Hogan v. State
| Decision Date | 14 April 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 61069,No. 3,61069,3 |
| Citation | 631 S.W.2d 159 |
| Parties | Ruben Nelson HOGAN, Jr., Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Craig W. Uhran, Houston, on appeal only, for appellant.
Carol S. Vance, Dist. Atty., Calvin A. Hartmann and Matt Leeper, Asst. Dist. Attys., Houston, Robert Huttash, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
Before ONION, P. J., and DALLY and McCORMICK, JJ.
This is an appeal from a conviction for carrying a handgun on a licensed premises. Appellant's punishment was enhanced by a prior conviction and he was sentenced to seventeen years in the Texas Department of Corrections and an $8,000 fine.
The appellant complains on appeal that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence seized during his illegal arrest. We agree.
The record shows that on January 14, 1978, Officer Best and Officer Clendenan received a call regarding a robbery. They proceeded to the home of the complaining witness, David Bonner, arriving around 3:45 p.m., and found him standing in his front yard, waving a pistol. Bonner was very drunk and upset, and the officers disarmed him. Bonner related to the officers that earlier in the day appellant had beat him up and robbed him in front of the House of Joy Lounge. Bonner gave the officers the name and a physical description of appellant. The police officers radioed a report on the case and, a little while later, received a call from Officer Dan Silva, who informed them that he had investigated a robbery case a month earlier in which appellant was the suspect. 1 The officers arrested the complaining witness, David Bonner, for public intoxication and put him in their patrol car to transport him to jail. On the way to the jail, they stopped at the House of Joy Lounge. When they arrived, the owner of the lounge was locking up. The owner told them that appellant had been there earlier but had left. The officers returned to their car and transported David Bonner to jail. After booking Bonner, the officers testified that they stopped for a thirty minute dinner break. At approximately 6:30, the officers returned to the House of Joy Lounge. When they entered the lounge, they asked if Ruben Hogan was present. When no one answered, the officers told the patrons to produce their ID's. At this point the owner of the lounge pointed out the appellant.
Officer Best testified at the hearing on appellant's motion to suppress that at that point he walked over to appellant, grabbed appellant's left arm and escorted him outside. Officer Best testified that at no time did he feel appellant was about to flee. When they reached the parking lot, Officer Best told appellant to raise his hands and told him he was under arrest for robbery investigation. Officer Best then searched appellant and found the pistol which is the subject of this case. There is no dispute that the arrest was made without a warrant. Officer Best testified at the hearing on appellant's motion to suppress that he felt that, since appellant was a suspect in two cases, there was sufficient probable cause to arrest appellant, and he did not feel he needed an arrest warrant. Officer Clendenan testified at the hearing on appellant's motion to suppress that they did not get a warrant from a justice of the peace because:
"Well, our complainant was intoxicated and I didn't know if they would draw up a warrant considering how intoxicated he was."
At trial, Officer Clendenan testified that he and Officer Best did not try and get an arrest warrant because they did not think they would find Mr. Hogan at the lounge. They were just checking to see if the lounge owner had seen him.
The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure contains several articles which control warrantless arrests. Article 14.01(b), V.A.C.C.P., provides that a peace officer may arrest an offender without a warrant for any offense committed in his presence or within his view. There is nothing in the record to suggest that the warrantless arrest in this case was based on this statutory provision. The officers had not seen appellant commit any crime before they arrested him. Article 14.02, V.A.C.C.P., allows a peace officer to make a warrantless arrest when a felony or breach of the peace has been committed in the presence or within the view of a magistrate, and the magistrate orders the arrest of the offender. Clearly that provision is not applicable to the case at bar. Article 14.03(a), V.A.C.C.P., provides that an officer may make a warrantless arrest of a person found in a suspicious place and under circumstances which reasonably show that such person has been guilty of a felony or breach of the peace or is threatening or is about to commit an offense. There is nothing suspicious about appellant being found in the House of Joy Lounge. Thus, this provision does not seem to justify appellant's warrantless arrest. Article 14.04, V.A.C.C.P., concerns warrantless arrests where a felony has been committed and the offender is about to escape:
"Where it is shown by...
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Amores v. State
...This Court has characterized an individual's detention as a warrantless arrest in a variety of factual situations. Hogan v. State, 631 S.W.2d 159 (Tex.Cr.App.1982) (Defendant was arrested without warrant, when officers grabbed his left arm and "escorted him outside." Once outside, defendant......
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...of the time before appellant's blood was drawn, or why it was impractical to obtain a warrant during that time. Cf. Hogan v. State, 631 S.W.2d 159, 161 (Tex.Crim.App.1982) (holding lapse of time showed there were no exigent circumstances when officers made no attempt to find out if a justic......
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...on Pearson v. State, 657 S.W.2d 120 (Tex.Crim.App.1983); Randall v. State, 656 S.W.2d 487, 490 (Tex.Crim.App.1983); Hogan v. State, 631 S.W.2d 159 (Tex.Crim.App.1982); Hardison v. State, 597 S.W.2d 355 (Tex.Crim.App.1980); Honeycutt v. State, 499 S.W.2d 662 (Tex.Crim.App.1973); Truitt v. St......
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Farmah v. State, s. 01-89-00364-C
...to procure a warrant. Before making an arrest, if at all possible, a police officer should obtain an arrest warrant. Hogan v. State, 631 S.W.2d 159, 161 (Tex.Crim.App.1982). Under article 14.04, which permits the police to make a warrantless arrest, the State must establish both probable ca......