Yeager v. State

23 S.W.3d 566, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 4202, 2000 WL 798080
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 21, 2000
Docket10-99-105-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 23 S.W.3d 566 (Yeager 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
Yeager v. State, 23 S.W.3d 566, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 4202, 2000 WL 798080 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

OPINION

BILL VANCE, Justice.

Does article 14.03(g) of the Code of Criminal Procedure authorize a peace officer to conduct an investigative detention while outside of his geographic jurisdiction to determine if there is probable cause to believe that an offense has been “com-mitt[ed] within [his] presence or view”? The trial court concluded that it does and denied Michael Yeager’s motion to suppress. We decide that an officer must have probable cause to arrest before he can detain a citizen under article 14.03 when outside of his geographic jurisdiction; thus, we find that the investigative detention by the police in this case was impermissible. We will reverse the judgment.

The Stop, Arrest, and Prosecution

At approximately 10:00 p.m. on Friday, September 11, 1998, two Pantego Village police officers, Brian Harris and Jon Codu-[569]*569ti, observed Yeager leave the parking lot of a bar on Arkansas Lane. As Yeager made his turn onto Arkansas Lane, the officers could see that he turned too wide, running off of the paved portion of the road and nearly driving his car into a ditch that bordered the street. At the point where Yeager entered Arkansas Lane, both the street and the ditch were within the Pantego Village municipal limits.

Harris believed he could stop Yeager to investigate whether he was driving while intoxicated at the time that Yeager almost ran into the ditch. However, the officers did not initiate such a stop in Pantego Village so that Coduti, a reserve officer in training, could observe Yeager and evaluate his driving. The officers followed Yeager along Arkansas Lane and into the City of Arlington, crossing the city-limits line approximately one-sixteenth to one-eighth of a mile after they began following Yeager. Once in Arlington, Yeager turned north on Fielder Road. Harris and Coduti continued to follow Yeager, going deeper into Arlington. Shortly before Pioneer Parkway, Yeager suddenly swerved from the inside lane of the road to the outside lane, narrowly missing another vehicle. Believing that Yeager was a danger to others on the road, Hams decided to stop him so that the officers could investigate whether Yeager was driving while intoxicated. The officers activated their overhead emergency lights, and ultimately their siren as well, and stopped Yeager approximately one-half to three-fourths of a mile into the City of Arlington. Based on Yeager’s appearance, speech, odor of an alcoholic beverage, and performance in a series of field sobriety tests, Harris concluded that he had probable cause to arrest Yeager for the offense of driving while intoxicated. Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 49.04 (Vernon Supp.2000). After his arrest, the officers took Yeager to the Arlington City Police Department for an intoxilyzer test and videotaping because the City of Arlington had the necessary equipment, and then back to the Pantego Village Police station for processing.

Yeager was charged with DWI as a result of the investigation by Harris and Coduti. He sought to suppress all of the evidence obtained as a result of the investigation on the theory that the officers did not have the authority to detain or arrest him outside of their own geographic jurisdiction. At the hearing on his motion to suppress, Officers Harris and Coduti testified. The parties stipulated both that Pan-tego Village is a Type “B” municipality1 and that Yeager was arrested without a warrant. After the trial court denied his written pretrial motion to suppress, Yeager pled guilty and this appeal followed.

The Appeal

Before us, Yeager again asserts that evidence obtained after he was stopped should have been suppressed because the officers did not have the authority to detain him outside of their own geographic jurisdiction. In reply, the State concedes that the officers were outside their geographic jurisdiction, but argues that both the detention and arrest of Yeager were lawful under article 14.03 of the Code of Criminal Procedure or, alternatively, the “hot pursuit” doctrine. Tex.Code.CRIm. PR0C. Ann. art. 14.03 (Vernon Supp.2000); Preston v. State, 700 S.W.2d 227, 229 (Tex.Crim.App.1985).

Because Yeager complains about the trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, we apply the standard of review set out in Guzman v. State, 955 S.W.2d 85, 87 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). Carmouche v. State, 10 S.W.3d 323, 327 (Tex.Crim.App.[570]*5702000); Harris v. State, 994 S.W.2d 927, 929-80 (Tex.App.—Waco 1999, pet. ref'd). We give almost total deference to the trial court’s determination of historical fact, but review its application of the law of search and seizure de novo. Id. The trial court did not make explicit findings of fact to support its ruling; thus, if necessary, we are to assume that it made whatever findings that the record supports to buttress its ruling. Carmouche, 10 S.W.3d at 828.

Resolution of the issue of the officers’ extra-jurisdictional authority turns on the application of Texas common law and her statutes, not on federal constitutional principles. The states are free to impose greater restrictions on their law enforcement agents than are required by the United States Constitution. Milton v. State, 549 S.W.2d 190, 192 (Tex.Crim.App.1977). Texas has done so in a number of ways, one of which is particularly relevant to this proceedings — Texas common law and her statutes limit where a police officer may exercise the authority of his office.

The Limits of the Officers’ Jurisdiction

As a general matter, peace officers may exercise law enforcement powers only within their jurisdiction.2 Dominguez v. State, 924 S.W.2d 950, 953-54 (Tex.App.—El Paso 1996, no pet.); cf. Tex. Code Crim. Proo. Ann. art. 2.13 (Vernon Supp.2000) (“It is the duty of every peace officer to preserve the peace within the officer’s jurisdiction.” (Emphasis added)). The scope of an officer’s jurisdiction must be found in a statute or be controlled by common law. Angel v. State, 740 S.W.2d 727, 732 (Tex.Crim.App.1987); see also Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 1.27 (Vernon 1977). There are no statutes specifically controlling the jurisdiction of a police officer of a Type “B” municipality such as the officers of Pantego Village. See Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code Ann. Chapter 341 (Vernon 1999 & Supp.2000); Reamey & Harkins, Warrantless Arrest Jurisdiction in Texas: An Analysis And A Proposal, 19 St. Mary’s L.J. 857, 880 (1988). Therefore, the jurisdiction of a Type “B” municipality police officer is controlled by common law. At common law, a city police officer’s authority ends at the city limits. Landrum v. State, 751 S.W.2d 530, 531 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1988), pet. ref'd per curiam, 795 S.W.2d 205 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Love v. State, 687 S.W.2d 469, 471 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1985, pet. ref'd), overruled on other grounds, Angel v. State, 740 S.W.2d 727 (Tex.Crim.App.1987).

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23 S.W.3d 566, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 4202, 2000 WL 798080, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yeager-v-state-texapp-2000.