Miller v. State

196 S.W.3d 256, 2006 WL 1174222
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 8, 2006
Docket2-05-133-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by70 cases

This text of 196 S.W.3d 256 (Miller 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
Miller v. State, 196 S.W.3d 256, 2006 WL 1174222 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION 1

PER CURIAM.

Appellant Rodney James Miller appeals his conviction for possession of methamphetamine of 400 grams or more with the intent to deliver. The jury found Appellant guilty, and the trial court sentenced him to twenty-eight years’ confinement. In five points, Appellant asserts that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to suppress his confession, by admitting the drugs seized at his house because the search was based on an invalid search warrant affidavit, by admitting into evidence Appellant’s prior conviction for impeachment, by failing to submit the lesser included offense of possession four to two hundred grams of a controlled substance, and by refusing to allow evidence of his cooperation with law enforcement. We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On September 11, 2003, surveillance officers spotted Appellant leaving the home of a drug dealer and requested that a uniformed officer conduct a traffic stop on Appellant if the officer observed him committing a traffic offense. Following a traffic stop, during which Appellant was arrested, officers determined that the car belonged to Katy Miller, Appellant’s wife and a passenger in the car. The officers obtained Miller’s permission to search the car and found $6,087 in cash, a glass pipe containing a substance that appeared to be burnt methamphetamine residue, marijuana, and methamphetamine. Miller was arrested for possession of a controlled substance.

On September 11, 2003, Investigator Stan Davis approached Appellant about becoming a “Cooperating Individual” for police (hereinafter “confidential informant”). Appellant initially rejected Investigator Davis’ offer, but then on September 12, 2003, Appellant requested to meet with Investigator Davis for a second time. In exchange for a dismissal of the charges against Appellant and Miller, Appellant agreed to become a confidential informant. *262 Appellant met with officers on September 16, 2003, and made a statement implicating himself in a crime. Based on this information, officers obtained a search warrant for Appellant’s residence, confiscated 1300 grams of methamphetamine from his house, and arrested him. A more detailed rendition of the facts is set forth below in the discussion of suppression of the evidence.

SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE

In his first point, Appellant asserts that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to suppress his confession because the confession was obtained in violation of Miranda. 2 In his second point, Appellant contends that the trial court erred by admitting the drugs seized at his house because the search warrant affidavit was based on illegally obtained evidence.

1. Standard of Review

We review a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress evidence under a bifurcated standard of review. Carmouche v. State, 10 S.W.3d 323, 327 (Tex.Crim.App.2000); Guzman v. State, 955 S.W.2d 85, 89 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). In re viewing the trial court’s decision, we do not engage in our own factual review. Romero v. State, 800 S.W.2d 539, 543 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Best v. State, 118 S.W.3d 857, 861 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2003, no pet.). The trial judge is the sole trier of fact and judge of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. State v. Ross, 32 S.W.3d 853, 855 (Tex.Crim.App.2000); State v. Ballard, 987 S.W.2d 889, 891 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). Therefore, we give almost total deference to the trial court’s rulings on (1) questions of historical fact and (2) application-of-law-to-fact questions that turn on an evaluation of credibility and demeanor. Johnson v.

State, 68 S.W.3d 644, 652-53 (Tex.Crim.App.2002); State v. Ballman, 157 S.W.3d 65, 68 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2004, pet. ref d). But when the trial court’s rulings do not turn on the credibility and demean- or of the witnesses, we review de novo a trial court’s rulings on mixed questions of law and fact. Estrada v. State, 154 S.W.3d 604, 607 (Tex.Crim.App.2005); Johnson, 68 S.W.3d at 652-53.

When reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a mixed question of law and fact, the court of appeals may review de novo the trial court’s application of the law of search and seizure to the facts of the case. Estrada, 154 S.W.3d at 607. When there are no explicit findings of historical fact, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling. Id.

We must uphold the trial court’s ruling if it is supported by the record and correct under any theory of law applicable to the case even if the trial court gave the wrong reason for its ruling. Armendariz v. State, 123 S.W.3d 401, 404 (Tex.Crim.App.2003), cer t. denied, 541 U.S. 974, 124 S.Ct. 1883, 158 L.Ed.2d 469 (2004); Ross, 32 S.W.3d at 856; Romero, 800 S.W.2d at 543.

2. Evidence Presented

Appellant was arrested on September 11, 2003. That day, Investigator Davis interviewed him in the jail. Before the conversation, Investigator Davis read Appellant his Miranda rights. Investigator Davis then discussed the facts of his arrest and asked Appellant whether he wanted to “help himself out with” the charges that were pending against him. Appellant declined Investigator Davis’ request that he *263 become a confidential informant on that day.

On September 12, 2003, jail personnel informed Investigator Davis that Appellant requested to speak with him again. Investigator Davis met with Appellant, and Appellant signed an agreement with Investigator Davis to become a confidential informant. The confidential informant agreement did not contain Miranda warnings, but Appellant testified that he was read his Miranda rights before he met with Investigator Davis for the second time.

On September 16, 2003, Investigator Davis contacted Appellant and requested that he meet him in a parking lot of a home improvement store to discuss what Appellant “knew in the drug world and what he would be able to do for [the police officers].” Additionally, Drug Enforcement Administration Officer George Courtney requested that Investigator Davis contact Appellant because Appellant had been seen at the house of Manny Cortez and Officer Courtney, who had been investigating Cortez, was interested in learning information about Cortez from Appellant. Appellant arrived at the specified location with his wife in his car.

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Bluebook (online)
196 S.W.3d 256, 2006 WL 1174222, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-state-texapp-2006.