Jones v. State, 27929
| Decision Date | 03 October 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 27929,27929 |
| Parties | Tom JONES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
J. P. Moseley, Dallas, for appellant.
Henry Wade, Dist. Atty., Charles S. Potts, Asst. Dist. Atty., Dallas, Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
The offense is driving while intoxicated; the punishment, 30 days in jail and a fine of $50.
The sole question presented for review is the legality of the arrest of the appellant and the admissibility of the evidence of those who observed him following the arrest.
The arrest was made by an agent of the Treasury Department of the United States Government. He was not acting in his official capacity or in connection with his employment. He had no warrant authorizing appellant's arrest.
Attracted by the manner in which appellant was driving his automobile, the arresting party decided to arrest him, in the belief that he was in no condition to drive the car. All the evidence showing appellant's intoxication at the time of the arrest was the result of and by reason of the arrest.
It is insisted that the arrest was illegal.
This identical contention was overruled in McEathron v. State, No. 27,739, Tex.Cr.App., 294 S.W.2d 822.
Finding no reversible error, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
The arresting party was not a peace officer under the laws of this state. His act, then, in effecting appellant's arrest was that of a private citizen.
In my opinion, the arrest of appellant was without authority of law and in open violation of the constitutional guarantee, both state and federal, prohibiting unlawful arrests.
What I said in the dissenting opinion in McEathron v. State, No. 27,739, Tex.Cr.App., 294 S.W.2d 822, applies here.
I respectfully dissent to the affirmance of this case.
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State v. Hodgson
...a warrant by either a peace officer or a private citizen. McEathron v. State, 163 Tex.Cr.R. 619, 294 S.W.2d 822; Jones v. State, 163 Tex.Cr.R. 618, 294 S.W.2d 828; Commonwealth v. Gorman, 288 Mass. 294, 192 N.E. 618, 96 A.L.R. 977; City of Troy v. Cummins, 107 Ohio App. 318, 159 N.E.2d 239;......