Trujillo v. State

8 S.W.3d 824, 2000 WL 85353
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 26, 2000
DocketNo. 09-97-528CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 8 S.W.3d 824 (Trujillo 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
Trujillo v. State, 8 S.W.3d 824, 2000 WL 85353 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

OPINION

STOVER, Justice.

A jury convicted appellant Benjamin Trujillo (“Trujillo”) of the murder of Joseph Sanchez and assessed a punishment of twenty years of confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division. Contending the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, Trujillo raises a single issue on appeal concerning the trial court’s failure to exclude two written statements from evidence at trial.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review a decision on a motion to suppress under an abuse of discretion standard. See Guzman v. State, 955 S.W.2d 85, 89 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). Thus, we afford deference to the trial court’s determination of the historical facts, but we review de novo the trial court’s determination of the applicable law, as well as its application of the appropriate law to the facts it has found. See State v. Rutherford, 1999 WL 815682 Tex.App. — San Antonio Oct. 13, 1999, no pet. h.) (citing Guzman, 955 S.W.2d at 89). “In a suppression hearing, the trial court is the sole trier of fact and judge of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony.” State v. Ballard, 987 S.W.2d 889, 891 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). In reviewing the trial court’s decision, an appellate court views the evidence in the light most [826]*826favorable to the trial court’s ruling. See id.; Guzman, 955 S.W.2d at 89. If no findings of fact are made on an issue, then the court of appeals is required to imply all necessary fact findings that would support the trial court’s ruling. See State v. Terrazas, 4 S.W.3d 720, 725-26 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). Furthermore, the court of appeals is required to defer to these implied findings that the record supports especially when these findings are based on an evaluation of credibility and demeanor. Id.

BACKGROUND FACTS

During the investigation of the murder, Trujillo twice gave the police written statements indicating he shot his employer, Joseph Sanchez, at Sanchez’s place of business. According to Trujillo’s last statement, Sanchez had been harassing him at work for approximately three weeks prior to the murder. After arriving at work on March 5, 1997, Trujillo stated that while he was sweeping around the office desk, he saw a gun. Trujillo indicated he picked up the gun and intended to scare Sanchez in the hope that he (Sanchez) would stop insulting him. According to Trujillo, when Sanchez walked in, the gun went off. The import of both of Trujillo’s statements is that the shooting was accidental.

■ANALYSIS

The basis for Trujillo’s motion to suppress is the State’s alleged violation of a provision of the Vienna Convention treaty. Specifically, he contends the two written statements were taken in violation of his rights under Article 36(l)(b) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which provides as follows:

[I]f he so requests, the competent authorities of the receiving State shall, without delay, inform the consular post of the sending State if, within its consular district, a national of that State is arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial or is detained in any other manner. Any communication addressed to the consular post by the person arrested, in prison, custody[,] or detention shall also be forwarded by the said authorities without delay. The said authorities shall inform the person concerned without delay of his rights under this sub-paragraph....

Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (Vienna Convention), Apr. 24, 1963, art. 36(l)(b), 21 U.S.T. 77 (ratified by the United States on Nov. 24, 1969) (emphasis added). The provision requiring that a person be notified of his rights under the treaty is not triggered unless the person is a foreign national who has been “arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial or is detained in any other manner.”

Trujillo contends Texas authorities are obligated to act in conformity with Article 36 unless some statute, regulation, rule, or treaty permits Texas to do otherwise. He points out that since Tex.Cobe CRiM. PROC. Ann. art. 38.23 (Vernon Supp.2000) requires the exclusion of evidence obtained in violation of any provision of a constitution or of 'federal or state law, the two written statements must be excluded from evidence, since they were obtained in violation of a provision of a treaty to which the United States is a signatory.

The Court of Criminal Appeals recently commented on the Vienna Convention treaty and its application:

Article 38.23(a) provides that evidence obtained in violation of a federal or state law or constitutional provision shall not be admitted against the accused and mandates that the jury be instructed to disregard evidence obtained in violation of the law if the issue is raised by the evidence. Under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, states must adhere to United States treaties and give them the same force and effect as any other federal law. U.S. Const. Art. VI, cl. 2; ... see also Breard v. Greene, 523 U.S. 371, 118 S.Ct. 1352, 1355, 140 L.Ed.2d 529 (1998). Thus, a [827]*827violation of this treaty would arguably fall under the language in Article 38.23(a) if the issue is raised by the evidence. Compare Cardona v. State, 973 S.W.2d 412, 417-18 (Tex.App. — Austin 1998[, no. pet.]) (finding violation of treaty merited exclusion of evidence under Article 38.23(a), but holding error did not affect defendant’s substantial rights).

Maldonado v. State, 998 S.W.2d 239, 247 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). As evidenced by the treaty provision, a foreign national who has been arrested, imprisoned, or taken into custody has a right to contact his consulate. See id. at 246. Furthermore, the arresting government authorities are required to inform the individual of this right “without delay.” Id. at 246^47; see Vienna Convention, art. 36(l)(b).

As we appreciate the language in Maldonado, a foreign national “arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial or detained in other manner” has certain rights under the Vienna Convention treaty. We first consider whether Trujillo was a foreign national. The trial court made no finding regarding citizenship; therefore, a finding of United States citizenship or a finding that Trujillo is not a foreign national is implied. See Terrazas, at 725-26. Such a finding, however, has no basis in the record and represents a misapplication of the law to the facts.

The State takes the position that informing Trujillo of a right under the treaty was not required, because the record does not show Trujillo was a foreign national. In support of its position, the State directs us to the facts surrounding the citizenship issue in Maldonado. There the Court of Criminal Appeals concluded the evidence showed at least a possibility that Maldonado was a United States citizen.

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8 S.W.3d 824, 2000 WL 85353, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trujillo-v-state-texapp-2000.