Fedencio Pena Medellin v. State ( 2011 )


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  •                         COURT OF APPEALS
    SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS
    FORT WORTH
    NOS. 02-10-00002-CR
    02-10-00003-CR
    FEDENCIO PENA MEDELLIN                                             APPELLANT
    V.
    THE STATE OF TEXAS                                                      STATE
    ----------
    FROM CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT NO. 1 OF TARRANT COUNTY
    ----------
    MEMORANDUM OPINION1
    ----------
    Introduction
    Appellant Fedencio Pena Medellin appeals his convictions on three counts
    of possessing illegal drugs.2 In his sole point, he challenges the trial court’s
    1
    See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.
    2
    The State charged Appellant in two indictments. The indictment in cause
    number 1150620D set out two counts. The indictment in cause number
    1152944D set out four counts. Appellant pleaded guilty to the former and went to
    trial on the latter. The State abandoned one count and the jury convicted on all
    denial of his motion to suppress, contending that the search that led to the
    seizure of the drugs admitted against him at trial was illegal because the police
    detained him for too long and without reasonable suspicion while awaiting a
    drug-sniffing dog.   Because we hold that Appellant’s brief detention was
    reasonable, we affirm.
    Factual and Procedural Background
    Around 10:35 p.m. on March 26, 2009, Corporal B.A. Farmer of the Fort
    Worth Police Department’s North Zero Tolerance Team was watching a house
    on North Commerce Street. Farmer and his team had received complaints of
    narcotics activity at the house, had on numerous occasions caught people
    leaving there with drugs, and over the previous two years had executed two
    warrants seizing large quantities of methamphetamine from the house.
    Watching through binoculars from the next street over, Farmer saw
    Appellant walk from the house, climb into a maroon Chevrolet pickup parked in
    the driveway, back it out, and drive south to Long Avenue. Farmer pulled his
    patrol car in behind and followed the truck as it turned west on Long and then
    south on North Main. At Northwest 28th Street, Appellant failed to signal while
    turning. Farmer pulled him over. The time was 10:38 p.m.
    remaining counts alleged in both indictments (the two Appellant pleaded guilty to
    and the three he pleaded not guilty to) and assessed punishment. Although
    Appellant filed notices of appeal in both causes, his motion to suppress was filed
    in and his point on appeal applies to only cause 1152944D. Accordingly, we will
    affirm the judgment in cause 1150620D and limit the remainder of our discussion
    to the facts and law germane to cause 1152944D.
    2
    Farmer advised the rest of his team over his shoulder radio that he had
    made a traffic stop.   When he approached Appellant and asked him for his
    license and proof of insurance, Appellant had neither but gave the officer his
    name and driver’s license number. Farmer walked back to his patrol car and
    entered the information on the car’s computer.           The return showed that
    Appellant’s driver’s license had expired.
    Farmer walked back to Appellant and ushered him to the sidewalk so they
    could talk out of the way of traffic. Farmer knew that people were often nervous
    during traffic stops, but Appellant was abnormally so; he was ―a little jittery‖
    and—despite the cool weather—he was sweating.
    Farmer asked him where he was going. Appellant replied that he was on
    his way to a biker rally in Boyd, where he was working security. Farmer asked
    him for consent to search his truck and his person. Appellant denied consent to
    search the truck but granted a search of his person. Farmer thought it was
    suspicious that Appellant would give consent to one but not the other, and before
    searching Appellant’s person, he requested a canine unit and a warrant check.
    The frisk revealed no contraband.         Farmer talked with Appellant some
    more as he waited for the return on the warrant check. Another member of
    Farmer’s team, Officer A. White, arrived while Farmer and Appellant were on the
    sidewalk.   Canine Officer Marc Macy, who had been nearby with his dog,
    ―Hutch,‖ arrived within ―a couple of minutes‖ of the stop and a minute after
    3
    Farmer’s call, pulling up just as Farmer was telling Appellant that the canine unit
    was coming. Farmer briefed Macy and White on the situation.
    Macy retrieved Hutch from the back seat of his patrol car after latching the
    dog to a six-foot leash. Appellant’s demeanor visibly deflated as he watched
    Macy bring out the dog; he took a deep breath and just looked at the ground.
