Troncosa v. State

670 S.W.2d 671, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 5058
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 15, 1984
Docket04-81-00391-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 670 S.W.2d 671 (Troncosa v. State) 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
Troncosa v. State, 670 S.W.2d 671, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 5058 (Tex. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

CANTU, Justice.

This is an appeal from a conviction for arson. Trial was to a jury but the punishment was assessed by the trial court at five years’ confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections.

Appellant sets forth four grounds of error which basically may be categorized as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the conviction and a challenge to the trial court’s holding his confession admissible.

The challenge to the court’s finding of admissibility of appellant’s confession rais *674 es numerous contentions. Essentially, they are that the court’s holding is not supported by proof of voluntariness because waiver of constitutional rights was never established and because the confession was shown to be the product of illegal detention.

The evidence introduced on the motion to suppress reflects that the interior of a vacant building located at 1023 South Alamo Street in the city of San Antonio was set afire on March 25, 1981, with the aid of a flammable liquid which was poured on the floor at the top of the stairs. No one saw appellant at the scene of the fire and his fingerprints were not found at the scene.

On March 26, 1981, Alfredo Castro, Jr., an investigator for the San Antonio Fire Department, Arson Bureau, and a certified peace officer, was at a location known as the “Friendly Spot,” about a block and a half from the location of the fire. In the process of conducting his investigation, Castro came into contact with appellant there.

The owner of the Friendly Spot advised Castro that he had never seen appellant there before. Castro then approached appellant, identified himself and requested identification. Appellant presented Castro with identification that appeared to be partially burned. Castro questioned him about it, his place of residence and employment. Appellant then left the premises.

On April 8, following the receipt of information from an unidentified source that appellant was hanging around bars at the intersection of Flores and Martin Streets, Castro and his partner Robert Robinson proceeded to that location.

At about 11:30 p.m. appellant was seen by Robinson and Castro on the sidewalk at the intersection of Flores and Travis. Robinson called him over to their car, read him the Miranda 1 warning, placed him in the car and drove him to the arson office located in the San Antonio Police Department.

At the arson office, appellant was once again read the Miranda warning. Following about an hour and a half of interrogation, an incriminating statement was obtained from appellant.

The record is silent as to the procurement of an arrest warrant or the existence of probable cause to arrest appellant. Moreover, the State does not argue the existence of either but rather assumes the posture that an arrest did not occur until the obtaining of appellant’s confession. The testimony discloses no more than the flagrant arrest of a suspect known to frequent bars at a particular intersection.

The findings of fact and conclusions of law prepared by the trial court as required by TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC. art. 38.22 (Vernon 1979) recite in pertinent part:

FINDINGS OF FACT

The Court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that:

(1) The defendant was arrested as the result of an arson investigation on April 8, 1981.
(2) The defendant was not interrogated at the time of his arrest, but was given a warning as to his constitutional rights.
(3) The defendant was immediately transported to the arson investigation office where he was again advised of his rights.
* * * (Emphasis supplied)

The trial court then concludes that the confession obtained was voluntary and admissible as a matter of law.

Nowhere in the court’s findings or conclusion is reference made to the legal basis for appellant’s detention although the court recognizes that an arrest had indeed taken place prior to the warning and interrogation.

The State seeks to circumvent the requirement of a warrant and of probable cause by arguing that appellant was never arrested or detained without his consent until after the statement was given.

*675 The State argues that “appellant voluntarily accompanied the investigators to the police station, was never told that he could not leave, was not handcuffed, was not threatened, abused, or pressured, and was not placed under arrest until after giving his statement voluntarily.”

The record does not verify the State’s position.

At the Motion to Suppress hearing, officer Castro testified:

(Defense attorney)
Q: ... Okay. How did you come to take him into custody on April 8?
A: Okay, We had received information that Rudy was hanging around Flores and Travis at bars around there, so we were working nights. We were patrolling the area and we encountered Rudy on the sidewalk at Flores and Travis.
Q: What was he doing?
A: He was out on the corner there and my partner spotted him. He got out of the car and as I recall, he asked him to come by the car and he read him his rights there on the sidewalk. And then we put him in the car and took him to the office.
[[Image here]]
Q: Did he give you any trouble when you placed him under arrest? Did you have to subdue him?
A: No, sir. If I recall, I told him after the statement ‘I'm going to take you to jail,’ and he—
Q: No, that is not my question. When you first picked him up, did he resist arrest?
A: No sir, he did not.
Officer Robinson testified:
Q: ... When was the next time you saw Rudy Troncosa?
A: The next time was at the corner of — I’m trying to make sure I’ve got the intersection right — Flores, the same corner as the Navy Club, Ruben Carousel and another little nightclub on the northeast corner.
Q: Okay. And how did you come to talk to him, if you did?
A: We recognized him. We had been looking for him.
Q: Where were you looking for him? Why were you looking for him?
A: To talk to him again about his address, where he had been living, things like that that we could not find verification on, some stuff he told us earlier.
[[Image here]]
Q: Did you talk to him at all?
A: I am trying to think back. It has been a while.

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Bluebook (online)
670 S.W.2d 671, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 5058, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/troncosa-v-state-texapp-1984.