Vicknair v. State

751 S.W.2d 180, 1988 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 65, 1986 WL 80
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 13, 1988
Docket036-84
StatusPublished
Cited by61 cases

This text of 751 S.W.2d 180 (Vicknair v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vicknair v. State, 751 S.W.2d 180, 1988 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 65, 1986 WL 80 (Tex. 1988).

Opinions

OPINION ON STATE’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

TOM G. DAVIS, Judge.

Appellant pled guilty before the court, pursuant to a plea bargain, to possession of more than five and less than fifty pounds of marihuana. The court assessed five years. The First Court of Appeals (Houston) reversed the conviction, holding that the search of appellant’s automobile resulted from an illegal stop. Vicknair v. State, 670 S.W.2d 286 (Tex.App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 1983). We granted the State’s petition for discretionary review to examine this holding.

A hearing was held on appellant’s motion to suppress. Houston Police Officer D.W. Illingworth testified that on the evening of November 27, 1981, he was on patrol with his partner. Illingworth testified concerning the stop of appellant’s vehicle as follows:

“Q. What was it about this vehicle that first directed you to it?
“A. We observed an equipment violation on that vehicle.
“Q. Was this vehicle being driven on a public roadway?
“A. Yes.
“Q. What was the nature of the equipment violation that you observed?
“A. It was a defective taillight with a cracked lens and white light showing to the rear of the vehicle while moving.”

Illingworth and his partner then stopped the vehicle. Appellant was the driver. Ill-ingworth asked to see appellant’s driver’s license. Appellant stated “that his license had been revoked in another state.” Illing-worth asked again if appellant had a Texas driver’s license. When appellant replied that he had not, and was unable to produce a driver’s license, Illingworth placed him under arrest. Subsequent events led to the discovery of a quantity of marihuana in plain view in appellant’s car.

On cross-examination, Illingworth testified further concerning his reason for stopping appellant, as follows:

“Q. And what was that violation?
“A. Cracked taillight lens.
“Q. And that is a violation of what law?
“A. I believe Vernon’s Civil Statutes of Texas Moving Motor Vehicle Laws.
“Q. Can you tell me what law that is?
“A. The only thing I could say, sir, was to give you the title used for the charge itself on the citation.
“Q. What is that?
“A. The title would be defective rear lights, cracked taillight lens.
“Q. That’s not having a taillight that illuminates a red reflection?
“A. Excuse me, sir?
“Q. Is that what you’re talking about, not having a taillight that emits something red?
“A. What I’m referring to, sir, is a taillight lens that has been cracked to the extent you could observe white light coming through the rear.
“Q. That is a violation of the law?
“A. Yes. I was instructed by the department and in my training to issue a citation for that particular violation.
“Q. And that’s a cracked taillight lens or having a defective taillight?
“A. Defective taillight, cracked taillight lens.
“Q. Was the red light illuminating from the taillight?
“A. I would say yes. There was a red light, but it was a portion of it that had white light as well.”

The Court of Appeals wrote: “Both appellant and the State agree that the violation the officer was describing was that in [182]*182Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6701d, Sec. Ill (Vernon 1977) ...”

The Court of Appeals held that a cracked taillight emitting white light is not a violation of Art. 6701d, Sec. Ill,1 supra, because the statute requires only that a plainly visible red light be emitted and does not prohibit the emission of light of another color. Since the evidence established that appellant’s taillight did emit a visible red light at all times, the Court of Appeals ruled the initial stop of appellant invalid and that the fruits thereof should have been suppressed.

We need not reach the issue of whether the Court of Appeals’ interpretation of Art. 6701d, Sec. Ill, supra, is correct. We will focus on a separate part of Art. 6701d entitled ARTICLE XV — INSPECTION OF VEHICLES.

Section 140(a) provides, in pertinent part: “Every motor vehicle ... registered in this state and operated on the highways of this state, shall have the ... lighting equipment ... inspected at state-appointed inspection stations or by State Inspectors as hereinafter provided.
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“(b) If such inspection discloses the necessity for adjustments,2 corrections, or repairs, the vehicle shall be adjusted, corrected, or repaired before a certificate is issued as hereinafter provided....”
Section 141 provides, in pertinent part: “(a) ... The Department [of Public Safety] is authorized to furnish instructions to, and to supervise official inspection stations and mechanics for inspection of motor vehicles ... for the proper and safe performance of the required items of inspection....
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“(d) No certificate of inspection shall be issued by any inspector or inspection station until the vehicle has been inspected and found to be in proper and safe condition and to comply with the uniform standards of safety, inspection rules and regulations, and laws of this State.”
Section 142(a) provides, in pertinent part: “The Public Safety Commission shall establish uniform standards of safety whenever applicable with respect to items to be inspected as provided by Section 140 of this Act and shall list those items to be inspected in conformity with these standards established as provided by law. The list of items to be inspected and uniform standards of safety shall be posted in every official inspection station. Every vehicle inspected shall conform in all respects to the uniform standards of safety and the list of items to [183]*183be inspected established pursuant to this Section."

The Administrative Code contains the “list of items to be inspected” in the form of a chart. We set out the text appearing adjacent to the chart in the Administrative Code:

“Sec. 23.41 Inspection Items.
“(a) Section 1. The attached chart, as amended in January, 1982, lists the vehicle equipment required to he inspected according to the classification of the vehicle.
“(b) Section 2. The procedures and requirements for performing the inspection are contained in the Rules and Regulations Manual for Official Vehicle Inspection Stations and Certified Inspectors. “(c) Section 3.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
751 S.W.2d 180, 1988 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 65, 1986 WL 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vicknair-v-state-texcrimapp-1988.