Akins v. State

• Decision Date: 31 August 2006
• Docket Number: No. 2-05-263-CR.,2-05-263-CR.
• Citation: 202 S.W.3d 879
• Parties: DEWAYNE H. AKINS, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, State.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

202 S.W.3d 879

DEWAYNE H. AKINS, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, State.

No. 2-05-263-CR.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Second District, Fort Worth.

Delivered: August 31, 2006.

Panel A: CAYCE, C.J.; LIVINGSTON and McCOY, JJ.

OPINION

BOB McCOY, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

Appellant Dewayne H. Akins was convicted of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. The trial court sentenced him to nine years' confinement. Akins contends that the trial court erred by admitting evidence obtained as the result of an illegal arrest. We affirm.

II. BACKGROUND FACTS

On December 15, 2004, Stanley Davis, an investigator in the narcotics division of the Mansfield Police Department, received a tip from a confidential informant. The informant told Davis that she had seen Akins in possession of methamphetamine the previous day, and that just prior to calling the police, she had spoken to Akins again and confirmed that Akins still had methamphetamine with him. The informant also provided Davis with information about Akins's present location. She said that Akins could be found at a convenience store located at 8475 Mansfield Highway in Arlington, Texas. Within an hour of receiving the tip, Davis and three other investigators drove to the convenience store and set up surveillance of Akins. The investigators observed Akins talking with another man as he exited the gas station. When Akins entered his vehicle, the police blocked it from behind with one of their cars. The investigators then approached Akins with their weapons drawn, placed him on the ground, and handcuffed him. Davis testified that Akins was not free to leave. One of the investigators asked Akins if he had any methamphetamine in his possession. After Akins answered that he had methamphetamine in his pocket, the investigator reached into Akins's pocket and removed the drug. The investigators did not read Akins his Miranda v. Arizona¹ rights before they questioned him.

Prior to trial, Akins filed a motion to suppress the statement he made as a result of the investigator's questioning as well as the methamphetamine seized from his pocket. A hearing was held on the motion, and Davis testified to the occurrences discussed above. The trial court subsequently denied Akins's motion.

III. MOTION TO SUPPRESS

Because Akins's six points essentially raise the same issue and are combined in Akins's brief, we too will address all points together. Akins argues that the trial court erred by failing to exclude the statement he made to the police admitting that he was in possession of methamphetamine and the methamphetamine found in his pocket because this evidence was obtained as the result of an illegal arrest. Specifically, Akins argues that the arrest was illegal because the police did not have a warrant and the arrest did not fall within one of the exceptions to the warrant requirement as set forth in chapter 14 of the code of criminal procedure. However, if we hold that the arrest was legal, then in the alternative, Akins argues that the evidence at issue was inadmissible because it was obtained as the result of custodial interrogation after the police failed to apprise him of hisMiranda rights.

A. Standard of Review

We review a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress evidence under a bifurcated standard of review. Carmouche v. State, 10 S.W.3d 323, 327 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000); 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. 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. State v. Ross, 32 S.W.3d 853, 855 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000); State v. Ballard, 987 S.W.2d 889, 891 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999). Therefore, we give almost total deference to the trial court's rulings on (1) questions of historical fact and (2) application-of-law-to-fact questions that turn on an evaluation of credibility and demeanor. Johnson v. State, 68 S.W.3d 644, 652-53 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002); State v. Ballman, 157 S.W.3d 65, 68 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 2004, pet. ref'd). But when the trial court's rulings do not turn on the credibility and demeanor of the witnesses, we review de novo a trial court's rulings on mixed questions of law and fact. Estrada v. State, 154 S.W.3d 604, 607 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005); Johnson, 68 S.W.3d at 652-53.

When reviewing a trial court's ruling on a mixed question of law and fact, the court of appeals may review de novo the trial court's application of the law of search and seizure to the facts of the case. Estrada, 154 S.W.3d at 607. When there are no explicit findings of historical fact, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court's ruling. Id.

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. Armendariz v. State, 123 S.W.3d 401, 404 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 974 (2004); Ross, 32 S.W.3d at 856; Romero, 800 S.W.2d at 543.

