Demolle v. State

1

EDWARD JAMES DEMOLLE, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

No. 06-22-00113-CR

Court of Appeals of Texas, Sixth District, Texarkana

April 26, 2023

DO NOT PUBLISH

Date Submitted: April 13, 2023

On Appeal from the 6th District Court Lamar County, Texas Trial Court No. 28002

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Charles van Cleef, Justice

After a traffic stop led to the discovery of drugs, Edward James Demolle pled guilty to the manufacture or delivery of 200 or more, but less than 400, grams of methamphetamine, a first-degree felony. See Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.112(e). Pursuant to his plea-bargain agreement with the State, Demolle pled true to the State's enhancement allegation, and the trial court sentenced him to thirty-two years' imprisonment.

On appeal, Demolle argues that the trial court erred by failing to grant his suppression motion. He also argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction and that his punishment should be reversed. We find (1) that the trial court properly overruled Demolle's suppression motion and (2) that we do not have jurisdiction to address Demolle's remaining complaints. As a result, we affirm the trial court's judgment.

I. The Trial Court Properly Overruled Demolle's Suppression Motion

Demolle filed a motion to suppress evidence obtained as the result of a traffic stop. At the hearing on the suppression motion Demolle argued (1) that the officer did not have reasonable suspicion to initiate the traffic stop, (2) that the officer exceeded the scope of a traffic stop to engage in a fishing expedition, and (3) that he "never consented to any search of the vehicle" or, alternatively, (4) that "any consent allegedly given was ineffective."

After reviewing the record, we determine that (1) the trial court was free to believe the traffic stop was initiated after the officer observed a traffic violation, (2) continued detention was justified by the discovery of another traffic violation and (3) the officer obtained the driver's consent to search the vehicle. Consequently, we find that the trial court properly overruled Demolle's suppression motion after finding that the State met its burden to show that the initial traffic stop was legal, the scope of the traffic stop was not excessive in intensity or scope, and the officer obtained the driver's effective consent to search the vehicle.

A. Evidence at the Suppression Hearing

Aaron Hunter Sanders, an officer with the Lamar County Sheriff's Office, was on patrol at 3:00 a.m. when a vehicle without a driver's side headlight drove past him. Sanders stopped the vehicle and approached the passenger-side door. The passenger, Demolle, told Sanders that the vehicle belonged to him. Sanders asked Demolle and the driver, George Ragas, to produce identification, but neither could.

Sanders obtained Ragas's and Demolle's dates of birth, returned to his patrol unit to analyze that information, and determined that neither Ragas nor Demolle had a valid driver's license. Sanders testified that he entered the vehicle's license plate into the patrol unit's database, which showed Demolle as the vehicle's owner. According to Sanders, Demolle gave his consent to search the vehicle. The dash-camera recording of the stop, played for the trial court, showed that Sanders asked Ragas for consent to search the vehicle and received it.

Sanders searched underneath a pile of clothes in the backseat and was surprised to find another person, Richard Black, hiding. A further search of the car revealed a glass pipe, clear plastic bags, and 243.7 grams of methamphetamine. After hearing Sanders's testimony and watching the dash-camera recording, the trial court denied Demolle's suppression motion.

B. Applicable Caselaw and Standard of Review

"If an officer has a reasonable basis for suspecting that a person has committed a traffic offense, the officer may legally initiate a traffic stop." Zervos v. State, 15 S.W.3d 146, 151 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2000, pet. ref'd) (citing Garcia v. State, 827 S.W.2d 937, 944 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992)). "The standard requires only 'some minimal level of objective justification' for the stop." Hamal v. State, 390 S.W.3d 302, 306 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012) (quoting Foster v. State, 326 S.W.3d 609, 614 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010)). "Reasonable suspicion exists if the officer has 'specific articulable facts that, when combined with rational inferences from those facts, would lead him to reasonably suspect that a particular person has engaged or is (or soon will be) engaged in criminal activity.'" Jaganathan v. State, 479 S.W.3d 244, 247 (Tex. Crim. App. 2015) (quoting Abney v. State, 394 S.W.3d 542, 548 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013)).

