State v. Garcia
| Decision Date | 24 February 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 08-15-00264-CR,08-15-00264-CR |
| Parties | THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellant, v. JOEL GARCIA, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Appeal from 210th District Court of El Paso County, Texas
(TC # 20150D00100)
This case arises out of a tragic car accident that occurred on or about December 24, 2014. Joel Garcia was indicted for three counts of intoxication manslaughter, in which he was alleged to have caused the deaths of Joshua Deal (Count I), Isaiah Deal (Count II), and Shannon Del Rio (Count III), and one count of possession of cocaine in an amount of less than one gram (Count IV). Garcia filed a pretrial motion to suppress the results of his blood alcohol test, asserting that his blood was drawn "without a search warrant, and without valid consent or other justification under the law." The trial court held several hearings and ultimately granted Garcia's motion to suppress, concluding that the blood taken from Garcia was procured without a warrant, and without any exigent circumstances excusing a warrant's absence. The State now appeals. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand.
FACTUAL SUMMARY
The Accident
On December 24, 2014, El Paso Police Officer Steven Torres arrived between 1:52 a.m. and 1:55 a.m. on the scene of a serious car accident at the intersection of Joe Battle Boulevard and Vista Del Sol Drive. Torres described the scene as "hectic" and "chaotic" and noted that one vehicle was completely engulfed in flames, while the other vehicle had flames coming from inside of the car. There were several bystanders, and Torres testified that his initial duties involved controlling the crowd, separating witnesses, and obtaining vehicle information. Officer Andres Rodriguez arrived at 1:52 a.m. and similarly described the scene as hectic -- officers were trying to control traffic, two cars were on fire, and people were walking around the entire area. Officer Gabaldon was walking with Garcia who was already in handcuffs and Gabaldon advised Rodriguez that Garcia was the driver. At that point in time, Rodriguez did not yet know who had caused the crash or exactly how many people were involved in the accident. Rodriguez described Garcia as having bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and because he had a strong odor of alcohol about him, Rodriguez believed he was intoxicated. When Rodriguez asked Gabaldon why Garcia was handcuffed, Gabaldon indicated that Garcia might have tried to flee the scene. Rodriguez placed Garcia in the back of his patrol car and asked him what had happened. Garcia, who seemed dazed, told Rodriguez a story that did not make sense, but established that he was the driver of the Camaro. Later, Garcia told Rodriguez that he was not the driver. Officer Keisel confirmed that Garcia was indeed the driver, and relayed that officers thought he might have run a red light. A witness at the scene named Renteria said she saw another passenger exit the Camaro, and that Garcia was the driver. When Rodriguez confronted Garcia with this information from the eyewitness, Garcia again denied driving and even denied that there hadbeen an accident. Garcia admitted to Rodriguez that he "had about three or four beers or drinks . . . ." The dash-cam video recording of this discussion between Rodriguez and Garcia reflects that Rodriguez Mirandized Garcia at approximately 2:20 a.m. Rodriguez initially intended to take Garcia to the Pebble Hills Regional Command for further questioning, but by this time, EMS approached his patrol car and indicated that Garcia would be transported to Del Sol Medical Center due to the nature and severity of the accident. Because Garcia already refused to provide a blood specimen at the scene, Rodriguez knew he needed a search warrant to obtain Garcia's blood. Officers selected Torres to ride with Garcia to the hospital. Torres informed Rodriguez that he had never requested a blood draw before, so Rodriguez told him he would meet him at the hospital after he procured a search warrant. Rodriguez further explained that because of his training and experience as a DWI and drug recognition officer and studying what types of drugs might affect blood alcohol concentration (BAC), intravenous (IV) solution dilutes BAC and that some medications could either increase or decrease BAC. Consequently, Rodriguez told Torres to observe Garcia closely and notify him if hospital personnel administered any IV solutions or medications to Garcia. Rodriguez then left the scene at 2:40 a.m. to begin drafting a search warrant. Telephone records indicated Rodriguez called Officer Wilkinson at 2:40 a.m. and again at 2:46 a.m. because he wanted help with the warrant, but Officer Wilkinson was assisting with another arrest. It took Rodriguez ten to twelve minutes to reach the command station. He acknowledged that Pebble Hills was not the closest station, but he chose it because of its proximity to the hospital. Rodriguez arrived at 2:53 