Brooks v. State

• Decision Date: 27 March 1986
• Docket Number: No. 01-85-0249-CR,01-85-0249-CR
• Citation: 707 S.W.2d 703
• Parties: Kenneth Allen BROOKS, Appellant, v. STATE of Texas, Appellee. (1st Dist.)
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 703

707 S.W.2d 703

Kenneth Allen BROOKS, Appellant, v. STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 01-85-0249-CR.

Court of Appeals of Texas Houston (1st Dist.).

March 27, 1986.

Larry D. Dowell, Houston, for appellant.

John B. Holmes, Jr., Harris Co. Dist. Atty., William J. Delmore, III and Elaine Bratton, Harris Co. Asst. Dist. Attys., Houston, for appellee.

Before EVANS, C.J., and WARREN and JACK SMITH, JJ.

OPINION

JACK SMITH, Justice.

A jury found appellant guilty of aggravated robbery and assessed punishment at five years confinement and a $2,000 fine.

On the morning of June 7, 1984, Richard On, an employee at a liquor store located next door to Dry Clean, U.S.A., observed appellant near the cleaning establishment. On became suspicious and went to check on Tommie Ramirez, an employee of Dry Clean, U.S.A. As On was entering the cleaners, appellant was exiting. Ramirez told On that she had just been robbed. On ran after appellant to the end of the shopping strip, where he observed one car only, a mid-seventies white on blue Cordoba, leaving the premises at a fast rate of speed. On, observing only one person in the car, did not see appellant get into the car. On also did not obtain the license number.

On and Ramirez immediately contacted the constable's office and provided a description of appellant, his clothing, and the vehicle. Ramirez described appellant as having a mustache, as weighing between 175 and 185 pounds, and as being between 5'6"' and 5'9"' tall. Ramirez testified that he was wearing blue jeans, a black or dark blue baseball cap with silver above the visor, and a tan or beige button-down, long-sleeved shirt. Under the shirt he wore a T-shirt with blue or black around the collar. Ramirez also identified the gun as a small caliber snubnose hand revolver that had a brown handle and dark blue barrel. On described appellant as having a mustache, and as wearing a black cap with a design, and a white sweater, or T-shirt, with a blue stripe. On provided the constables with the description of the car.

Deputies Black and Gregory were within a mile of the cleaning establishment when they received a dispatch regarding the robbery. The dispatch identified the vehicle as a white over blue Cordoba, containing two white males, traveling east from the location of the robbery. A physical description of one occupant only was given.

Approximately four minutes later, the officers observed appellant and co-defendant Campbell in a white over blue Cordoba, traveling east away from the scene. After following the vehicle for a quarter of a mile, the deputies stopped the vehicle. Campbell was driving and did not have a driver's license. Appellant was seated in the passenger's seat. The deputies observed a black baseball cap and the butt of a revolver lying between appellant's legs underneath the front seat on the floorboard. Both men were arrested for possession of a firearm. Ninety dollars was found on appellant, and a box of .32 caliber ammunition was also recovered. At the time of the arrest, appellant was wearing a blue and white striped T-shirt. A long-sleeved, button-down shirt was found in a trash can behind the shopping center at a car wash.

Following the arrest, the officers transported the men and the vehicle back to the robbery scene. On identified the vehicle, and both Ramirez and On positively identified appellant as the robber, though Ramirez failed to identify appellant until after he put on the cap. Ramirez also later identified the shirt found in the trash can.

Prior to trial, a hearing was conducted on appellant's motion to suppress in which appellant sought to suppress the evidence seized from the vehicle, including the cap, gun, and the $90.00 found in his pocket. The court overruled this motion.

Trial was to a jury, which found both defendants guilty of aggravated robbery. Appellant was sentenced to five years confinement and a $2,000 fine; Campbell, who was sentenced to six years confinement, probated, and a fine of $2,000, is not a party to this appeal.

In his first ground of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in failing to suppress the evidence obtained when the deputies arrested appellant because the deputies did not have probable cause to stop the vehicle.

Tex.Code Crim.P.Ann. art. 14.04 (Vernon 1985) provides:

Where it is shown by satisfactory proof to a peace officer, upon the representation of a credible person, that a felony has been committed, and that the offender is about to escape, so that there is no time to procure a warrant, such peace officer may, without warrant, pursue and arrest the accused.

What must be "shown by satisfactory proof" is the legal equivalent of constitutional probable cause. Earley v. State, 635 S.W.2d 528 (Tex.Crim.App.1982); Yates v. State, 677 S.W.2d 215 (Tex.App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 1984, no pet.).

Probable cause to arrest or search exists when the facts and circumstances within the knowledge of the arresting officer, and of which he has reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient to warrant a reasonable and prudent man in believing that a particular person has committed or is committing a crime. Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 85 S.Ct. 223, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964); Hawkins v. State, 660 S.W.2d 65, 70 (Tex.Crim.App.1983); Yates v. State, 677 S.W.2d at 218. Police broadcasts that are based upon probable cause and that report a felony and a description of the perpetrator satisfy the requirements for a warrantless arrest pursuant to article 14.04. Law v. State, 574 S.W.2d 82, 84 (Tex.Crim.App.1978). The test of probable cause is what information is known to the officer who requests that another officer effect an arrest. Id. The officer may consider information that is furnished by a private citizen, worthy of belief, whose information is reliable and whose only contact with the police or criminal activity resulted from having witnessed the criminal act. Yates v. State, 677 S.W.2d at 218.

Appellant argues that the instant case is similar to Glass v. State, 681 S.W.2d 599 (Tex.Crim.App.1984) in which the court held that the arresting officer lacked probable cause to arrest the appellant, although the officer had received a police dispatch that identified the suspects' vehicles by color as well as the site of the alleged...