    Macy led Hutch to the truck, and starting at the driver’s side headlight, he
    led the dog around the truck counter-clockwise to the passenger side headlight.
    As Hutch passed the door on the passenger side, he did a ―head kick‖ toward it,
    indicating that something had caught his attention. Macy and Hutch reversed
    directions upon reaching the passenger side headlight, and they began retracing
    their path clockwise around the truck. Within a couple of steps, Hutch alerted
    aggressively at the passenger side door, scratching with his paws at the seam
    between the door and the frame. Macy returned Hutch to the back seat of his
    patrol car and informed the others of the alert.
    Farmer and White began searching the truck. White pulled the passenger
    seat forward and noticed that its seat cover was unzipped five to six inches in the
    back.    He found a black t-shirt wadded around a baggie containing smaller
    baggies of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine stuffed inside the opening.
    Farmer found another baggie containing ―an extremely large amount‖ of black tar
    heroin on the other side under the driver’s seat and wedged against the back
    wall.
    4
    The officers arrested Appellant. The total elapsed time from the stop to
    arrest was approximately ten minutes.
    At trial, Appellant moved to suppress the drugs. The trial court carried the
    motion with the evidence at trial. After the State rested, the trial court denied the
    motion to suppress. The jury convicted Appellant and, after hearing evidence on
    punishment, assessed sentences of ten years’ confinement for possession of
    one or more but less than four grams of cocaine, ten years’ confinement for
    possession of one gram or more but less than four grams of methamphetamine,
    and thirty years’ confinement for possession with intent to deliver four or more
    but less than 200 grams of heroin.           The trial court sentenced Appellant
    accordingly and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
    Issue on Appeal
    Appellant concedes that the stop was justified by his committing a traffic
    violation, and he does not appear to challenge the subsequent search after the
    dog alerted to his truck. He does assert, however, that his continued detention
    pending the arrival of the canine unit was unreasonable. We disagree.
    Standard of Review
    We review a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress evidence under a
    bifurcated standard of review.    Amador v. State, 
    221 S.W.3d 666
    , 673 (Tex.
    Crim. App. 2007); Guzman v. State, 
    955 S.W.2d 85
    , 89 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997).
    In reviewing the trial court’s decision, we do not engage in our own factual
    review. Romero v. State, 
    800 S.W.2d 539
    , 543 (Tex. Crim. App. 1990); Best v.
    5
    State, 
    118 S.W.3d 857
    , 861 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2003, no pet.). The trial
    judge is the sole trier of fact and judge of the credibility of the witnesses and the
    weight to be given their testimony. Wiede v. State, 
    214 S.W.3d 17
    , 24–25 (Tex.
    Crim. App. 2007); State v. Ross, 
    32 S.W.3d 853
    , 855 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000),
    modified on other grounds by State v. Cullen, 
    195 S.W.3d 696
    (Tex. Crim. App.
    2006). Therefore, we give almost total deference to the trial court’s rulings on
    (1) questions of historical fact, even if the trial court’s determination of those facts
    was not based on an evaluation of credibility and demeanor, and (2) application-
    of-law-to-fact questions that turn on an evaluation of credibility and demeanor.
    
    Amador, 221 S.W.3d at 673
    ; Montanez v. State, 
    195 S.W.3d 101
    , 108–09 (Tex.
    Crim. App. 2006); Johnson v. State, 
    68 S.W.3d 644
    , 652–53 (Tex. Crim. App.
    2002). But when application-of-law-to-fact questions do not turn on the credibility
    and demeanor of the witnesses, we review the trial court’s rulings on those
    questions de novo. 
    Amador, 221 S.W.3d at 673
    ; Estrada v. State, 
    154 S.W.3d 604
    , 607 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005); 
    Johnson, 68 S.W.3d at 652
    –53.
    Stated another way, when reviewing the trial court’s ruling on a motion to
    suppress, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial
    court’s ruling. 
    Wiede, 214 S.W.3d at 24
    ; State v. Kelly, 
    204 S.W.3d 808
    , 818
    (Tex. Crim. App. 2006). When the trial court makes explicit fact findings, as it did
    here, we determine whether the evidence, when viewed in the light most
    favorable to the trial court’s ruling, supports those fact findings.        
