Randle v. State

89 S.W.3d 839, 2002 WL 31429771
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 27, 2002
Docket01-01-00475-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 89 S.W.3d 839 (Randle 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
Randle v. State, 89 S.W.3d 839, 2002 WL 31429771 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

TIM TAFT, Justice.

A jury found appellant, Newell Randle, guilty of possession of a controlled substance and assessed punishment at 20 years in prison. We address whether the trial court abused its discretion by (a) admitting a tape-recorded statement in which *840 appellant gave an inaudible answer to the question of whether he understood one of his rights, (b) finding that the statement was not tainted by an unlawful arrest, (c) finding that appellant admitted in the statement that he ran a stop sign, and (d) finding that an officer was able to observe appellant run a stop sign by viewing appellant from an adjacent alleyway through buildings. We affirm.

Facts

The Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force (“the Task Force”) was conducting surveillance of a suspected drug dealer named Guy Williams, who resided at 209 Fourth Street, Rosenberg, Texas. The Task Force placed a wiretap on Williams’ telephone and monitored his telephone calls and any activity around his residence.

On August 23, 1999, the Task Force intercepted two phone calls between appellant and Williams. The intercepted conversations discussed an imminent illegal drug transaction. Approximately 15 minutes later, appellant arrived at Guy Williams’ residence and the Task Force set up in strategic locations.

The Task Force observed appellant at Williams’ house for approximately five minutes before appellant drove away. Task Force member Sergeant Kenneth Ray Seymour advised patrol units to stop the car appellant was driving. Officer Willie McQueen was parked in an alleyway between Fifth Street and Sixth Street when he saw appellant’s car approaching.

Sergeant Seymour, who was following two ears behind appellant, observed appellant run a stop sign at Sixth Street and Avenue F. Officer McQueen saw appellant run a stop sign at Sixth Street and Avenue E and another stop sign at Sixth Street and Avenue F. The record is unclear, but Officer McQueen was apparently traveling on an adjacent alleyway when he observed appellant run at least one of the two stop signs. Even though houses and buildings partially obstructed his view, Officer McQueen clearly saw appellant run the stop signs.

Officer McQueen stopped appellant for running the two stops signs. Officer McQueen instructed appellant to get out of his vehicle and noticed that appellant appeared to be nervous. Officer McQueen asked appellant if he had any contraband inside his vehicle. Appellant gave Officer McQueen consent to search his vehicle. Officer McQueen’s search of the vehicle did not reveal any contraband.

Subsequently, Officer McQueen handcuffed appellant and placed him under arrest for running the two stop signs. Officer McQueen patted down appellant, and escorted him to Officer Andrew McKis-sack’s patrol car. Prior to placing appellant in Officer McKissaek’s patrol car, Officer McQueen lifted the back seat of the car to check for contraband, pursuant to standard procedure. Officer McKissack transported appellant to the Rosenberg city jail, and, upon removal of appellant from the vehicle, he observed a powdery white substance throughout the back seat. The white powdery substance was sent to the Texas Department of Public Safety for testing and was identified as 4.83 grams of cocaine.

Appellant was subsequently arrested on April 27, 2000, pursuant to an arrest warrant, for possession of the cocaine. On April 28, 2000, Detective Remon Green and Special Agent Shayne Kelley met with appellant while he was in custody at the Rosenberg Police Department. Detective Green went over appellant’s rights with him. Appellant stated that he understood his rights and that he waived them. During the tape-recorded statement, appellant *841 stated that he possessed the cocaine and tried to dump it in the back seat.

Admissibility of Statement

In his first point of error, appellant raises two arguments: (1) the tape-recorded statement should not have been admitted because appellant gave an inaudible answer to the question of whether he understood one of his rights; and (2) the statement should not have been admitted because it was the fruit of an unlawful pretext arrest. In his second point of error, appellant raises two additional arguments: (1) the trial court abused its discretion in admitting appellant’s statement because the trial court misinterpreted a portion of the tape as containing an admission by appellant that he ran the stop signs; and (2) one officer’s testimony that appellant ran the stop sign was incredible because the officer could not have viewed the offense from an adjacent alleyway through buildings.

A. Standard of Review

In a suppression hearing, the trial court is the sole trier of fact, and judge of both the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. Romero v. State, 800 S.W.2d 539, 543 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). The trial court may accept or reject all or any part of a witness’s testimony. Alvarado v. State, 853 S.W.2d 17, 23 (Tex.Crim.App.1993). An appellate court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling at the suppression hearing. Upton v. State, 853 S.W.2d 548, 553 (Tex.Crim.App.1993). In reviewing the trial court’s decision, an appellate court does not engage in its own factual review; rather, it determines only whether the record supports the trial court’s fact findings. Corea v. State, 52 S.W.3d 311, 315 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, pet. ref'd). However, we will conduct a de novo review of the court’s application of law to those facts. State v. Ross, 32 S.W.3d 853, 856 (Tex.Crim.App.2000).

B. Tape-Recorded Statement Partially Inaudible

Appellant first contends the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to determine the admissibility of his tape-recorded statement due to its “inaudible nature.” Specifically, appellant contends that, because the tape-recorded statement is inaudible at the point where he answered the question of whether he understood one of his rights, appellant did not voluntarily waive all of his rights. During the tape-recorded statement, the following occurred:

DETECTIVE GREEN: Did you see his ID? Did you see it? Okay. Before we start, I’m going to go ahead and read you your Miranda warning. Okay. Listen to me very carefully and make sure you understand it. If you don’t understand something, let me know you didn’t understand it; and I’ll reread it to you. Okay?
DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
DETECTIVE GREEN: The first one is: You have a right to remain silent and not make any statements at all, and any statements you make may be used against you, and probably will be used against you, at your trial. Do you understand that right?
DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.

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89 S.W.3d 839, 2002 WL 31429771, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/randle-v-state-texapp-2002.