Chivers v. State, 44798
| Decision Date | 24 May 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 44798,44798 |
| Parties | Charles Edward CHIVERS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Dan J. Anderson, Richardson, for appellant.
Henry Wade, Dist. Atty. and James B. Scott, Asst. Dist. Atty., Dallas, and Jim D. Vollers, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
This is an appeal from a conviction for rape. Appellant was found guilty by a jury, and his punishment was assessed by the court at confinement for life.
In his brief, appellant raises two grounds of error. In his first ground of error, he complains of the admission into evidence of (1) a knife which was taken from his person as a result of a search incident to his arrest, (2) two items of clothing which were taken from appellant's home as a result of an oral statement made by him to police officers while in custody, and (3) a written statement signed by appellant while in custody. It is appellant's contention that all three were inadmissible as being the fruits of an illegal arrest. Appellant does not challenge the voluntary nature of the oral statement, but the voluntary nature of the written statement is challenged in his second ground of error.
The admissibility of the clothing which was located as a result of appellant's oral statement and the admissibility of his written statement is not dependent upon the legality of his arrest but rather, is dependent upon the voluntary nature of the oral and written statements. The admissibility of the knife, however, is dependent upon the validity of the arrest because it was seized as a result of a search incident to arrest. Therefore, the legality of the arrest must be determined.
Appellant contends that his arrest was illegal because it was not made pursuant to an arrest warrant and because it did not fall within one of the statutory exceptions to the warrant requirement.
The evidence reflects that the complaining witness was raped in her mobile home by a Negro male at approximately 10:00 a.m. on January 27, 1970. After the man left the home, the police were called, but were unable to locate the man. At approximately 10:30 a.m. on the following day, the complaining witness again saw the man who had raped her at the door of her mobile home. The police and Mr. Keenan, husband of the complaining witness who was at work, were called. Mr. Keenan immediately left for his home, arriving there before the police arrived. Upon his arrival, he saw a Negro male standing in a washateria which was located near his home, looking in the direction of the home. Keenan recognized the man as matching the description of the rapist given to him by his wife on the day before. Keenan gave chase, but was unable to catch the man. The police then arrived, and Keenan gave a description of the man to the officer who arrived, who was the same officer that answered the call the previous day. The outstanding characteristic contained in Keenan's description was that the man had no upper teeth in the front of his mouth and had a 'fuzzy looking moustache.'
The arresting officer testified that when he arrived at the scene on the 28th, he was told by Keenan that a Negro male had been watching his house. Based on the description given to him by Keenan, the officer concluded that the man was the rapist. The officer then drove around in the neighborhood, looking for the man who fled. During the course of the search, and after approximately one hour, the officer observed appellant walking with a woman on a city street. 1 Recognizing appellant as the man described by Keenan, the officer arrested him, and recovered the knife in question as a result of a search of appellant's person.
Under the circumstances, the arrest without warrant was authorized by Art. 14.04, Vernon's Ann.C.C.P. The arresting officer had reason to believe that a felony had occurred, he being the officer who went to the scene of the crime on the day it occurred. 2 In light of appellant's flight from Keenan, the officer had good reason to believe that appellant was about to escape. Houston v. State,...
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...facts at the hearing, was free to disbelieve defense testimony. Gutierrez v. State, 502 S.W.2d 746, (Tex.Cr.App.1971); Chivers v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 481 S.W.2d 125. There was sufficient evidence for the court to conclude that the statutory and the Miranda type warnings were adequately and ......
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