    Kelly, 204 S.W.3d at 818
    –19. We then review the trial court’s legal ruling de novo unless its
    6
    explicit fact findings that are supported by the record are also dispositive of the
    legal ruling. 
    Id. at 818.
    We must uphold the trial court’s ruling if it is supported by the record and
    correct under any theory of law applicable to the case even if the trial court gave
    the wrong reason for its ruling. State v. Stevens, 
    235 S.W.3d 736
    , 740 (Tex.
    Crim. App. 2007); Armendariz v. State, 
    123 S.W.3d 401
    , 404 (Tex. Crim. App.
    2003), cert. denied, 
    541 U.S. 974
    (2004).
    The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and
    seizures by government officials. U.S. Const. amend. IV; 
    Wiede, 214 S.W.3d at 24
    . To suppress evidence because of an alleged Fourth Amendment violation,
    the defendant bears the initial burden of producing evidence that rebuts the
    presumption of proper police conduct. 
    Amador, 221 S.W.3d at 672
    ; see Young
    v. State, 
    283 S.W.3d 854
    , 872 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009). A defendant satisfies this
    burden by establishing that a search or seizure occurred without a warrant.
    
    Amador, 221 S.W.3d at 672
    . Once the defendant has made this showing, the
    burden of proof shifts to the State, which is then required to establish that the
    search or seizure was conducted pursuant to a warrant or was reasonable. 
    Id. at 672–73;
    Torres v. State, 
    182 S.W.3d 899
    , 902 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005); Ford v.
    State, 
    158 S.W.3d 488
    , 492 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005).
    A detention, as opposed to an arrest, may be justified on less than
    probable cause if a person is reasonably suspected of criminal activity based on
    specific, articulable facts. Terry v. Ohio, 
    392 U.S. 1
    , 22, 
    88 S. Ct. 1868
    , 1880
    7
    (1968); Carmouche v. State, 
    10 S.W.3d 323
    , 328 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000). An
    officer conducts a lawful temporary detention when he or she has reasonable
    suspicion to believe that an individual is violating the law. Crain v. State, 
    315 S.W.3d 43
    , 52 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010); 
    Ford, 158 S.W.3d at 492
    .
    Analysis
    In what is known as a Terry stop or an investigative detention, an officer
    may stop and briefly detain a person suspected of criminal activity on less
    information than is constitutionally required for probable cause to arrest. 
    Terry, 392 U.S. at 22
    , 88 S. Ct. at 1880; Walter v. State, 
    28 S.W.3d 538
    , 540 (Tex.
    Crim. App. 2000).    Routine traffic stops are more analogous to investigative
    detentions than custodial arrests and are thus analyzed as Terry stops.
    Berkemer v. McCarty, 
    468 U.S. 420
    , 439, 
    104 S. Ct. 3138
    , 3150 (1984). An
    investigative detention—either as a part of, or apart from, a traffic stop—is a
    seizure for Fourth Amendment purposes. See Francis v. State, 
    922 S.W.2d 176
    ,
    178 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996).      Therefore, a traffic stop and any concomitant
    investigative detention must be reasonable under the United States Constitution
    and the Texas constitution. See U.S. Const. amend. IV; Tex. Const. art. I, § 9.
    An investigative detention is reasonable, and thus constitutional, if (1) the
    officer’s action was justified at the detention’s inception, and (2) the detention
    was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances that justified the
    interference in the first place. 
    Terry, 392 U.S. at 19
    –20, 88 S. Ct. at 1879. For
    the officer’s initial action to be justified under the first Terry prong, we ask
    8
    whether there existed specific, articulable facts that, taken together with rational
    inferences from those facts, reasonably warranted that intrusion. 
    Id. at 21,
    88 S.
    Ct. at 1880; see also Davis v. State, 
    947 S.W.2d 240
    , 242 (Tex. Crim. App.
    1997).   Specifically, the officer must have a reasonable suspicion that some
    activity out of the ordinary is occurring or has occurred, some suggestion to
    connect the detainee with the unusual activity, and some indication that the
    unusual activity is related to a crime. See 
    Davis, 947 S.W.2d at 244
    .
