim stubs that had the same baggage claim numbers as the ones on the two suitcases Corley was holding. Hartman asked appellant if he knew why a narcotics K-9 would alert to the scent of narcotics, and appellant said he did not know why that would have happened. Appellant and Hartman met with Corley in the jetway and Hartman asked appellant if the two bags were his, and he said they were his bags. Hartman asked appellant if he could look inside the suitcases, and appellant said he had no objections. Hartman advised appellant that he was not under any obligation to allow Hartman to look inside his two suitcases. Noting the suitcases were locked with a padlock, Hartman asked appellant for the key, and appellant told Hartman that the locks were not the ones he put on the bags. Hartman again asked appellant for the key, and he again said the locks were not his. With appellant’s verbal consent, Hartman opened one of the suitcases and found it contained two bundles of marihuana. At that time, he advised appellant that he was under arrest for possession of marihuana, and read him his rights warnings.

In his affidavit, appellant states he was waiting for his flight to New Jersey when a man in plain clothes approached him and identified himself as a police officer. After asking appellant several questions about his residence, employment, and purpose of travel, he told appellant he suspected him of carrying drugs in his bags. Appellant went with the officer to his bags, and told the officer he could not tell if the bags were his. He told the officer that the locks on the bags were not his, and that he did not have a key to the locks. The officer then opened the bags without appellant’s consent, oral or written.

At the hearing on appellant’s motion to suppress, only the affidavits were considered as evidence by the trial court, and appellant’s trial counsel argued that the only dispute was whether or not appellant consented to the search. Appellant’s counsel argued that both officers approached appellant, took his tickets, and asked him why a narcotics dog would make a positive hit on his bags. This conduct by the police officers “conveyed ... the information that he wasn’t going to be allowed to leave freely which I think negates or nullifies any consent that the State claims that he gave freely and voluntarily.” The State argued that the search of appellant’s bags was consensual, and the officers did not convey the impression that he was not free to leave.

The trial court overruled appellant’s motion to suppress and entered written findings of fact and conclusions of law. In its findings of fact, the trial court accepted the versions of the events as stated by the officers in their affidavits. In its findings, the trial stated it accepted portions of appellant’s affidavit as true and rejected other portions as self-serving and incredible. The trial court did not specify what portions of appellant’s affidavit it deemed true and what portions it rejected. In its conclusions of law, the trial court found that Hartman had a reasonable suspicion to detain appellant based on the information furnished to him by Corley. Hartman did not convey any message to appellant that he was required to submit to a search, and appellant was free to leave. Appellant knowingly and voluntarily consented to the search. Upon discovery of the marihuana in appellant’s suitcase, Hartman had probable cause to arrest appellant, search the other suitcase, and seize the marihuana.

In reviewing a trial court’s ruling, an appellate court must determine the applicable standard of review. See Guzman v. State, 955 S.W.2d 85, 87 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). “The amount of deference a reviewing court affords to a trial court’s ruling on a ‘mixed question of law and fact’ [431]*431(such as the issue of probable cause) often is determined by which judicial actor is in a better position to decide the issue.” Id. If the issue involves a witness’ credibility and demeanor, compelling reasons exist for allowing the trial court to apply the law to the facts. See id. However, if the issue is whether an officer had probable cause, under the totality of the circumstances, the trial judge is not in an appreciably better position than the reviewing court to make that determination. See id. “In a recent decision, the United States Supreme Court held that, although great weight should be given to the inferences drawn by the trial judges and law enforcement officers, determinations of reasonable suspicion and probable cause should be reviewed de novo on appeal.” Id. (citing Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996)). The reason for this rule is that “ ‘probable cause and reasonable suspicion acquire content only through application.’ ” Id.

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Bluebook (online)
9 S.W.3d 428, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 9314, 1999 WL 1189060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/middleton-v-state-texapp-1999.