Wise v. State

223 S.W.3d 548, 2007 WL 122000
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 25, 2007
Docket07-06-0084-CR, 07-06-0085-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 223 S.W.3d 548 (Wise 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
Wise v. State, 223 S.W.3d 548, 2007 WL 122000 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

PATRICK A. PIRTLE, Justice.

By two indictments, Appellant, Eric R. Wise, was charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of indecency with a child. Following the denial of his motion to suppress, Appellant entered open pleas of guilty to all counts, and the case proceeded to the punishment phase. The trial court sentenced Appellant to fifty years confinement on each of the five convictions for aggravated sexual assault and ten years confinement on each of the two convictions for indecency with a child. All seven sentences were to run concurrently. 1 Presenting three issues to challenge all seven convictions, Appellant questions whether (1) the sentences imposed were excessive and grossly disproportionate to the facts; (2) the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to suppress because the affidavit presented in support of the search warrant of his home was based upon material misinformation or omissions, and there was no nexus shown between the search of his home and the alleged crimes; and (3) the prosecutor’s use of “leading questions” prejudiced presentation of the evidence at the suppression hearing. We affirm.

Background

The record establishes that Appellant, a thirty-seven year old male from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had been communicating over the Internet for almost a year with KMB, a fourteen year old female from Kenosha, Wisconsin. According to KMB, Appellant knew she was fourteen years old and represented to her that he was twenty-two years old. On August 19, 2003, Appellant traveled to Wisconsin to meet KMB at a park. They spent a few hours together, hugged and French kissed. KMB testified that Appellant pulled her onto his lap, but did not make any sexual advances. KMB told Appellant she needed to return home for dinner, but they arranged to communicate later that evening. Appellant gave KMB the telephone number and room number at the local hotel where he was staying.

KMB, feeling uneasy about her encounter with Appellant, disclosed the incident to her older sister, her mother, and father. As a result, Kenosha, Wisconsin Police Department was called in to investigate. A search of KMB’s computer disclosed communications between her and Appellant, as well as photographs of Appellant.

Kenosha, Wisconsin Police Officers were dispatched to Appellant’s hotel room where he voluntarily consented to a search of his room and vehicle. Items discovered in the hotel room included the following:

• a torn and empty condom wrapper and an empty three-pack condom box behind the night stand located between the two beds;
• a prescription bottle belonging to Appellant with one-half of a Viagra tablet;
• a stained towel;
• Appellant’s wallet which contained numerous phone numbers on a post-it type paper;
*552 • Appellant’s car keys and his Iowa driver’s license; and
• a paper on the night stand with directions to the park where he met KMB.

Items found in Appellant’s vehicle included:

• a video camera containing a tape;
• a tripod;
• a backpack;
• a bundle of yellow nylon tow rope;
• a baggie containing various pills;
• a camera bag containing a 35MM Canon Rebel camera and flash; and
• a green cell phone.

The evidence was turned over to the Kenosha, Wisconsin Police Department. The videotape found in the seized camera was viewed by investigators and according to a police report:

[t]he tape showed what appeared to be a M/W recording a F/W (age or person unknown) sleeping in the nude under the covers on a bed.... Eric and the unknown F/W then engage in sexual intercourse, where Eric looks at the camera once and the F/W appears to have no knowledge that the camera is there. Note, that the F/W also appears to be in a lethargic state.

Wisconsin authorities arrested Appellant and charged him with child enticement and use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime according to Wisconsin statutes. 2 On August 20, 2003, Detective Ric Bentz, of the Kenosha, Wisconsin Police Department drafted two affidavits in support of search warrants; one for Appellant’s home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and another to determine the origin of electronic communications and other information from a screen name believed to belong to Appellant from an America Online account. Detective Bentz then contacted Detective Melissa Henderson, of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Police Department, for assistance in obtaining an Iowa search warrant for Appellant’s home.

Detective Henderson presented an Application for Search Warrant which not only included her own affidavit but also incorporated the affidavit of Detective Bentz. The affidavit of Detective Bentz provides in relevant part:

The defendant then asked to meet the victim and he traveled across state lines from Cedar Rapid [sic] Iowa to Kenosha WI on August 19, 2003 to meet KMB DOB 09/28/88 at Washington Bowl. The defendant meet [sic] the victim and took [sic] to the area of the swing sets and “French Kissed” KMB DOB 09/28/88 there. When officers arrived at The Holiday Inn Express the subject had an open box of condoms one open condom package, several pills of an unknown substance, an 8mm camera and Viagra tablets in the hotel room. The subject voluntarily consented to allow officers to search the room and his vehicle and officers recovered a camera tripod and more video tapes. One tape shows the defendant having sexual intercourse with a female subject that appears to be under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance....

*553 The Iowa search warrant was approved by a magistrate at 4:01 p.m. on August 20, 2003, and was executed by Cedar Rapids, Iowa law enforcement officers at approximately 5:00 p.m. that same day. The warrant authorized a search of Appellant’s home for evidence in connection with the crimes of child enticement and use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. The evidence sought was described as follows:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Luis Romero v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Ruben Ramos III v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2018
Christian Vernon Sims v. State
526 S.W.3d 638 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2017)
Pachas-Luna, Hugo D.
Texas Supreme Court, 2015
Alex Rene Gonzales v. State
481 S.W.3d 300 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015)
Taunton, Thomas Lloyd
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015
Thomas Lloyd Taunton v. State
465 S.W.3d 816 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015)
Rodriguez, Emilio
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015
Emilio Rodriguez v. State
459 S.W.3d 184 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015)
Jordan Allen v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014
State v. Jorge Louis Verde
432 S.W.3d 475 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014)
State v. Ignacio Pinalez Iii
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014
Alyssa Pullen v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2013
State of Texas v. James Allen Huddleston
387 S.W.3d 33 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Frances Cedillo v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012
State of Texas v. Joshua Cotter
360 S.W.3d 647 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Christie Osborne v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011
Brian Ranard Davis v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011
Terrell Maxwell v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010
James Franklin Curtis v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
223 S.W.3d 548, 2007 WL 122000, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wise-v-state-texapp-2007.