Wall v. State

878 S.W.2d 686, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1512, 1994 WL 275876
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 23, 1994
Docket13-92-493-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 878 S.W.2d 686 (Wall 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
Wall v. State, 878 S.W.2d 686, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1512, 1994 WL 275876 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

GILBERTO HINOJOSA, Justice.

A jury found appellant guilty of possessing, with intent to deliver, between 200 and 400 grams of anabolic steroids, including adulterants and dilutants. The jury assessed punishment at 35 years in prison. Appellant raises five points of error. We affirm.

By his first point, appellant contends the steroids should have been suppressed because he was illegally arrested and his vehicle searched pursuant to an invalid warrant. We disagree.

Appellant was stopped by D.P.S. Officer Donald Plunkett for a seat belt violation while traveling along U.S. Highway 59 in Jackson County. Appellant initially identified himself as Tom Wall but told Plunkett he had no identification. After appellant produced a ear rental agreement, Plunkett again asked appellant his name, and appellant identified himself this time as Milton Dwayne Wall. When Plunkett ran a D.P.S. computer check on this second name and received a description which did not match appellant’s physical attributes, appellant produced an expired driver’s license with the name Donnie Keith Wall. Plunkett then *688 learned through a criminal history check that appellant had an extensive criminal history, including a methamphetamine possession charge. This information, apparently along with appellant’s attempts to misidentify himself, Plunkett’s sighting of what he considered drug-related items in the car, his discovery that appellant had rented the stopped ear under a fictitious name, and his belief that appellant was unusually nervous, led Plunk-ett to ask appellant for permission to search the car. Appellant refused, saying that Texas had become a police state just like Florida. Plunkett then told appellant he was being detained until a search warrant could be obtained. 1 Plunkett testified at the suppression hearing that along with detaining appellant so that a warrant could be obtained, he also arrested appellant for driving without a valid license and for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Plunkett had appellant follow him to the Sheriffs office in Edna. There, Plunkett obtained a warrant from a Justice of the Peace to search appellant’s car for marihuana or cocaine. Plunkett searched appellant’s car and found a variety of pills and liquids which were later determined to contain anabolic steroids.

Appellant contends first that the search warrant was invalid because the Justice of the Peace who signed the warrant was not authorized to do so under the Code of Criminal Procedure. Appellant’s argument is based on Code of Criminal Procedure articles 18.01, 18.02, and 59.01. Article 18.01(h) provides:

Except as provided by Subsection (i) of this article, 2 only a judge of a municipal court of record who is an attorney licensed by the state or a judge of a statutory county court, district court, the court of criminal appeals, or the supreme court may issue a warrant under Subdivision (12), Article 18.02, of this code.

Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 18.01(h) (Vernon Supp.1994).

Article 18.02, subdivision (12) authorizes search warrants to be issued for “contraband subject to forfeiture under Chapter 59 of this code.” Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 18.-02(12) (Vernon Supp.1994). Article 59.01 concerns “Forfeiture of Contraband” and speaks of contraband, in part, as being property of any nature that is used or intended to be used in the commission of felonies under the Controlled Substances Act. Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 59.01(2)(B)(i) (Vernon Supp.1994).

Appellant argues that as article 59 refers to felonies under the Controlled Substances Act, the warrant was issued by authority of article 18.02(12), and that by operation of article 18.01(h), the Justice of the Peace (who was not an attorney) was not authorized to issue a „ search warrant for controlled substances. We disagree.

Appellant’s argument that the warrant to search for drugs was authorized under article 18.02(12) fails to consider the Code of Criminal Procedure sections which permit any magistrate to issue a warrant for “drugs kept, prepared, or manufactured in violation of the laws of this state,” Tex.Code Crim. Proc.Ann. art. 18.02(7) (Vernon Supp.1994). The Code also permits any magistrate to issue a warrant for “any property the possession of which is prohibited by law.” Tex. Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 18.02(8) (Vernon Supp.1994).

A review of Chapter 59 of the Code of Criminal Procedure shows that it deals with the seizure of property used or intended to be used in drug crimes. The chapter addresses forfeiture proceedings and the disposition of forfeited property. “Contraband” under Chapter 59 means property of any nature, including real, personal, tangible, or intangible, that is used or intended to be used in the commission of a felony under the Controlled Substances Act. tex. code crim. proc. art. 59.01(2)(B)(i). The authority to issue search warrants for this type of property is controlled by Code of Criminal Procedure article 18.02(12).

The authority to issue search warrants for illegal drugs is covered explicitly by Tex. *689 Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 18.02(7) (Vernon Supp.1994). See Mason v. State, 838 S.W.2d 657, 660 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1992, pet. ref'd); see also Martin v. State, 727 S.W.2d 820, 821 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1987, no pet.). The warrant in this case was not subject to the restrictions imposed by article 18.01(h). We find the warrant was properly issued.

Appellant next argues under this same point of error that he was illegally arrested or detained until the search warrant was issued. We disagree. The record shows that Officer Plunkett took appellant into custody for several reasons. One reason was that appellant did not have a valid driver’s license. As the law permits an officer to arrest someone for not having a valid license, appellant’s continued detention was legal. See Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6701d, §§ 107C, 153, (Vernon 1977 & Supp.1994). Furthermore, even if the detention was illegal, it does not follow that the drugs seized from appellant’s car should be suppressed. An illegal arrest will not vitiate a conviction unless it leads to the admission of evidence. Stiggers v. State, 506 S.W.2d 609, 611 (Tex.Crim.App.1974); State v. Brady, 763 S.W.2d 38, 40 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1988, no pet.). In this case, the steroids were seized pursuant to a warrant, and the warrant was obtained with information discovered by Officer Plunkett prior to appellant’s continued detention. We ascertain no causal relationship between appellant’s continued detention and the issuance of the warrant. Appellant’s first point of error is overruled.

In his second point, appellant complains that the evidence does not show that adulterants and dilutants, if any, were identified or added to the steroids for the purpose of increasing the bulk or quantity of the steroids.

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Bluebook (online)
878 S.W.2d 686, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1512, 1994 WL 275876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wall-v-state-texapp-1994.