Thomas Lloyd Taunton v. State ( 2015 )

In The
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
No. 06-14-00160-CR
THOMAS LLOYD TAUNTON, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 336th District Court
Fannin County, Texas
Trial Court No. CR-13-24755
Before Morriss, C.J., Moseley and Burgess, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Burgess
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Thomas Lloyd Taunton was convicted by a jury of the capital murder of his stepfather,
Harold Harpst, see TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.03(a)(7)(A) (West Supp. 2014), and of the murder
of his mother, Willie Sue Harpst, see TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.02(b) (West 2011). Taunton
was convicted of both crimes, was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole and fined
$10,000.00 for the capital murder of Harold, and was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder
of Willie Sue. Taunton appeals both convictions. Taunton has filed a single consolidated brief in
both cases raising a single appellate issue.
Taunton appeals from his conviction for the capital murder of Harold under our cause
number 06-14-00159-CR. Here, Taunton appeals from his conviction for the murder of Willie
Sue. Specifically, Taunton claims that the affidavits submitted by law enforcement officers in
support of their applications for warrants authorizing searches of his truck and trailer and of a
rental car he was driving were insufficient under the Fourth Amendment to support issuance of the
warrants. Consequently, he contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the
evidence seized as a result of those invalid searches.
We addressed this issue in detail in our opinion of this date in Taunton’s appeal in cause
number 06-14-00159-CR. For the reasons stated therein, we likewise conclude that Taunton has
not shown error in this case.
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We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
Ralph K. Burgess
Justice
Date Submitted: June 3, 2015
Date Decided: June 19, 2015
Do Not Publish
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