State v. Ruelas

327 S.W.3d 321, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 8084, 2010 WL 3896516
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 6, 2010
Docket08-09-00091-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 327 S.W.3d 321 (State v. Ruelas) 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. Ruelas, 327 S.W.3d 321, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 8084, 2010 WL 3896516 (Tex. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

OPINION

DAVID WELLINGTON CHEW, Chief Justice.

The State of Texas appeals the trial court’s grant of Appellee’s motion to suppress. The State argues the law enforcement officer had sufficient reasonable suspicion to stop and detain Appellee based on evidence established at the suppression hearing.

El Paso Police Officer Jaime Esparza testified that he was patrolling along Pais-ano Street in the early morning hours of May 2, 2008, when he saw a red vehicle turn left from Santa Fe Street onto the westbound lane of Paisano. The officer stopped the vehicle for failure to signal intent of a lane change and then changing lanes two times. Officer Esparza identified Appellee as the driver of the red car. The officer videoed the stop, but the traffic violations did not appear on the video because he activated it only when he turned on his emergency lights.

The officer testified that as he approached the car, he detected an odor of alcohol coming from within Appellee’s vehicle. He also observed that Appellee had “glassy blood shot eyes and a dazed look on his face,” as well as slurred mumbled speech. Appellee told Officer Esparza he had three or four drinks. Officer Esparza then asked Appellee to exit the vehicle, at which point he detected a strong alcoholic odor coming from Appellee’s breath and person. After conducting the field sobriety test on Appellee, Officer Esparza observed “6 of 6 clues on the walk and turn test, 5 of 8 on the walk and turn test, and 2 of 4 on the one leg stand test.” He also observed Appellee swaying while standing during the HGN test and later vomiting a large amount of liquid. After the incident, Appellee was charged by information with driving while intoxicated.

In December 2008, Appellee filed a motion to suppress on the basis that Officer Esparza arrested and detained him without a warrant, and that the fruits of the arrest should be suppressed. In March 2009, the trial court held a hearing on Appellee’s motion to suppress. After the hearing, the court granted Appellee’s motion. The court then entered findings of fact and conclusions of law. The court’s findings of fact state in part: (1) Officer Esparza observed Appellee’s vehicle turn left onto Paisano in the early morning of May 2, 2008; (2) when Appellee turned left onto Paisano, he properly used his left turn signal; (3) Officer Esparza testified he observed two traffic violations that jus[324]*324tified the stop; Appellee first entered the left lane on Paisano and then moved into the right lane without signaling, then Ap-pellee moved back into the left lane without signaling intent to change lanes again; (4) in contrast, Appellee testified he simply turned into the right lane and never changed lanes again. The trial court determined Appellee’s testimony to be credible based on Appellee’s demeanor and his “candor in admitting that he drove through the center [left] lane in order to enter the right lane.” Although the State argued that Appellee violated the traffic laws by turning directly into the right lane, the court determined that the police officer failed to testify to this particular violation. Finally, the court concluded that Appellee denied making any improper lane changes, and the court resolved this credibility dispute in favor of Appellee.

In its sole issue, the State argues the trial court erred by granting Appellee’s motion to suppress. The State contends the trial court abused its discretion in granting Appellee’s motion to suppress because Officer Esparza had sufficient reasonable suspicion to believe Appellee had committed a traffic violation in his presence, providing him a basis to initiate the traffic stop.

We review a ruling on a motion to suppress using a bifurcated standard. See Guzman v. State, 955 S.W.2d 85, 87-91 (Tex.Crim.App.1997); Newbrough v. State, 225 S.W.3d 863, 866 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2007, no pet.). While we review de novo mixed questions of law and fact that do not depend on credibility or demeanor of witnesses, we review purely factual questions that depend on credibility or demeanor of witnesses for an abuse of discretion. See State v. Ross, 32 S.W.3d 853, 855 (Tex.Crim.App.2000); Guzman, 955 S.W.2d at 89. We must afford almost total deference to the trial court’s determination of issues of historical fact and its application of . the law to fact issues that turn on determinations of witnesses’ credibility and demeanor. Amador v. State, 221 S.W.3d 666, 673 (Tex.Crim.App.2007). The trial judge is the sole trier of facts and judge of witnesses’ credibility, as well as the weight attributed to their testimony, at a suppression hearing. State v. Hopper, 842 S.W.2d 817, 819 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1992, no pet.). If the trial court has made fact findings, we do not engage in our own factual review but decide only whether the trial judge’s fact findings are supported by the record. Id. When reviewing the trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the court’s ruling. Wiede v. State, 214 S.W.3d 17, 24 (Tex.Crim.App.2007).

The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. See U.S. Const. amend. IV; Wiede, 214 S.W.3d at 24. To suppress evidence because of an alleged Fourth Amendment violation, the defendant bears the initial burden of producing evidence that rebuts the presumption of proper police conduct. Amador, 221 S.W.3d at 672. A defendant satisfies this burden by establishing that a search or seizure occurred without a warrant. Id. Once the defendant has made this showing, the State has the burden of proof to establish that the law enforcement officer conducted the search or seizure pursuant to a warrant or that he acted reasonably. Id. at 672-73.

A law enforcement officer may lawfully stop a motorist when the officer has probable cause to believe that the motorist has committed a traffic violation. Walter v. State, 28 S.W.3d 538, 542 (Tex.Crim.App.2000). Under circumstances short of probable cause, an officer may conduct a temporary investigative detention as an exception to the general warrant [325]*325requirement. Hopper, 842 S.W.2d at 820. To determine the reasonableness of an investigative detention, we apply the Terry test: (1) whether the officer’s action was justified at its inception; and (2) whether it was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances that justified the initial interference. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19-20, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1879, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); Davis v. State, 947 S.W.2d 240, 244 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). An officer may conduct an investigative detention following a traffic stop for as long as it is reasonably necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop. Haas v. State, 172 S.W.3d 42, 52 (Tex.App.-Waco 2005, pet. ref'd). However, the officer must support the stop with articulable facts, which should amount to more than a mere hunch or suspicion. Hopper, 842 S.W.2d at 820.

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State v. Ruelas
327 S.W.3d 321 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
327 S.W.3d 321, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 8084, 2010 WL 3896516, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ruelas-texapp-2010.