State of Texas v. Jackson, John Berry

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided January 12, 2015·No. PD-0823-14·Published

Opinion

PD-0823-14

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS

Transmitted 1/11/2015 12:12:03 AM January 12, 2015 Accepted 1/12/2015 7:13:32 AM IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS ABEL ACOSTA CLERK

OF THE STATE OF TEXAS

NO. PD-0823-14

(Court of Appeals No. 11-12-00315-CR)

(Trial Court No. 7363)

STATE OF TEXAS, Appellant, v.

JOHN BERRY JACKSON, Appellee.

******************************************************************

APPEALED FROM THE 32nd DISTRICT COURT OF

MITCHELL COUNTY, TEXAS

****************************************************************** THE HONORABLE GLEN HARRISON, PRESIDING

****************************************************************** APPELLEE’S BRIEF ON THE MERITS ******************************************************************

JEFFREY A. PROPST

STATE BAR NO. 24064062

P.O. BOX 3717

ABILENE, TEXAS 79604

Tel. (325) 455-1599

Fax (325) 455-1507

Email: jeff@keithandpropst.com

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUBJECT PAGE Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i Index of Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii-iii Statement of the Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Issue Presented . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The court of appeals did not err in affirming the trial court’s decision to suppress evidence, because the e v i d e n c e had been come at by exploitation of the illegal placement of a GPS tracking device and not by means sufficiently distinguishable to be purged of the primary taint.

Statement of Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 Summary of the Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Argument and Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16 Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Certificate of Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Certificate of Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

i

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

CASES

Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 338, 129 S. Ct. 1710, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 173 L. Ed. 2d 485 (2009)

Armendariz v. State, 123 S.W.3d 401 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003) . . . . . . 5 Azeez v. State, 248 S.W.3d 182, 189-90 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) . . . . 11 Brick v. State, 738 S.W.2d 676 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987) . . . . . . . . . . . 14-16

Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590, 95 S. Ct. 2254, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8, 13 45 L. Ed. 2d 416 (1975)

Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S. Ct. 2034, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 23 L. Ed. 2d 685 (1969)

Crain v. State, 315 S.W.3d 43 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5

Kaupp v. Texas, 538 U.S. 626, 123 S. Ct. 1843, 55 L. Ed. 2d 814 . . . 8 (2003)

Mazuca v. State, 375 S.W.3d 294, 306 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012) . . . . . 5-6, 9-14

United States v. Jones, 132 S. Ct. 945, 949, 181 L. Ed. 2d 911 . . . . . 5, 9 (2012)

Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S. Ct. 407, . . . . . . . . . 6-7, 10-12 9 L. Ed. 2d 441 (1963)

STATUTES TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 15.01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 12 TEX. TRANSP. CODE §543.003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 TEX. TRANSP. CODE §543.004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

ii

TEX. TRANSP. CODE §543.005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

iii

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF THE STATE OF TEXAS

NO. PD-0823-14

(Court of Appeals No. 11-12-00315-CR)

(Trial Court No. 7363)

STATE OF TEXAS, Appellant, v.

JOHN BERRY JACKSON, Appellee.

APPELLEE’S BRIEF ON THE MERITS TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Jackson was charged with possession of more than 4 but less than 200 grams of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. The trial court granted Jackson’s motion to suppress, and the State appealed the trial court’s ruling. The court of appeals affirmed. State v. Jackson, 435 S.W.3d 819 (Tex. App. - Eastland 2014). This Court granted the State’s petition for discretionary review on October 8, 2014, and extended the time for the State to file its brief until November 24, 2014. This Court extended the time for the Appellee to file his brief until January 13, 2015.

ISSUE PRESENTED

The court of appeals did not err in affirming the trial court’s decision to suppress evidence, because the evidence had been come at by exploitation of the illegal placement of a GPS tracking device and not by means sufficiently distinguishable to be purged of the primary taint.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Law enforcement placed a GPS tracking device on Appellee Jackson’s vehicle. (RR: 12-13). Law enforcement placed the GPS tracking device on Jackson’s vehicle without a warrant based on probable cause, but rather based on then article 18.21 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires only a finding of reasonable suspicion. See Tex. Code Crim. P. art. 18.21. (RR: 12 and Def. Ex. 1). No court found that there was probable cause to install a GPS device. (RR: 20). The GPS device allowed law enforcement to closely monitor Jackson at their leisure. (RR: 13, 22-23). Law enforcement was able to save records of Jackson’s vehicle’s movements and “go back and watch it” when they pleased. (Id.) Law enforcement received notification via cell phone any time Jackson left Colorado City and had the ability to set other parameters on the GPS device for notification purposes. (Id.) As a result of the parameters, law enforcement was notified on December 12, 2011, that Jackson had left Colorado City and traveled to to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. (RR: 13-14). Law enforcement officers used the GPS device to learn that Jackson went to Mesquite, Texas, pulled into a residential area, and stayed for two hours. (RR: 14). Based on the information provided from the GPS tracking device, law enforcement officers in Colorado City were able to learn about the area Appellee was in by talking with law enforcement in Mesquite, Texas. (RR: 14). Using the GPS device, law enforcement officers were able to

locate Jackson’s vehicle heading west from the Dallas/Fort Worth area through Taylor County and began following him with two unmarked vehicles. (RR: 15, 24-25). Law enforcement officers were able to learn that Jackson was speeding in violation of the traffic code, first by reading the data from the GPS device, and then by observing their own speedometers as they were following Appellee, or “pacing.” (RR: 15, 26). Investigator Billy Sides testified that Appellee Jackson was traveling at a speed between 73 and 74 miles per hour in an area where the speed limit is 70 miles per hour. (RR: 7). While still following Jackson, law enforcement officers radioed Deputy Clark, who was in Mitchell County, and alerted him to Appellee’s imminent arrival in Mitchell County. (RR: 15). The law enforcement officers who were gathering data from the tracking device told Deputy Clark that Jackson was speeding. (RR: 15). Deputy Clark then positioned himself “right inside Mitchell County,” used his radar on Appellee’s vehicle, and stopped Jackson for speeding. (RR: 15, 27). Though Appellee was speeding from Taylor County to Mitchell County, law enforcement officers waited until Jackson entered Mitchell County to have Deputy Clark get a radar reading and stop Appellee. (RR: 26). Three officers were present at the stop. (RR: 8). Once stopped, Deputy Clark asked Jackson for consent to search his vehicle, and Appellee consented to the search. (RR: 7-8). Consent was asked for and given within minutes of the stop. (RR: 32). Law enforcement then searched the vehicle

and found illegal drugs. (RR: 8, 32). After the discovery of illegal drugs, Jackson made incriminating statements against himself. (RR: 9).

SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT

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Related

Wong Sun v. United States
371 U.S. 471 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Chimel v. California
395 U.S. 752 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Brown v. Illinois
422 U.S. 590 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Kaupp v. Texas
538 U.S. 626 (Supreme Court, 2003)
Arizona v. Gant
556 U.S. 332 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Azeez v. State
248 S.W.3d 182 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Armendariz v. State
123 S.W.3d 401 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Brick v. State
738 S.W.2d 676 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Crain v. State
315 S.W.3d 43 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
State of Texas v. Mazuca, Alvaro
375 S.W.3d 294 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2012)
State v. John Berry Jackson
435 S.W.3d 819 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014)
United States v. Jones
181 L. Ed. 2d 911 (Supreme Court, 2012)