    In other words, ―[a]n officer conducts a lawful temporary detention when he
    has reasonable suspicion to believe that an individual is violating the law.‖ 
    Ford, 158 S.W.3d at 492
    .      ―Reasonable suspicion exists if the officer has specific,
    articulable facts that, when combined with rational inferences from those facts,
    would lead him to reasonably conclude that a particular person actually is, has
    been, or soon will be engaged in criminal activity.‖ 
    Id. We give
    due weight not to
    the officer’s inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or ―hunch,‖ but to the
    specific reasonable inferences that he is entitled to draw from the facts in light of
    his experience. See 
    Davis, 947 S.W.2d at 243
    n.3. An investigative detention
    that is not based on reasonable suspicion is unreasonable and thus violates the
    Fourth Amendment. 
    Id. Under the
    second Terry prong, an investigative detention must be
    temporary and last no longer than is necessary to effectuate the purpose of the
    stop. See Florida v. Royer, 
    460 U.S. 491
    , 500, 
    103 S. Ct. 1319
    , 1325 (1983).
    Once the reason for the stop has been satisfied, the stop may not be used as a
    9
    ―fishing expedition for unrelated criminal activity.‖   
    Davis, 947 S.W.2d at 243
    (quoting Ohio v. Robinette, 
    519 U.S. 33
    , 41, 
    117 S. Ct. 417
    , 422 (1996)
    (Ginsburg, J., concurring)). Also, the scope of the seizure must be restricted to
    that necessary to fulfill the seizure’s purpose. 
    Royer, 460 U.S. at 500
    , 103 S. Ct.
    at 1325.
    Once the traffic stop investigation is concluded, the officer must no longer
    detain the driver, who must be permitted to leave. Kothe v. State, 
    152 S.W.3d 54
    , 63–64 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004); Green v. State, 
    256 S.W.3d 456
    , 461–62
    (Tex. App.—Waco 2008, no pet.). If, however, during a valid traffic stop and
    detention, the officer develops reasonable suspicion that the detainee is engaged
    in criminal activity, prolonged or continued detention is justified. See 
    Davis, 947 S.W.2d at 244
    ; 
    Green, 256 S.W.3d at 462
    ; Perales v. State, 
    117 S.W.3d 434
    ,
    439 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 2003, pet. ref’d). Additional facts and information
    discovered by an officer during a lawful detention may form the basis for a
    reasonable suspicion that another offense has been or is being committed. See
    Razo v. State, 
    577 S.W.2d 709
    , 711 (Tex. Crim. App. [Panel Op.] 1979);
    Mohmed v. State, 
    977 S.W.2d 624
    , 628 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1998, pet. ref’d).
    Articulable facts coming to the officer’s knowledge during the proper stop or
    detention may justify further investigation. 
    Razo, 577 S.W.2d at 711
    ; 
    Mohmed, 977 S.W.2d at 628
    . More specifically, if the valid traffic stop evolves into an
    investigative detention of other criminal activity (such as transporting illegal
    drugs) so that a canine sniff can take place, reasonable suspicion is required to
    10
    prolong the detention. Haas v. State, 
    172 S.W.3d 42
    , 52 (Tex. App.—Waco
    2005, pet. ref’d); Hill v. State, 
    135 S.W.3d 267
    , 269 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th
    Dist.] 2005, pet. ref’d); Sims v. State, 
    98 S.W.3d 292
    , 295 (Tex. App.—Houston
    [1st Dist.] 2003, pet. ref’d); McQuarters v. State, 
    58 S.W.3d 250
    , 256–57 (Tex.
    App.—Fort Worth 2001, pet. ref’d).
    We review the reasonableness of the detention from the same perspective
    as the officer. Using an objective standard, we ask whether the facts available at
    the moment of detention would warrant a person of reasonable caution in the
    belief that the action taken was appropriate. See 
    Terry, 392 U.S. at 21
    –22, 88 S.
    Ct. at 1880; 
    Davis, 947 S.W.2d at 243
    .         The determination of reasonable
    suspicion is made by considering the totality of the circumstances. 
    Ford, 158 S.W.3d at 492
    –93.