"We review a reasonable suspicion determination by considering the totality of the circumstances." State v. Cortez, 543 S.W.3d 198, 204 (Tex. Crim. App. 2018) (citing Garcia v. State, 43 S.W.3d 527, 530 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001)). "When a police officer stops a defendant without a warrant, the State has the burden of proving the reasonableness of the stop at a suppression hearing." Id. (citing Russell v. State, 717 S.W.2d 7, 9-10 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986), disapproved of on other grounds by Handy v. State, 189 S.W.3d 296, 299 n.2 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006)). Because Demolle was stopped without a warrant, "the State had the burden to prove that the initial [traffic stop] was legal." Id.

"A trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress is reviewed on appeal for abuse of discretion." Id. at 203 (quoting Crain v. State, 315 S.W.3d 43, 48 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010)). The trial court's decision will be sustained if it "is correct under any applicable theory of law." Id. We will reverse the trial court's ruling "only if it is arbitrary, unreasonable, or 'outside the zone of reasonable disagreement.'" Id. (quoting State v. Story, 445 S.W.3d 729, 732 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014)).

We determine whether a law enforcement officer's "reasonable suspicion of criminal activity" is supported by the totality of the circumstances using a bifurcated standard of review: "[f]irst, we 'give "almost total deference to the trial court's determination of the historical facts that the record supports," and second, we review de novo the trial court's application of the law to facts, which do not turn on credibility and demeanor.'" Id. at 203-04 (quoting Abney v. State, 394 S.W.3d 542, 547 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (citing Amador v. State, 275 S.W.3d 872, 878 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009))). Also, "we review de novo whether the totality of circumstances is sufficient to support an officer's reasonable suspicion of criminal activity." Id. at 204 (quoting Crain, 315 S.W.3d at 49).

"When the trial court does not make explicit findings of fact, as in the case before us, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court's ruling and assume the trial court made implicit findings of fact supported by the record." Lerma v. State, 543 S.W.3d 184, 190 (Tex. Crim. App. 2018); see State v. Ross, 32 S.W.3d 853, 855 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000); Robino v. State, 548 S.W.3d 108, 113 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2018, no pet.). "If the trial court's decision is correct on any theory of law applicable to the case, we will affirm the decision." Robino, 548 S.W.3d at 113 (citing Ross, 32 S.W.3d at 855-56; Maysonet v. State, 91 S.W.3d 365, 369 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2002, pet. ref'd)).

C. The State Met Its Burden to Show the Initial Traffic Stop Was Legal

Demolle argues that "there was no headlight violation" and that, as a result, he was stopped because of "an inarticulate 'hunch.'" Because Sanders's testimony shows otherwise, we disagree.

"An officer may make a warrantless traffic stop if the 'reasonable suspicion' standard is satisfied." Cortez, 543 S.W.3d at 204 (quoting Jaganathan, 479 S.W.3d at 247). The Texas Transportation Code requires a motor vehicle to be "equipped with at least two headlamps" and specifies that "[a]t least one headlamp shall be mounted on each side of the front of the vehicle." Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 547.321. It also requires the headlamps to be on at 3:00 a.m. See Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 547.302(a); State v. Gammill, 442 S.W.3d 538, 542 (Tex. App.- Dallas 2014, pet. ref'd).

Demolle complains that the dash-camera recording did not clearly depict the headlight violation. Our review of the recording reveals that it did not show the vehicle driven by Ragas until after it had passed Sanders's patrol unit. As a result, the trial court was unable to see what Sanders saw as the vehicle was approaching him. However, when asked about the driver's side headlamp, Sanders testified, "It was not lighted on that side of the vehicle."

The trial court, as fact-finder, was free to find Sanders's testimony credible, and its determination of that historical fact is entitled to total deference. Consequently, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's conclusion that Sanders had reasonable suspicion to stop Ragas and Demolle for violating the Texas Transportation Code.

D. The Stop Was Not Excessive in Intensity or Scope

Next, after noting that "12 minutes and 26 seconds [passed] before the officer even requested consent to search the vehicle," Demolle argues that "the stop was far too long for the alleged headlight violation." Because Sanders uncovered another violation of the Texas Transportation Code while investigating the headlight violation, we find that Demolle's continued detention was justified.

"An investigative stop that is reasonable at its inception may violate the Fourth Amendment because of excessive intensity or scope." Fisher v. State, 481 S.W.3d 403, 407 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2015, pet. ref'd) (quoting Young v. State, 420 S.W.3d 139, 142 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2012 no...