Rhodes v. State

• Decision Date: 30 April 1997
• Docket Number: No. 309-96,309-96
• Citation: 945 S.W.2d 115
• Parties: Bobby Cornelious RHODES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 115

945 S.W.2d 115

Bobby Cornelious RHODES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.

No. 309-96.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

April 30, 1997.

Terry M. Casey, Fort Worth, for appellant.

C. James Gibson, Assistant District Attorney, Fort Worth, Matthew Paul, Austin, for state.

OPINION ON APPELLANT'S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

MANSFIELD, Judge.

Appellant, Bobby Cornelius Rhodes, was found guilty by a Tarrant County jury of the offense of possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) with intent to deliver. See Tex. Health & Safety Code § 481.112. The jury assessed appellant's punishment at imprisonment for 99 years. The Second Court of Appeals affirmed appellant's conviction and sentence, holding appellant was not under arrest when he dropped the cocaine in the police officer's presence and therefore the cocaine was not inadmissible as the fruit of an illegal, warrantless arrest. Rhodes v. State, 913 S.W.2d 242 (Tex.App.-Ft. Worth 1995). We granted appellant's petition for discretionary review to determine whether the court of appeals erred in holding the trial court did not err in denying appellant's motion to suppress evidence based on the Fourth Amendment. See Tex.R.App.Proc. 200(c)(2). We will affirm.

At the hearing on his motion to suppress the cocaine, appellant argued that the cocaine was discovered only after he was illegally arrested. Appellant averred the arrest was illegal because the police officer (Sergeant McGuirk) never articulated facts or circumstances that gave him probable cause to make the arrest. Therefore, the cocaine should be suppressed as the "fruit of the poisonous tree." The trial court overruled appellant's motion, finding appellant's detention as a valid warrantless arrest based on probable cause.

During the evening of April 20, 1994, Fort Worth Police Sergeant McGuirk and Officer Shunk, both of whom were assigned to the gang task force patrol, were on patrol on the east side of Fort Worth. About 11:00 PM, they observed a 1983 Oldsmobile back through an intersection near the 4000 block of Fitzhugh Street. That part of Fort Worth was known as a high-crime area full of gang activity. Officer Shunk, who was driving the patrol car, turned on his overhead lights in order to stop the Oldsmobile for the traffic violation.

Instead of pulling over, the driver of the Oldsmobile sped off. During the chase, both officers testified, they observed the passenger door of the Oldsmobile open, and the passenger subsequently dropped a Crown Royal bag onto the street. Sergeant McGuirk testified they stopped briefly, picked up the bag and, without opening it to determine its contents, resumed the chase. Both officers testified Crown Royal bags are commonly used to carry drugs.

Eventually, the Oldsmobile stopped in a northbound lane of Donnelly Street. The driver exited the car and fled; Office Shunk pursued him on foot. Appellant, the passenger, remained in the car. Appellant identified himself to Sergeant McGuirk and told Sergeant McGuirk he did not know who the driver was. Sergeant McGuirk testified he was concerned about his safety and the safety of his partner, who was still in foot pursuit of the driver, so he handcuffed appellant and walked him to the patrol car. Officer Shunk testified it was standard procedure to handcuff an individual under circumstances like those then present--it was nighttime, lighting was poor, a chase was underway leaving the police officer alone with the individual, the suspicious activities which had taken place prior to that point in time--which would indicate that his safety would be best protected by employing his handcuffs.

Sergeant McGuirk testified at the suppression hearing he did not place appellant under arrest at that time, but cuffed him only "to investigate what was going on." He did state he could have placed appellant under arrest for littering based on his throwing the Crown Royal bag onto the street, but elected not to do so. He testified further he observed appellant dropping a clear plastic bag to the ground as they walked to the patrol car. He subsequently picked up the bag, which contained several smaller bags that contained what appeared to be crack cocaine. Sergeant McGuirk testified he then placed appellant under arrest for possession of a controlled substance. ¹ A subsequent search of appellant at the jail uncovered another bag in his pocket which contained a white residue.

The Fourth Amendment does not forbid "all searches and seizures, but unreasonable searches and seizures." Elkins v. United States, 364 U.S. 206, 222, 80 S.Ct. 1437, 1446, 4 L.Ed.2d 1669 (1960). The Supreme Court has held police officers may stop and briefly detain persons reasonably suspected of criminal activity even if probable cause to arrest is not then present. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 22, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1880, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). This Court has held that passengers in an automobile are subject to temporary investigative detentions in the same manner as pedestrians. Gearing v. State, 685 S.W.2d 326, 328 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (op. on reh'g.). See also, Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972).

