State v. Avila

910 S.W.2d 505, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 2708, 1994 WL 601918
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 3, 1994
DocketNo. 08-93-00461-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 910 S.W.2d 505 (State v. Avila) 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
State v. Avila, 910 S.W.2d 505, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 2708, 1994 WL 601918 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

LARSEN, Justice.

The State appeals the 210th District Court’s order in this murder prosecution suppressing certain evidence obtained, pursuant to a search warrant, by surgical removal from defendant Gilbert Avila’s body. We reverse.

FACTS

Gilbert Avila is under indictment for the death of his wife, Jacqueline Avila. On July 16, 1993, Ms. Avila died of multiple gunshot wounds inflicted following a heated argument with her husband. Five slugs were recovered from her body. Mr. Avila was also shot, and a bullet remained lodged below his ribcage. Detectives investigating the scene found two guns in the couple’s bedroom: the first a 9mm Smith and Wesson pistol which had been emptied of all six rounds; the second the victim’s police department service revolver,1 also a 9mm Smith and Wesson, from which only one round had been fired. That bullet was found embedded in the wall.

Four days after the shooting, detectives sought a search warrant directing a physician to remove the bullet from Gilbert Avila’s body. They took the warrant and underlying affidavit, signed by Detective Lilia Lowe, to Jail Magistrate James Carter. Magistrate Carter signed the warrant and Mr. Avila was transported to R.E. Thomason General Hospital, where an emergency room physician removed the bullet in a surgical proceeding lasting approximately one hour. Emergency room personnel relinquished the bullet to law enforcement authorities.

The evidence is conflicting as to whether Mr. Avila consented to the surgery. We resolve all conflicting evidence in a manner supporting the trial court’s decision, and we therefore presume that defendant did not consent to the removal of the bullet from his body.

Defendant filed his motion to suppress the bullet as the fruit of an unreasonable search and seizure. After hearing, the trial court granted his motion. The State appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The trial judge is the sole and exclusive trier of facts at hearing of a motion to suppress. Romero v. State, 800 S.W.2d 539, 543 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Cannon v. State, 691 S.W.2d 664, 673 (Tex.Crim.App.1985), cert, denied, 474 U.S. 1110, 106 S.Ct. 897, 88 L.Ed.2d 931 (1986); Hawkins v. State, 628 S.W.2d 71 (Tex.Crim.App.1982); Green v. State, 615 S.W.2d 700, 707 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert, denied, 454 U.S. 952, 102 S.Ct. 490, 70 L.Ed.2d 258 (1981). On appeal, this reviewing Court does not engage in its own factual review but decides whether the trial judge’s fact findings are supported by the record. If the implied findings of the district court in this case find support in the record, we are not at liberty to disturb them. We address [508]*508only the question of whether the trial court improperly applied the law to the facts. Romero, 800 S.W.2d at 543; Self v. State, 709 S.W.2d 662, 664-65 (Tex.Crim.App.1986); Johnson v. State, 698 S.W.2d 154,159 (1985), cert, denied, 479 U.S. 871, 107 S.Ct. 239, 93 L.Ed.2d 164 (1986). We must consider the totality of the circumstances in determining whether the trial court’s findings are supported by the record, and we will not disturb the findings absent a clear abuse of discretion. Dancy v. State, 728 S.W.2d 772, 777 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert, denied, 484 U.S. 975, 108 S.Ct. 485, 98 L.Ed.2d 484 (1987).

If the trial court’s decision is correct on any theory of law applicable to the case, we will sustain it. Romero, 800 S.W.2d at 543; Calloway v. State, 743 S.W.2d 645, 651-52 (Tex.Crim.App.1988); Spann v. State, 448 S.W.2d 128, 130 (Tex.Crim.App.1969). This principle holds true even though the trial judge gives the wrong reason for his decision, Salas v. State, 629 S.W.2d 796, 799 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1981, no pet.), and is especially true with regard to the admission or exclusion of evidence. Romero, 800 S.W.2d at 543; Dugard v. State, 688 S.W.2d 524, 530 (Tex.Crim.App.1985). In this case, the trial judge did not specify his reasons for finding the evidence inadmissable.

FOURTH AMENDMENT STANDARD FOR PHYSICAL INVASION OF DEFENDANT’S BODY

Obtaining instrumentalities or evidence of a crime from within a defendant’s body constitutes a search and seizure, subject to 4th Amendment constraints. Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966); Gentry v. State, 640 S.W.2d 899, 902-03 (Tex.Crim.App.1982). Absent consent, surgical invasion to obtain evidence requires a valid search warrant obtained in compliance with the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. McBride v. State, 840 S.W.2d 111, 114 (TexApp.—Austin 1992, pet. ref'd). Invasions of the body of an accused to obtain evidence may, under certain circumstances, comply with due process and constitute a reasonable search and seizure, if done pursuant to probable cause and after issuance of a warrant, by medical personnel using proper medical procedures and if done without brutality which “shocks the conscience.” Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 757-60, 86 S.Ct. at 1826-30, 16 L.Ed.2d at 908-14; Oviedo v. State, 767 S.W.2d 214, 217 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1989, no pet.). In reviewing a motion to suppress evidence taken from a defendant’s body, we consider six factors to determine the reasonableness of such bodily search and seizure:

1. The existence of probable cause and a search warrant, absent exigent circumstances;
2. The extent to which the procedure threatens the safety or health of the individual;
3. The taking of all reasonable medical precautions and employment of no unusual or untested procedure;
4. The procedure was performed by a physician in a hospital according to accepted medical practices;
5. The search may be unjustifiable if it endangers the life or health of the accused; and2
6. The extent of intrusion upon the individual’s dignitary interests, personal privacy, and bodily integrity.

Winston v. Lee, 470 U.S. 753, 759-61, 105 S.Ct. 1611, 1615-17, 84 L.Ed.2d 662, 668-69 (1985); Oviedo, 767 S.W.2d at 217-18; Marmolero v. State, 743 S.W.2d 669, 670 (Tex.App.—El Paso 1987, pet. ref'd). The U.S. Supreme Court has characterized the test to be applied in this situation as one of balancing:

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910 S.W.2d 505, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 2708, 1994 WL 601918, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-avila-texapp-1994.