State v. Carlos

484 S.W.3d 602, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 1539, 2016 WL 690795
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 17, 2016
DocketNO. 03-14-00166-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 484 S.W.3d 602 (State v. Carlos) 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. Carlos, 484 S.W.3d 602, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 1539, 2016 WL 690795 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

Melissa Goodwin, Justice

The State appeals from the trial court’s order granting appellee Carlos Molden’s motion to suppress. In four points of error, the State argues that the trial court abused its discretion by suppressing the blood test evidence that was obtained in accordance with section 724.012(b) of the Texas Transportation Code, commonly known as the mandatory blood draw statute. See Tex. Transp. Code § 724.012(b). We will affirm the trial court.,.

BACKGROUND

Prior to trial, Molden filed a motion to suppress entitled Motion to Suppress Blood Alcohol Test Results Obtained Without Consent or a Valid Search Warrant. Both sides filed trial briefs, addressing whether the seizure of Molden’s blood pursuant to the mandatory blood draw statute was unconstitutional in light of Missouri v. McNeely, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1552, 185 L.Ed.2d 696 (2013).1 The arresting officer was the State’s sole witness at the suppression hearing. In his testimony, the officer admitted that the sole authority for drawing Molden’s blood was section 724.012(b)(3)(B) of the Transportation Code.2 At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court stated that “absent consent or exigent circumstances, the State’s got to have a warrant before obtaining a sample of a person’s blood” and granted the motion to suppress. In its findings of fact and conclusions of law, the court conclud[606]*606ed, in relevant part, that- Molden did not consent to providing a specimen of his blood, that there were no exigent circumstances, and that no search warrant was obtained for the taking of Molden’s blood.

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

We review a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress evidence for an abuse of discretion, Arguellez v. State, 409 S.W.3d 657, 662 (Tex.Crim.App.2013); State v. Dixon, 206 S.W.3d 587, 590 (Tex.Crim.App.2006), and overturn the ruling only if it is outside the zone of reasonablé disagreement, State v. Story, 445 S.W.3d 729, 732 (Tex.Crim.App.2014); Dixon, 206 S.W.3d at 590. We apply a bifurcated standard of review, giving almost total deference to a trial court’s findings of historical fact and credibility determinations that are supported by the record, but review questions of law de novo. Delafuente v. State, 414 S.W.3d 173, 177 (Tex.Crim.App.2013); Crain v. State, 315 S.W.3d 43, 48 (Tex.Crim.App.2010). We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling, State v. Robinson, 334 S.W.3d 776, 778 (Tex.Crim.App.2011), and uphold the ruling if it is correct on any theory of law applicable to the case, Absalon v. State, 460 S.W.3d 158, 162 (Tex.Crim.App.2015); Young v. State, 283 S.W.3d 854, 873 (Tex.Crim.App.2009), even if the trial judge made the ruling for a wrong reason, Story, 445 S.W.3d at 732.

General Balancing Test

In its first point of error, the State maintains that the trial court erred in suppressing the blood draw evidence because Molden has not shown that the mandatory blood draw statute is unconstitutional. The State urges this Court to find that the statute is constitutional under a traditional Fourth Amendment “reasonableness” analysis.

However, while Molden maintained that the mandatory blood draw statute was unconstitutional to the extent that it creates (or purports to create) an exception to the warrant requirement, he did not seek to have the statute declared unconstitutional. Rather, Molden asserted that obtaining his blood pursuant to section 724.012(b)(3)(B) of the Transportation Code under the circumstances of this case — without a warrant, without express consent, and in the absence of exigent circumstances — violated his Fourth Amendment rights, and sought suppression of the blood draw evidence on that basis. Moreover, the trial court did not hold the statute unconstitutional or otherwise address its constitutionality. Consequently, the State’s first point of error, arguing that Molden has failed to prove the statute unconstitutional, does not challenge the trial court’s order in this case and we do not address the merits of that argument.

We overrule the State’s first point of error.

Implied Consent

In its second point of error, the State argues that the warrantless blood draw in this case should be upheld as reasonable under the consent exception to the warrant requirement because Texas’s implied consent law established Molden’s consent to the blood draw.

A blood draw conducted at the direction of a law enforcement officer is a search subject to the reasonableness requirement of the Fourth Amendment. Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 767, 86, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966); State v. Villarreal, 475 S.W.3d 784, 796-97 (Tex.Crim.App.2014). A warrantless search of a person is unreasonable unless it falls within a recognized exception to the [607]*607warrant requirement. Villarreal, 475 S.W.3d at 796 (citing McNeely, 133. S.Ct. at 1558); see also Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967) (warrantless search or seizure is per se unreasonable unless it falls under recognized exception to warrant requirement). Voluntary consent to search is an established exception to the warrant requirement. McNeely, 133 S.Ct. at 1558; Villarreal, 475 S.W.3d at 796.

Under the implied consent statute a person arrested for driving while intoxicated “is deemed to have consented” to.the taking of a blood sample, see Tex. Transp. Code §. 724.011(a); and consent “deemed” to . have been given under section 724.011(a) may not be withdrawn -or revoked . under the mandatory blood draw statute if, among other things, the arrestee has two prior convictions for driving while intoxicated, see id. § 724.012(b)(3)(B).3 Relying on this statutory scheme, the State essentially argues that by getting arrested for driving while intoxicated, Mol-den impliedly consented to the blood draw and could not withdraw that consent because of his two previous convictions for DWI. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has. rejected this implied-irrevocable-consent argument.

While this case has been pending on appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals considered the question of whether a warrantless search of a DWI suspect’s blood conducted pursuant to section 724.012(b) of the Transportation Code complied with the Fourth Amendment. See Villarreal, 475 S.W.3d at 793-813.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Cesar Ramiro Arellano
571 S.W.3d 422 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019)
State of Tennessee v. Corrin Kathleen Reynolds
504 S.W.3d 283 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 2016)
Perez v. State
495 S.W.3d 374 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016)
State v. Elle Obering O'Brien
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016
Alfredo Ayala v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016
Fred Schneider v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
484 S.W.3d 602, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 1539, 2016 WL 690795, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carlos-texapp-2016.