Valadez v. State

476 S.W.3d 661, 2015 WL 5439087
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 10, 2016
DocketNo. 04-14-00626-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 476 S.W.3d 661 (Valadez 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
Valadez v. State, 476 S.W.3d 661, 2015 WL 5439087 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by:

Patricia 0. Alvarez, Justice

This case arises from the conviction of Appellant Alvin Valadez Jr. for felony possession of a controlled substance. After the trial court denied his motion to suppress, Valadez was convicted by a jury. Valadez entered a plea of true to the State’s allegations regarding prior consecutive felony convictions and the jury assessed punishment at life confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

In his sole issue on appeal, Valadez argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence because the complaint supporting the arrest warrant failed to demonstrate probable cause he committed the offense of engaging in organized criminal activity. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background

A. Factual Background

1. Valadez’s Arrest

On August 28, 2012, a Guadalupe County justice of the peace signed an arrest warrant authorizing the arrest of Alvin Vala-dez Jr. for the offense of engaging in organized criminal activity. The warrant was supported by a complaint asserting Valadez and five other individuals committed the offense of engaging in organized criminal activity with the underlying offense being the aggravated assault of Roberto Machado Herrera Jr.

2. Arrest Warrant

Seguin Police Department Detective Clinton Halbardier signed the five-page complaint1 based on his investigation and that of the Seguin Police Department. In his application, Detective Halbardier reported he relied on statements provided by four unnamed informants who directly witnessed the assault in question or were privy to certain circumstantial evidence relating to the assault. Detective Halbardier further averred that he believed these witnesses to be credible and the magistrate could rely on them. He cited interviews with the victim, previous investiga[665]*665tions of the listed suspects, and Seguin Police Department offense reports and supplemental reports.

Detective Halbardier’s complaint asserted that on August 26, 2012, Herrera was approached by five or six men who questioned him about his gang affiliation. After Herrera informed the group he was part of the “Orejones,” the group asserted they were the “EME” or the “Merecido,” common names for the Mexican Mafia. The group further instructed Herrera that he should deny being a member of the Orejones because he was in Merecido territory. As Herrera exited his vehicle, one of the individuals waived' his arm and Herrera was attacked from behind with a knife. Herrera was stabbed and beaten.

Detective Halbardier averred that all six suspects, including Valadez, were confirmed to be active gang members. The officer outlined Valadez’s affiliation as “a documented Mexican Mafia gang member” and a “lieutenant with the Mexican Mafia,” based on national and state database information searches.

Detective Halbardier also relied on the statements of four witnesses who asked to be unnamed in the complaint for “personal safety and security reasons.” Two of the witnesses were gainfully employed, had previously provided credible information, and had acquaintances involved in the Mexican Mafia. The third witness was present during the assault and his statement corroborated Herrera’s statements, and the final witness had no criminal history. Two of the four witnesses reported being threatened not to tell1 officers about the assault. Additionally, several of the informants reported the assault stemmed from suspicions that Herrera stole drugs from Valadez. Detective Halbardier’s complaint concluded,

considering all of the known facts and the current information provided by the witnesses, [Valadez] has been named multiple times in the past as the leader of the Mexican Mafia in Seguin. [Vala-dez] is acting in concert with the other suspects in trying to threaten witnesses not to give their testimony to police and to help'avoid prosecution for the aggravated assault on the victim.

A Guadalupe County justice of the peace issued the arrest warrant that same day, authorizing the arrest of Valadez for the offense of engaging in organized criminal activity. After locating and securing Vala-dez, Guadalupe County Sheriffs Office Investigator David Camacho executed the arrest warrant and conducted a search incident to arrest.During the search, Investigator Camacho discovered four balloons of heroin in Valadez’s pocket.

B. Hearing on the Motion to Suppress the Arrest Warrant

On August 20, 2014, the trial court held a hearing on Valadez’s motion to suppress the arrest warrant based on the complaint’s failure to establish probable cause.

Investigator Camacho testified that on August 28, 2012, he traveled to Valadez’s residence to arrest Valadez. Investigator Camácho was familiar with Valadez and positively identified Valadez at his residence; after" a short scuffle, Valadez was taken into custody without further incident. The officer conducted a search incident to arrest and located four balloons of heroin in Valadez’s pocket.

Detective Halbardier described the overall structure of the Mexican Mafia and that lieutenants were generally in charge of day-to-day operations in a specific city or county. He also relayed the Mexican Mafia was known for engaging in both sanctioned and unsanctioned assaults. Detective Halbardier testified that, in his opinion, the assault on Herrera was a sanctioned assault by Valadez.

[666]*666Following the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court denied Valadez’s motion to suppress the evidence but did not make findings of fact or conclusions of law at that time. The case was called before a jury on August 25, 2014. After both sides rested and closed their cases, but .prior to closing arguments, the trial court stated, on the record, the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

[Valadez] was arrested on a warrant . issued on August 28th, 2012, by Justice of the Peace Precinct Four, Guadalupe County, based on a probable cause [complaint] submitted by Detective Clint Halbardier.
The probable cause [complaint] for said ..warrant contained information which established probable cause for Alvin Valadez, Jr., to be charged with various offenses, including conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, aggravated assault as a party to that offense, organized criminal activity to commit' aggravated assault, obstruction or retaliation, and even possibly tampering with .witnesses. Because such probable cause was established for each offense, the Justice of the Peace could’ve issued the warrant naming any of those felony offenses.
The arresting officers were acting in good faith reliance on the warrant. Even if the probable cause was inadequate for organized criminal activity, probable cause was established for other felony offenses.

See State v. Cullen, 195 S.W.3d 696, 699 (Tex.Crim.App.2006) (holding the trial court’s, findings of fact and conclusions of law are sufficient if they are “recorded in some way, whether written out and filed by the trial court, or stated on the record at the hearing”).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
476 S.W.3d 661, 2015 WL 5439087, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valadez-v-state-texapp-2016.