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that police officers may ask passengers to exit a vehicle after the officers have stopped the car in order to protect the officers. Ruvalcaba v. Los Angeles, Ca., 64 F.3d 1323 (9th Cir.1995). The court, in effect, found asking the passengers to exit the vehicle was a minimal intrusion on their privacy interests and this intrusion was outweighed by the officers' reasonable concern for their safety. In Ruvalcaba, as in the present case, it was the driver, not the passengers, who acted in a threatening manner (by fleeing) or was known to be dangerous.

Professor LaFave has written:

The correct view, then, is that an otherwise valid stop is not inevitably rendered unreasonable merely because the suspect's car was boxed in by police cars in order to prevent it from being moved. Likewise, it cannot be said that whenever police draw weapons the resulting seizure must be deemed an arrest rather than a stop and thus may be upheld only if full probable cause was then present. The courts have rather consistently upheld such police conduct when the circumstances (e.g. suspicion that the occupants of a car are the persons who just committed an armed robbery) indicated that it was a reasonable precaution for the prevention and safety of the investigating officers. Similarly, handcuffing of the suspect is not ordinarily proper, but yet may be resorted to in special circumstances, such as when necessary to thwart the suspect's attempt "to frustrate further inquiry."

3 LaFave, Search and Seizure, Sec. 9.2(d), 364 (1987). See also, 4 LaFave, Search and Seizure, Sec. 9.2(d), 36-38 (1996).

Thus, officers may use such force as is reasonably necessary to effect the goal of the stop: investigation, maintenance of the status quo, or officer safety. United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989); United States v. Weaver, 8 F.3d 1240 (7th Cir.1993); Ruvalcaba, supra; Holladay v. State, 805 S.W.2d 464 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). We have held that we will follow the federal Terry standard with respect to temporary investigative stops and have found no reason to employ a more stringent standard under the Texas Constitution with respect to such stops. Davis v. State, 829 S.W.2d 218 (Tex.Crim.App.1992).

At the suppression hearing, Sergeant McGuirk testified he was not arresting appellant when he handcuffed him. The officer's testimony is a factor to be considered, along with the other facts and circumstances of the detention, in determining whether an arrest has taken place. Amores v. State, 816 S.W.2d 407, 412 (Tex.Crim.App.1991).

Sergeant McGuirk also testified he placed handcuffs on appellant primarily out of concern for his safety, based on the circumstances: it was dark; the area was a high-crime location; the officers had just concluded a car chase which was initiated due to commission of a traffic violation and during which a bag was dropped from the car; and, his partner was chasing the driver, leaving Sergeant McGuirk alone with the suspect. In Mays v. State, 726 S.W.2d 937 (Tex.Crim.App.1986), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1079, 108 S.Ct. 1059, 98 L.Ed.2d 1020 (1988), we held that an officer's conduct in handcuffing two men did not amount to an arrest and was reasonable under the circumstances as a temporary investigative detention. In Mays, a lone police officer arrived at the scene of a possible burglary. He observed two men in front of the door. The officer informed the two men he would have to frisk them, which he subsequently did. He then handcuffed them. The officer testified he handcuffed them for his own protection, "due to the nature of the call and the way they were acting scared like maybe they had been caught at something, and I was alone, and two of them, and they was [sic] both bigger than I was." Mays, supra, at 942. We held that the officer's actions were reasonable and justified under the circumstances, as the facts demonstrated reasonable suspicion rapidly escalating to probable cause for an arrest. Mays, supra, at 944. ²

The court of appeals in the present case properly found erroneous appellant's assertion that there is a bright-line test providing that mere handcuffing is always the equivalent of an arrest. "Much as a 'bright-line rule' would be desirable, in evaluating whether an investigative detention is unreasonable, common sense and ordinary human experience must govern over rigid criteria." Rhodes, 913 S.W.2d at 248, citing United States v. Sharpe, 470 U.S. 675, 105 S.Ct. 1568, 84 L.Ed.2d 605 (1985).

The court of appeals, relying on other cases decided by the Supreme Court, found that the test of reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment is not capable of precise definition or mechanical definition. "Reasonableness" must be judged from the...