Roger Saldana v. State

CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 8, 2018
Docket04-16-00806-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Roger Saldana v. State (Roger Saldana 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
Roger Saldana v. State, (Tex. 2018).

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas MEMORANDUM OPINION

No. 04-16-00806-CR

Roger SALDANA, Appellant

v.

The STATE of Texas, Appellee

From the 81st Judicial District Court, Frio County, Texas Trial Court No. 15-08-00031-CRF Honorable Russell Wilson, Judge Presiding

Opinion by: Luz Elena D. Chapa, Justice

Sitting: Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice Luz Elena D. Chapa, Justice

Delivered and Filed: August 8, 2018

AFFIRMED

Roger Saldana appeals his convictions for trafficking and sexual assault of A.G., a child.

He argues the trial court erred by denying his motions to suppress evidence obtained from a traffic

stop and from a search of a cell phone. He also argues the State wrongfully withheld evidence

favorable to the defense until almost a year after the trial court imposed his sentences. We affirm

the trial court’s judgments. 04-16-00806-CR

BACKGROUND

In May 2015, Saldana was stopped by Department of Public Safety State Trooper Jason

Sanchez for driving on an improved shoulder of the road. According to Trooper Sanchez, this stop

was the third time he had encountered Saldana during a traffic stop. During the two prior stops,

Saldana was the passenger and the drivers were arrested; one for possession of cocaine, and the

other for possession of marijuana and driving while intoxicated. Trooper Sanchez saw what he

believed was marijuana ash in the car, and he asked Saldana to step out of the vehicle for

questioning. A.G., who was fifteen years old at the time, was sitting in the front passenger seat.

During the next ten minutes, Trooper Sanchez questioned Saldana and A.G., and he called

for a canine unit within approximately four minutes of the initial stop. Two other DPS state

troopers, Jason Norton and John Hernandez, arrived during the stop. Trooper Hernandez arrived

approximately fourteen minutes after the initial traffic stop with a canine partner, Nimo. Nimo

completed his drug sniff within twenty minutes of the initial traffic stop. Based on Nimo’s

response, the troopers searched the car and found a bottle of liquor. 1 Trooper Sanchez also took a

cell phone from A.G. and found evidence on the phone suggesting Saldana and A.G. had a

romantic relationship. A.G. told Trooper Sanchez that Saldana had given her alcohol, and Saldana

was arrested at the scene for providing alcohol to a minor.

Saldana was thereafter charged by indictment with one count of trafficking of a person and

three counts of sexual assault of a child. Saldana filed two motions to suppress evidence obtained

from the traffic stop and from the search of the cell phone. The trial court held a hearing on

Saldana’s motions. The testifying witnesses were Saldana, A.G., Troopers Sanchez and Norton,

and Keven Ficke, a criminal investigator who worked for the District Attorney’s Office. The trial

1 Trooper Sanchez testified he did not smell or find any drugs during the search.

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court also admitted into evidence video recordings from the cameras on and inside the troopers’

vehicles, photographs of the cell phone, and a cell phone bill.

At the close of the suppression hearing, the trial court denied Saldana’s motions. Saldana

entered into a plea bargain with the State, and the trial court held a plea hearing. Saldana entered

a plea of guilty to trafficking of a person and one count of sexual assault of a child. The trial court

found Saldana’s plea was made voluntarily and accepted the plea. After a punishment hearing, the

trial court assessed sentences at thirty-five years in prison for the trafficking offense and twenty

years in prison for the sexual assault offense. The trial court imposed the sentences and signed

certifications noting Saldana’s limited right of appeal. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 44.02

(West 2018) (providing limited right of appeal in plea-bargain cases).

FAILURE TO DISCLOSE EVIDENCE

Saldana argues the State wrongfully withheld evidence in violation of article 39.14 of the

Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). According to

Saldana, the State waited almost a year after the trial court imposed his sentences to disclose

evidence relating to Investigator Ficke’s credibility as a witness. In support of his issue, Saldana

has filed a motion in this court to supplement the appellate record in order to include the evidence

the State untimely disclosed. The State has filed a response opposing Saldana’s motion.

The trial court certified that this is a plea-bargain case and Saldana has a limited right to

appeal only those matters raised by written motion and ruled on before trial. See TEX. R. APP. P.

25.2(a)(2). Article 44.02 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure provides when a defendant has

a right of appeal:

A defendant in any criminal action has the right of appeal under the rules hereinafter prescribed, provided, however, before the defendant who has been convicted upon . . . his plea of guilty . . . before the court and the court, upon the election of the defendant, assesses punishment and the punishment does not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by the defendant and his

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attorney may prosecute his appeal, he must have permission of the trial court, except on those matters which have been raised by written motion filed prior to trial.

TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 44.02 (West 2018). The record shows Saldana was convicted

upon his plea of guilty and that the punishment assessed by the trial court for each conviction did

not exceed the punishment recommended by the State and agreed to by Saldana. The record does

not show Saldana obtained the trial court’s permission to appeal other matters.

Saldana’s right of appeal is therefore limited to matters raised by written motion and ruled

on by the trial court. See id.; Williamson v. State, 46 S.W.3d 463, 465 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2001,

no pet.). Saldana did not raise the matter of the State’s failure to timely disclose favorable evidence

by written motion in the trial court and obtain a ruling on that motion. Cf. Cooper v. State, 45

S.W.3d 77, 82-83 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001) (affirming court of appeals’ holding that it may not

address issue not raised in trial court by written motion and ruled on, explaining such matters in

plea-bargain cases may be raised by writ of habeas corpus). We hold we may not address this issue

on appeal and deny Saldana’s motion to supplement the appellate record as moot. See TEX. CODE

CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 44.02; TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(b); Cooper, 45 S.W.3d at 82-83; Williamson,

46 S.W.3d at 465.

MOTIONS TO SUPPRESS

Saldana argues the trial court erred by denying his motions to suppress. He argues the

detaining officers illegally searched the cell phone and unreasonably prolonged the duration of his

traffic stop to wait for the arrival of the canine unit for a drug sniff.

A. Standard of Review

We review a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress under a bifurcated standard.

Carmouche v. State, 10 S.W.3d 323, 327 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000). We review a trial court’s

conclusions of law de novo. Id. at 328.

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Related

Brady v. Maryland
373 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Valtierra v. State
310 S.W.3d 442 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Carmouche v. State
10 S.W.3d 323 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Williamson v. State
46 S.W.3d 463 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)
Cooper v. State
45 S.W.3d 77 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2001)
Balentine v. State
71 S.W.3d 763 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Guzman v. State
955 S.W.2d 85 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Derichsweiler v. State
348 S.W.3d 906 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Rodriguez v. United States
575 U.S. 348 (Supreme Court, 2015)
Abney, Rickey Dewayne
394 S.W.3d 542 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Jaganathan, Francheska v.
479 S.W.3d 244 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2015)
Dale Dewayne Fisher v. State
481 S.W.3d 403 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015)
State v. Huse
491 S.W.3d 833 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2016)
Grant v. State
531 S.W.3d 898 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2017)
Ramirez-Tamayo v. State
537 S.W.3d 29 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2017)
Love v. State
543 S.W.3d 835 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2016)

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