a.m. and verified Garcia's identification. He learned that one of the victims had already died in transit to the hospital, and that there were two other passengers in the vehicle that Garcia allegedly struck. He had no information on the passenger riding with Garcia in the Camaro. He called his sergeantand Officer Candia for more information on the involved vehicles, the passenger who died in transit, and any possible witnesses. Rodriguez then attempted to write out sufficient facts, based on his own recollection along with information from other investigating officers, to satisfy the requirements that probable cause existed so that a magistrate would sign both an arrest and search warrant for Garcia. He had not yet ascertained which magistrate was on duty. Rodriguez was familiar with the requirements for a blood draw and the procedure for obtaining a search warrant from the magistrate. At the time of the accident, Rodriguez had already prepared between fifty and sixty search warrants, mostly for routine DWIs. Rodriguez described the general process of preparing a search warrant, and explained that it routinely took him anywhere from thirty to forty-five minutes to draft one. He usually prepared an arrest warrant to accompany the search warrant because the magistrate judges required him to do so. After drafting a warrant, Rodriguez would take it downtown where the magistrates were located, and would try to expedite the process by informing the on-call magistrate that he needed a warrant. According to Rodriguez, El Paso County did not have any procedures in place that allowed a warrant to be sent by fax or email. While warrants could be obtained by phone, Rodriguez did not believe any of the magistrates would recognize his voice. He estimated that the process of having a magistrate review and sign a warrant took approximately twenty to thirty minutes. The trial court then elicited testimony from Rodriguez indicating that at the time he arrived at the police station, he possessed facts routinely used for blood draw search warrants for simple DWI cases. Rodriguez revealed that Garcia was already in their system because of a previous DWI arrest. El Paso Fire Department paramedic Jose Luis Cavazos was also dispatched to the intersection of Joe Battle and Vista Del Sol. He arrived at 2:32 a.m. where he observed several other units already at the scene. Cavazos was directed to examine Garcia, who was alreadyhandcuffed in a police car. Cavazos noticed that Garcia seemed dazed, his eyes were bloodshot and Cavazos also detected a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. Adrian Palomo, a then-paramedic student, accompanied Cavazos. Garcia's only complaint was that he felt pain in his right foot. Garcia told Cavazos he had consumed a couple of beers and denied that he was the driver of the vehicle. While Cavazos did not see any obvious life-threatening injuries during his initial external examination of Garcia, he ordinarily exercised precaution and assumed that a patient may also have internal injuries that would not be revealed until further diagnostic testing at a hospital. When Garcia told Cavazos that he wanted to be transported to the hospital, Cavazos and Palomo placed him on a stretcher with a C-collar around his neck to immobilize him and prevent further injury. Because of the severity of the crash, the extensive damage to the vehicles, and the potential for Garcia to have sustained life-threatening injuries, he was classified as a Level II trauma patient such that paramedics were required to transport him to a hospital with a trauma center. Level II trauma patients also typically receive advanced life support care on the way to the hospital, including an IV, an EKG, and possibly medication if the patient suffers from pain so severe that it compromises his vital signs. Cavazos, Palomo, and Torres left for the trauma center at Del Sol Medical Center at approximately 2:46 a.m. During transit, Garcia refused to allow Palomo to treat him with an IV or cardiac monitor, but permitted him to take his vital signs, including his pulse and blood pressure, and perform a general head-to-toe assessment for injuries.
The Hospital
At 3:06 a.m., Garcia was admitted to the emergency room at Del Sol for treatment. Elsie Andrade was one of the nurses on the trauma team. She confirmed that the hospital received Garcia as a Level II trauma patient, and recalled Garcia "babbling" about his Camaro when hearrived, and stating that he said he had done nothing wrong. Andrade explained that once the hospital receives a Level II trauma patient, the process moves very quickly. While a patient is moved onto a bed, the emergency medicine physician assesses the patient and medical personnel connect the patient to machines to monitor vital signs.
When Garcia entered the ER, Andrade was already near the curtain by his bed, waiting with the equipment to begin the IV process. Specifically, she had a metal tray which included an Angiocath (the needle used to administer the IV), a saline...
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