    Appellant does not challenge his initial traffic stop or the subsequent
    search. He does challenge, however, his detention between the initial stop and
    the search, arguing that Farmer did not have reasonable suspicion to ―prolong‖
    his detention.   Considering the totality of the circumstances, the trial court’s
    conclusion that Farmer had reasonable suspicion to justify detaining Appellant for
    a canine sniff is supported by the evidence in the record. Farmer articulated the
    following specific facts that Appellant was engaged in criminal activity: Appellant
    was seen leaving a known drug house, which had been the subject of two drug
    raids by Farmer and his team over the previous two years; Farmer had
    apprehended numerous persons leaving the house with illegal narcotics; the
    11
    team had received recent complaints of drug activity at the house; Appellant was
    extremely nervous, more so than what would be expected for a routine traffic
    stop;3       Appellant had neither a driver’s license nor proof of insurance; and
    Appellant allowed Farmer to search his person but did not allow him to search his
    truck.4      Under the totality of the circumstances, we hold that Farmer had
    reasonable suspicion based on specific articulable facts that, combined with
    rational inferences, would lead him to reasonably conclude that Appellant
    actually was, had been, or would soon be engaged in criminal activity. See 
    Ford, 158 S.W.3d at 492
    ; 
    Davis, 947 S.W.2d at 242
    .
    Further, we would not characterize Appellant’s detention as prolonged.
    Viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling, the evidence
    established that the total lapsed time between the traffic stop and Appellant’s
    3
    Although nervousness alone does not warrant reasonable suspicion, see
    
    Davis, 947 S.W.2d at 248
    (―It is not indicative of guilt for a person to be nervous
    when confronted by police officers asking questions.‖), ―[e]xtreme nervousness
    has traditionally been a fact that law enforcement has used in its list of elements
    leading up to either reasonable suspicion or probable cause.‖ Veal v. State, 
    28 S.W.3d 832
    , 837 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2000, pet. ref’d) (citing U.S. v. Sokolow,
    
    490 U.S. 1
    , 3, 
    109 S. Ct. 1581
    , 1583 (1989)). ―[N]ervous, evasive behavior is a
    pertinent factor in determining reasonable suspicion.‖ Illinois v. Wardlow, 
    528 U.S. 119
    , 124, 
    120 S. Ct. 673
    , 676 (2000).
    4
    As with nervousness, refusal to consent to a search, by itself, is
    insufficient to show reasonable suspicion. See 
    Davis, 947 S.W.2d at 241
    ;
    Sieffert v. State, 
    290 S.W.3d 478
    , 484 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2009, no pet.);
    
    Green, 256 S.W.3d at 462
    . Again, however, under a totality of the circumstances
    analysis, it may suffice when included with other factors. See McAnally v. State,
    No. 02-08-00342-CR, 
    2009 WL 3956749
    , at *3 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Nov. 19,
    2009, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not designated for publication).
    12
    arrest was approximately ten minutes.5 The record also shows that Farmer did
    not issue Appellant a ticket for the original traffic violation. There is no evidence
    that the return on the warrant check came back before Appellant was taken to
    jail. It is unclear, therefore, whether the initial purpose of the traffic stop had
    been concluded. Based on the evidence before it, the trial court reasonably
    could have concluded that Appellant’s detention was not unreasonably delayed.
    See 
    Kothe, 152 S.W.3d at 58
    , 66 (upholding additional three to twelve minute
    detention pending results of routine computer driver’s license check); cf. George
    v. State, 
    237 S.W.3d 720
    , 727 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (holding that a
    nonconsensual additional ten-minute detention of a passenger without specific
    articulable facts after officer issued a warning ticket to the driver was
    unreasonable); see generally George E. Dix, Nonarrest Investigatory Detentions
    in Search and Seizure Law, 1985, no. 5, Duke L.J. 849, 895–96 (1985)
    (suggesting a thirty-minute time limit for Terry stops as a matter of state law
    because ―it is probably unrealistic to expect courts effectively to review officers’
    decisions to prolong detention for periods of fifteen to thirty minutes‖).
    Accordingly, we hold that Appellant suffered no deprivation of his constitutional
    rights, and we overrule his sole point on appeal.
    5
    Even Appellant testified at trial that only ―about 12 minutes‖ elapsed
    between the time of his stop and the arrival of the canine unit.
    13
    Conclusion
    Having overruled Appellant’s sole point on appeal, we affirm the trial
    court’s judgments.
    LEE GABRIEL
    JUSTICE
    PANEL: GARDNER, MEIER, and GABRIEL, JJ.
    DO NOT PUBLISH
    Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)
    DELIVERED: May 26, 2011
    14