Moulden v. State

576 S.W.2d 817, 5 A.L.R. 4th 676, 1978 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1466
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 20, 1978
Docket54937
StatusPublished
Cited by125 cases

This text of 576 S.W.2d 817 (Moulden v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moulden v. State, 576 S.W.2d 817, 5 A.L.R. 4th 676, 1978 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1466 (Tex. 1978).

Opinion

OPINION

PHILLIPS, Judge.

Appellant was convicted for the unlawful possession of marihuana. Punishment was assessed at 30 days’ imprisonment and a $200.00 fine, probated.

Appellant complains in his first two grounds of error that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress the marihuana seized and the course of what he characterizes as an unlawful search and seizure. Appellant’s primary contention is that the odor of burnt marihuana, standing alone, does not provide a peace officer with the requisite probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of a motor vehicle. We disagree with appellant’s position.

In Taylor v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 421 S.W.2d 403, this Court stated, on appellant’s motion for rehearing:

“Once a bona fide stop or arrest has been made for a traffic offense, the police can make an additional arrest for any other offense unexpectedly discovered during the course of the investigation. If, while questioning a motorist regarding the operation of his vehicle, an officer sees evidence of a criminal violation in open view, or in some other manner acquires probable cause on a more serious charge, he may arrest for that offense and incident thereto conduct an additional search for physical evidence.” Id. at 407.

Initially we note that appellant does not contest the validity of the investigating police officers’ original stopping of the vehicle in which he was a passenger. The police officers testified that they clocked the vehicle in which appellant was riding at 48 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone. See Borner v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 521 S.W.2d 852; Duncantell v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 563 S.W.2d 252; and Duff v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 546 S.W.2d 283. Article 6701d, Section 153, V.A.C.S.

The police officers testified at the hearing on appellant’s motion to suppress that after stopping the vehicle for speeding, they both approached the vehicle and while engaging the occupants in conversation and checking the driver’s license they both detected the odor of burnt marihuana. The police officers conferred at the rear of the vehicle, requested the occupants to exit the vehicle and thereupon searched an unzipped *819 but closed blue overnight bag situated on the floorboards in front of the passenger (the appellant). The search of this bag revealed a plastic bag with what appeared at the time to be marihuana and which was later stipulated to, subject to the appellant’s instant objections, be marihuana. Both police officers testified that they have smelled burning marihuana in their experience and were of the opinion that what they smelled at the time they stopped the vehicle in which appellant was a passenger was marihuana.

This Court stated in Brown v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 481 S.W.2d 106 at 110, that:

“ . . . Probable cause for a search exists where the facts and circumstances within the knowledge of the officer on the scene and of which he has reasonably trustworthy information would lead a man of reasonable caution and prudence to believe that he will find the instrumentality of a crime or evidence pertaining to a crime.”

The Court earlier stated in the same opinion that:

“ . . . Where probable cause is lacking, the challenged search will not be upheld merely because the exigencies of the situation precluded the obtaining of a warrant.” Id. at 109.

It is apparent from the record before us that the searching police officer in the instant case knew what the smell of burnt marihuana was and he smelled the same smell when asking the driver for his license. It is also significant to note that the searching officer’s partner made the same observation. Thus, we are confronted with more than the “inarticulate hunch, suspicion, or good faith” of a police officer which would not constitute probable cause. Appellant seeks to rely on the language found in Taylor v. U. S., 286 U.S. 1, 52 S.Ct. 466, 76 L.Ed. 951 (1932), and Johnson v. U. S., 333 U.S. 10, 68 S.Ct. 367, 92 L.Ed. 436 (1948). Unfortunately, such reliance confuses our constitutional preference for warrants with what specific facts, observations, or circumstances will constitute probable cause. Both the Taylor and Johnson cases referred to dealt with the search of stationary structures. It has long been recognized that automobiles present different analytical problems under search and seizure principles, given their inherent mobility. This “exigent” circumstance countervails our constitutional preference for warrants and is premised on the assumption that an on-the-stop warrantless search is a lesser intrusion on the individual’s privacy expectations. See Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1923); Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 26 L.Ed.2d 419 (1970). The facts of this case establish that the police officers validly stopped a moving vehicle for a traffic violation and in pursuit of their lawful authority encountered the aroma of burnt marihuana emanating from the vehicle. Therefore, analysis of this problem falls within the “moving vehicle” exception to the warrant requirement of both federal and state constitutions. In other words, did the police officers have probable cause to search the vehicle. The United States Supreme Court wrote in Johnson v. U. S., supra:

“At the time entry was demanded the officers were possessed of evidence which a magistrate might have found to be probable cause for issuing a search warrant. We cannot sustain defendant’s contention, erroneously made, on the strength of Taylor v. U. S., 286 U.S. 1, 52 S.Ct. 466, 76 L.Ed. 951, that odors cannot be evidence sufficient to constitute probable grounds for any search. That decision held only that odors alone do not authorize a search without warrant. If the presence of odors is testified to before a magistrate and he finds the affiant qualified to know the odor, and it is one sufficiently distinctive to identify a forbidden substance, this Court has never held such a basis insufficient to justify issuance of a search warrant. Indeed it might very well be found to be evidence of most persuasive character.” Id. at 13, 68 S.Ct. at 369.

*820 The evidence in Johnson,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Fabien Parras v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2025
Mark George Enriquez v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2025
Larry Dean Thacker v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2024
The State of Texas v. Christian Bruce Gonzales
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Jesse A. Cortez v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Dewayne Lee Waldrup v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
State v. Christian Sortovillatoro
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Michael Tyrone Johnson v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Zedrick Demon Page v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Terence Dandre McMiller v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2017
Shannon Andre Smith v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2017
Robert Dewayne Laurent v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2017
Brenes v. State
488 S.W.3d 384 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016)
Boyett v. State
485 S.W.3d 581 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016)
State v. Joshua Lindsey
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015
Denetra Marie Harris v. State
468 S.W.3d 248 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015)
Cory James Jordan v. State
394 S.W.3d 58 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Wiede v. State
214 S.W.3d 17 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Wiede, David Edwin
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007
James Larry McGlothlin v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2006

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
576 S.W.2d 817, 5 A.L.R. 4th 676, 1978 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1466, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moulden-v-state-texcrimapp-1978.