Real Property Located at 4125 Blanton, Wichita Falls, Wichita County v. State

230 S.W.3d 476, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 5486, 2007 WL 2012971
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 12, 2007
Docket2-06-389-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 230 S.W.3d 476 (Real Property Located at 4125 Blanton, Wichita Falls, Wichita County 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
Real Property Located at 4125 Blanton, Wichita Falls, Wichita County v. State, 230 S.W.3d 476, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 5486, 2007 WL 2012971 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

TERRIE LIVINGSTON, Justice.

I. Introduction

Appellant Terry Lee Terrel appeals the seizure of his real property pursuant to chapter 59 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Tex.Code CRIM. PROC. Ann. arts. 59.01-.14 (Vernon 2006). In fifteen issues, appellant challenges the validity and constitutionalty of the seizure and the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting the conclusion that the seizure was proper. We affirm.

II. Background Facts

On February 8, 2006, acting on information received from a confidential informant, officers from the North Texas Regional Drug Enforcement Task Force sought, received, and executed a search and arrest warrant on appellant at 4125 Blanton, in Wichita Falls, Texas, the property which is the subject of this case *480 (“Blanton Property”). During their search, the officers found appellant inside the residence and conducted field tests for drugs on a bag with filters, a white bucket containing a brown liquid, and a clear container with blue liquid. After receiving positive results for methamphetamine, the officers arrested appellant and seized equipment commonly used for producing drugs, containers holding the methamphetamine, and other drug paraphernalia. Appellant was charged with manufacturing an illegal substance in a drug free zone. 1

Following the search, the State filed an Original Notice of Seizure and Intended Forfeiture and a Notice of Lis Pendens in the 89th District Court of Wichita County against the Blanton Property on February 10, 2006, asserting that the property met the definition of “contraband,” that appellant was the owner, and that the property should be forfeited to the State of Texas under article 59.06 of the code of criminal procedure. Tex.Code CRIM. PROC. Ann. art. 59.06. Subsequently, the trial court issued a “seizure warrant” for the Blanton Property.

After a bench trial, the trial court concluded that the Blanton Property was contraband and ordered that all of appellant’s interest in it be forfeited to the State of Texas. This appeal followed.

III. Validity of the Warrant

In his first issue, appellant asserts that the warrant authorizing the seizure of the Blanton Property was defective because it was entitled “seizure warrant” instead of “search and seizure” warrant.

A. Applicable Law

Property subject to forfeiture under chapter 59 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure may be seized under the authority of a “search warrant.” Id. art. 59.03(a); State v. Thirty Thousand Six Hundred Sixty Dollars, 136 S.W.3d 392, 397 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2004, pet. denied). A “search warrant” in Texas is defined as a “written order, issued by a magistrate and directed to a peace officer, commanding him to search for any property or thing and to seize the same.” Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 18.01(a) (Vernon 2005); Mulder v. State, 707 S.W.2d 908, 915 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). Specifically, the four general requirements for a valid search warrant are as follows:

(1) that it run in the name of “The State of Texas”;
(2) that it identify, as near as may be that which is to be seized and name or describe, as near as may be, the person, place, or thing to be searched;
(3) that it command any peace officer of the proper county to search forthwith the person, place, or thing named; and
(4) that it be dated and signed by the magistrate

Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 18.04; State v. Manry, 56 S.W.3d 806, 809 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2001, no pet.). Further, the substantive requirements for a search warrant are as follows:

A search warrant may not be issued ... unless the sworn affidavit required by Subsection (b) of this article sets forth sufficient facts to establish probable cause that a specific felony offense has been committed and that the specifically described property or items that are to be searched for or seized constitute contraband as defined in Article 59.01 of this code and are located at or on the particular person, place, or thing to be searched.

*481 Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 18.01(g); see Tolentino v. State, 638 S.W.2d 499, 501 (Tex.Crim.App.1982); $18,800 in U.S. Currency v. State, 961 S.W.2d 257, 260 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1997, no writ). Thus, a search warrant may be issued to search for and seize “contraband subject to forfeiture under chapter 59” of the code of criminal procedure. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 18.02(12); Wall v. State, 878 S.W.2d 686, 688 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1994, pet. ref'd); see Winkles v. State, 634 S.W.2d 289, 291 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1981). Real property that has been used in the commission of a felony in violation of chapter 481 of the Health and Safety Code, the Texas Controlled Substance Act, is contraband subject to forfeiture. Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 59.01(2)(B)(i); Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. ch. 481 (Vernon 2003 & Supp.2006); One 1995 Dodge Pickup v. State, 119 S.W.3d 306, 307 (Tex.App.-Waco 2003, no pet.). Methamphetamine is a controlled substance, and possession of it is a felony. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.102(6), 481.115; One 1995 Dodge Pickup, 119 S.W.3d at 307.

B. Analysis

Appellant contends that the warrant issued to seize the Blanton Property, entitled “seizure warrant,” was not sufficient to satisfy the criteria described above. Specifically, he asserts that because the words “seizure warrant” do not appear in Texas case law in isolation from “search and seizure warrant,” the warrant here was invalid. We disagree.

First, the warrant meets the general requirements of a warrant under article 18.04. The warrant itself identifies the property to be seized, and the affidavit, which was incorporated into the warrant, also sufficiently identifies the Blanton Property. The warrant is dated and signed by a magistrate and runs in the name of “The State of Texas.” The warrant specifically orders the police officers to seize the real property located at 4125 Blanton, Wichita Falls, Texas, within three days of the warrant’s issuance. Thus, the four general requirements of a warrant were satisfied. See Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 18.04; Manry, 56 S.W.3d at 809.

The warrant and accompanying affidavit also meet the substantive requirements for seizure of contraband. The affidavit accompanying the warrant specifically described the results of the search that occurred two days earlier. The affidavit also included descriptions of the amount and type of drug paraphernalia discovered in the search and the conclusion of the police officers that the real property was being used as contraband.

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230 S.W.3d 476, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 5486, 2007 WL 2012971, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/real-property-located-at-4125-blanton-wichita-falls-wichita-county-v-texapp-2007.