Willeford v. State, 42785
| Decision Date | 29 April 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 42785,42785 |
| Citation | 454 S.W.2d 745 |
| Parties | Archie W. WILLEFORD, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Maurice U. Westerfield, Houston, for appellant.
Carol S. Vance, Dist. Atty., Phyllis Bell and Ted Hirtz, Asst. Dist. Attys., Houston, and Jim D. Vollers, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
The conviction is for the possession of heroin; two prior Texas convictions, for the possession of heroin and for the possession of narcotics paraphernalia, were alleged under Article 725b, Vernon's Ann.P.C.; after a verdict of guilty by the jury, the court assessed the punishment at life.
Houston narcotics officers went to an apartment building and set up a surveillance and observed the apartment where Tommy Hawkins resided for some six hours. From another apartment they observed Willeford, the appellant, and Hawkins enter and leave the apartment at different times. Each man would leave the apartment and go to a shed-like carport and would remain there behind a trailer for approximately one minute each time and then return to the apartment.
At approximately seven o'clock in the evening, Officer Bell went to the area where appellant and Hawkins had been visiting and found two syringes wrapped in paper and a penny matchbox with two capsules containing heroin on a brace or piece of angle iron underneath the trailer. The officers then marked the articles and returned them to the brace and went to their observation points to continue the surveillance. Shortly thereafter they saw Willeford come out of the apartment, go to the trailer and return before they could approach him. Then Hawkins came out, went behind the trailer and was arrested on his way back. The officers found one of the previously marked packages with the syringes in Hawkins' pocket. As appellant stepped out of the apartment, he was arrested, and the officers found the previously initialed matchbox which contained the two capsules of heroin in his pocket.
Appellant contends in the second ground of error that the heroin was found as the result of an illegal search of a home without a warrant and testimony of the officer and the heroin should not have been admitted into evidence.
The evidence shows that there were some fifteen to twenty separate apartments. The trailer, the ownership or control of which is not shown, was parked in a parking area for the apartments which was separated from the apartments by a brick wall and a 'regular little courtyard.' There was no showing that the place where the trailer was parked was assigned to the apartment occupied by Hawkins. It was not shown that there was a search of any property that appellant owned, possessed or had a right to use. Appellant has no standing to question the legality of the search....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Fuller v. State
...356 S.W.2d 932 (1962); Schepps v. State, 432 S.W.2d 926, 932 (Tex.Crim.App.1968) (opinion on original submission); Willeford v. State, 454 S.W.2d 745 (Tex.Crim.App.1970); Kay v. State, 489 S.W.2d 861 (Tex.Crim.App.1973); Janecka v. State, 739 S.W.2d 813, 830 As in the past, we do not interp......
-
Goodloe v. Parratt
...221 Kan. 157, 557 P.2d 1229, 1232-33 (1976) (specific statute has its own self-contained habitual criminal provision); Willeford v. State, 454 S.W.2d 745 (Tex.Cr.1970); Broome v. State, 440 P.2d 761 (Okl.Cr.1968).20 Resolution of the legislative intent issue is not clear-cut and it does not......
-
Holcomb v. State
...appellant had standing to question the legality of the search. Nielssen v. State, 456 S.W.2d 928 (Tex.Cr.App.1970); Willeford v. State, 454 S.W.2d 745 (Tex.Cr.App.1970). It is true that the record reflects that the search was directed against appellant's person, but nothing was found in his......
-
Kleasen v. State
...Thomas v. State, 493 S.W.2d 957 (Tex.Cr.App.1973); Holcomb v. State, 484 S.W.2d 929 (Tex.Cr.App.1972); Willeford v. State, 454 S.W.2d 745 (Tex.Cr.App.1970). Thus concluding that appellant has standing to contest the validity of the search and seizure, we now reach appellant's contentions th......