Autran v. State

Decision Date21 September 1994
Docket NumberNo. 869-92,869-92
Citation887 S.W.2d 31
PartiesJimmy Alfonso AUTRAN, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
CourtTexas Court of Criminal Appeals

George Barron, Louis Dugas, Jr. (on appeal only), Orange, for appellant.

Stephen C. Howard, County Atty., and Gary R. Bonneaux, Asst. County Atty., Orange, Robert Huttash, State's Atty., Austin, for State.

Before the court en banc.

OPINION ON APPELLANT'S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

BAIRD, Judge.

Appellant was convicted of possession of a controlled substance, namely cocaine. Tex.Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.115. The jury assessed punishment at twenty years confinement and a $10,000 fine. Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 12.33. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Autran v. State, 830 S.W.2d 807 (Tex.App.--Beaumont 1992). We granted appellant's petition for discretionary review to determine whether the Texas Constitution provides greater protection than the United States Constitution in the context of inventories. For the following reasons, we answer that question in the affirmative and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

I. THE FACTS

On October 2, 1989, at approximately 1:45 a.m. Deputy David Bailey of the Orange County Sheriff's Department stopped appellant on Highway 12 in Vidor for failure to drive within a single lane. See, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6701d, § 60(a). Appellant was accompanied by his adult son. Appellant and his son stated they had been to Houston to film a professional football game for a Miami, Florida television station and tendered press passes issued by the Metro-Dade Police Department. Bailey testified the press passes had expired. Appellant also presented a Florida driver's license, displaying a Miami address, and an Illinois vehicle registration form. Appellant stated he had purchased the vehicle within the previous five months but the registration indicated appellant purchased the vehicle approximately eighteen months prior to the stop.

With appellant's permission, Bailey looked inside the vehicle but found nothing suspicious. Bailey then requested permission to look into the trunk. Appellant stated, "no problem," and opened the trunk. Inside the trunk was a large ice chest, a cardboard box, a shopping bag, and two suitcases. Bailey attempted to open the ice chest but was interrupted when appellant attempted to close the trunk. Bailey arrested appellant for failure to "drive as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane," Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6701d, § 60(a), and appellant's son for public intoxication, Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08.

Following the established policy of the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Bailey and other officers began to inventory the vehicle. Opening the ice chest, cardboard box, and shopping bag, the officers found a large sum of cash. Due to the time and location, the inventory was discontinued and appellant's vehicle was towed to the Orange County Sheriff's Department where the inventory was continued and the cash removed to a secure location. The cash was covered with a white, powdery substance subsequently determined to be cocaine. Because the initial inventory was conducted before daylight, officers inventoried the vehicle again later that morning to verify the existence and location of each item inventoried. During this final inventory officers discovered cocaine in a closed plastic key box located under the driver's seat.

Appellant moved to suppress all tangible evidence seized from the vehicle, contending the evidence was seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and art. I, § 9 of the Texas Constitution. The trial judge denied the motion.

The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding officers may search and inventory any container found in a vehicle as a result of an inventory so long as the officers follow established departmental procedures. Autran, 830 S.W.2d at 812-16. Finding the Orange County Sheriff's Department inventory procedures were clearly defined and followed, the Court of Appeals held neither the Fourth Amendment nor the Texas Constitution were violated. Id. at 815-16.

Appellant contends the inventory of the closed containers within the trunk and the plastic key box within the passenger compartment of his vehicle were prohibited under art. I, § 9 of the Texas Constitution and, therefore, the Court of Appeals erred in concluding the trial judge correctly denied appellant's

motion to suppress the fruits of that illegal search. 1 The State responds that the cocaine was discovered during a valid inventory

It is axiomatic that the Texas Constitution can provide greater protection than the Federal Constitution. It has been said that the United States Constitution provides the floor for our Constitutional rights while the various State constitutions provide the ceiling. Heitman v. State, 815 S.W.2d 681, 690 (Tex.Cr.App.1991). Therefore, in order to determine whether the Texas Constitution provides greater protection than the United States Constitution in the context of inventories, we must first determine what protection is provided by the Fourth Amendment.

II. UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. A warrantless search is presumptively unreasonable. Horton v. California, 496 U.S. 128, 133 and n. 4, 110 S.Ct. 2301, 2306 and n. 4, 110 L.Ed.2d 112 (1990); and, Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 514, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967). However, an inventory has long been recognized as a valid exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment. See, Illinois v. Lafayette, 462 U.S. 640, 103 S.Ct. 2605, 77 L.Ed.2d 65 (1983); Evers v. State, 576 S.W.2d 46 (Tex.Cr.App.1978); and, Benavides v. State, 600 S.W.2d 809 (Tex.Cr.App.1980). There is no requirement that an officer obtain a search warrant to conduct an inventory if the inventory is part of a bona fide "routine administrative caretaking function" of the police. United States v. Skillern, 947 F.2d 1268, 1275 (5th Cir.1991); and, Evers v. State, 576 S.W.2d 46, 50 (Tex.Cr.App.1978). Inventories serve three purposes: (1) to protect the owner's property while it is in police custody; (2) to protect the police against claims or disputes over lost or stolen property; and, (3) to protect the police or public from potential danger. South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 96 S.Ct. 3092, 49 L.Ed.2d 1000 (1976). The Fourth Amendment requires only that an inventory not be a "ruse for a general rummaging in order to discover incriminating evidence." Florida v. Wells, 495 U.S. 1, 110 S.Ct. 1632, 109 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990); United States v. Walker, 931 F.2d 1066, 1068 (5th Cir.1991). To prevent inventories from becoming a general rummaging, the Supreme Court encourages " '[a] single familiar standard ... to guide police officers, who have only limited time and expertise to reflect on and balance the social and individual interests involved in the specific circumstances they confront.' " Lafayette, 462 U.S. at 648, 103 S.Ct. at 2610-11 (quoting New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 458, 101 S.Ct. 2860, 2863, 69 L.Ed.2d 768 (1981)). "The individual police officer must not be allowed so much latitude that inventory searches are turned into 'a purposeful and general means of discovering crime.' " Wells, 495 U.S. at 4, 110 S.Ct. at 1635 (quoting, Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367, 376, 107 S.Ct. 738, 744, 93 L.Ed.2d 739 (1987, Blackman, J., concurring)). Thus, inventories conducted pursuant to an established departmental policy have generally been constitutional. Opperman, supra.

In Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367, 107 S.Ct. 738, 93 L.Ed.2d 739 (1987), the defendant was arrested for driving while intoxicated. During an inventory of Bertine's vehicle, officers opened a closed backpack. Within the backpack,

... the officer observed a nylon bag containing metal canisters. Opening the canisters, the officer discovered they contained

cocaine, methaqualone tablets, cocaine paraphernalia and $700 in cash. In an outside zippered pouch of the backpack, he also found $210 in cash in a sealed envelope

Id., 479 U.S. at 369, 107 S.Ct. at 740. Bertine moved to suppress the evidence discovered during the inventory of his backpack. The Supreme Court found the inventories of the backpack and closed containers were reasonable under the Fourth Amendment:

In the present case ... there was no showing that the police, who were following standardized procedures, acted in bad faith or for the sole purpose of investigation ... [T]he police were potentially responsible for the property taken into their custody. By securing the property, the police protected the property from unauthorized interference. Knowledge of the precise nature of the property helped guard against claims of theft, vandalism or negligence. Such knowledge also helped to avert any danger to police or others that may have been posed by the property.

Id., 479 U.S. at 372-373, 107 S.Ct. at 741-742. The Court specifically rejected Bertine's contention that other reasonable, less intrusive, alternatives were available to the officers, holding the Fourth Amendment does not require officers to resort to a less intrusive alternative. Id., 479 U.S. at 373-374, 107 S.Ct. at 742.

In Florida v. Wells, 495 U.S. 1, 110 S.Ct. 1632, 109 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990), Wells was arrested for driving while intoxicated and his vehicle was impounded. Officers received Wells' permission to open the trunk of the vehicle and the inventory of the vehicle revealed two marihuana cigarette butts in the ashtray and a locked suitcase in the trunk. Forcing the locks on the suitcase, officers discovered a garbage bag containing a considerable amount of marihuana. Id., 495 U.S. at 2, 110 S.Ct. at 1634.

Wells moved to suppress the marihuana found in the suitcase, contending its seizure violated the Fourth Amendment. The trial judge denied the motion and the Supreme Court of...

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