B. The Arrest

Akins argues that his arrest was illegal because it was made without a warrant and without the benefit of one of the exceptions to the warrant requirement as set out in chapter 14 of the code of criminal procedure. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. §§ 14.01-.04 (Vernon 2005 & Supp. 2006-07). He contends that, therefore, the evidence obtained as a result of the arrest should have been suppressed. In its brief, the State concedes that Akins was arrested without a warrant when the police handcuffed Akins, pointed their guns at him, placed him on the ground, and blocked his car in the parking lot.² We hold that the police arrested Akins when they initially approached him and restrained him.

1. Arrest v. Investigative Detention

An arrest occurs when a person's liberty of movement is restricted or restrained by an officer or person executing a warrant of arrest or without a warrant. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 15.22 (Vernon 2005); Medford v. State, 13 S.W.3d 769, 772-73 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000); Amores v. State, 816 S.W.2d 407, 411 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). However, a stop is deemed an investigative detention when a police officer detains a person reasonably suspected of criminal activity to determine his identity or to momentarily maintain the status quo to garner more information. Hoag v. State, 728 S.W.2d 375, 380 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987). An investigative detention must last no longer than necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop and must involve actual investigation. See Davis v. State, 947 S.W.2d 240, 244-45 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997)

.

Distinguishing between the two types of seizures can be difficult, particularly because the distinction rests on a fact-specific inquiry rather than clearly delineated criteria. Johnson v. State, 912 S.W.2d 227, 235 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995);Zayas v. State, 972 S.W.2d 779, 789 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi 1998, pet. ref'd). For purposes of constitutional analysis, both investigative detentions and arrests are seizures of a citizen by law enforcement officers. Zayas, 972 S.W.2d at 789. The differences between the two are the degrees of intrusion involved and the different legal justifications required of each. Id. Whether a seizure is an arrest or an investigative detention depends on the reasonableness of the intrusion under all of the facts. See Rhodes v. State, 913 S.W.2d 242, 247 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 1995),

aff'd,

945 S.W.2d 115 (Tex. Crim. App.),

cert. denied, 522 U.S. 894 (1997). The nature of the crime under investigation, the behavior of the individual, the degree of suspicion, the location of the stop, the time of day, and the officer's testimony concerning whether the defendant was free to leave the scene are all factors that bear on the issue. See Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119, 124-25, 120 S. Ct. 673, 676 (2000); see also 4 WAYNE R. LAFAVE, SEARCH AND SEIZURE § 9.2(d) (3d ed. 1996).

A reviewing court should also examine the degree of force used to effect the seizure. In an investigative detention situation, officers may use such force as is reasonably necessary to effect the goal of the stop. For example, there is no bright-line rule that handcuffing a suspect always constitutes an arrest. See Rhodes, 945 S.W.2d at 118

. Handcuffing is not ordinarily proper in a mere investigative detention, but it may be resorted to in special circumstances, such as when necessary to maintain officer safety or to thwart the suspect's attempt to frustrate further inquiry. Id. at 117. However, if the force utilized exceeds the goal of the stop, such force may transform an investigative stop into an arrest. See, e.g., State v. Moore, 25 S.W.3d 383, 385-86 (Tex. App.-Austin 2000, no pet.) (holding that although officer possessed reasonable, articulable facts justifying an investigative stop, handcuffing of suspect constituted excessive force under the circumstances and transformed detention into an arrest); Gordon v. State, 4 S.W.3d 32, 37 (Tex. App.-El Paso 1999, no pet.) (holding that in the absence of any proof in the record to demonstrate the necessity for the officer's actions, what may have been a valid investigative detention at the outset became an arrest); Flores v. State, 895 S.W.2d 435, 441 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 1995, no pet.) (holding that initial detention of defendant was arrest rather than mere investigative detention because defendant was forced to exit car at gunpoint, assume a spread-eagle position with his hands on roof of his car, and officer testified that defendant was not free to leave); compare Rhodes, 945 S.W.2d at 117-18 (holding that officer's handcuffing of two men was reasonable and did not transform investigative detention into arrest when officers responded to report of a burglary...