Persons, Marlo Donta ( 2015 )


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  •                                                ZIS-IS
    No.    06-14-00109-CR
    ORIGINAL
    PD-OR13-15
    In The Court of criminal Appeals of Texas
    Austin*   Texas
    RECBVPD|[\!
    C0U^O?nRiv;;iAL APPEALS
    MARLO DONTA PERSONS,
    OCT 02 2015
    APPELLANT
    v.
    THE    STATE    OF   TEXAS
    APPELLEE
    On    appeal     from     the     354th Judicial District Court of Hunt
    County,    Texas Cause No.       2937,1
    Honorable Richard A. Beacom, Judge Presiding
    APPELLANT'S
    PETITION    FOR    DTSCRETITIONARY REVIEW
    FILED IN
    COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
    CCT 0<>23i5
    Abel Acosta, Clerk                                                 Mario Persons 11939454
    Eastham Ohit
    2665 Prison *d »1
    Lovelady, Texas 75851
    Pro Se
    TABLE OF COWTENTS
    Table of Contents                                                     «2 Page
    Tdenty of Parties and counsel                                         *3
    Index of Authorities                                                 *4
    Statement Regarding Oral Argument                                    *5
    Statement of the case                                                «5
    Statement of Procedural History                                      n5
    Grounds for Review                                                   "6-7-3-Q
    Question for Review                                                  «6-7-R-9
    Appendix
    The Court of Appeals decision is in conflict with this courts decision
    in Madden V. State, 242 s.W. 3d 504 (Tex. Crim App 2007> Mills V. State,
    296 S-W. 3d 843 (Texas App. Austin 2009.
    Ground Two
    The    court   of   Appeals   decision   is in conflict with the Texas Rules of
    Appellate   Procectare   66.3   because it Resolves an issue not briefed by either
    party.
    IDENTITIES OF PARTIES AND COUNSEL
    Appellant:                                                Mario Donta Persons
    Defense Counsel at Trial:                                 Mr. Daniel J. O'Brien
    131 North Ludlow st.
    Talbott Tower, Suite 1210
    Dayton, OH 45402
    Mr. scott A. Cornuaud
    2611 Lee St.
    Greenville, Tx 75401
    Appellant's Attorney on Appeal:                           Mr. Elisha M. Ho11 is
    2608 Stonewall St.
    P.O. Box 1535
    Greenville, Tx 75403
    Appellee's Attorney on Appeal:                            Keli M. Aiken
    First Assistant District
    Attorney
    P.O.   Box 441
    4th Floor Hunt County
    Courthouse
    Greenville, Tx 75403
    Trial Judge                                               Hon.. Richard A. Beacom
    354th Judicial District Court
    2507 Lee St. 3rd Floor
    Greenville, Tx 75401
    3.
    INDEX OF aTTTHORITTES
    state case's
    Atkinson V. State, 
    923 S.W.2d 27
    . (Tex. Crim. App. 19961
    Madden V. State, 242 S.W., 3d.>504 (Tex. Crim. App. 20071   r(X<\^ L?-1
    Mendoza V. State, 
    88 S.W.3d 236
    (Tex. Crim. App. 20021      P(\«ye."^
    Mills V. State, 
    296 S.W.3d 843
    (Tex. App. Austin 20091       rdX c"Cp
    STATE STATUTES:
    V(k
    4.
    STATEMENT REQUESTING ORAL ARGUMENTS
    Mr. Persons Respectfully request oral argument's. He presents an important
    issue     which       this     court may have never dealt with in the past. Oral arguments will
    benefit     the court by careful explanation of the contours and history of Mr. Persons
    claim and to the facts of Mr. Persons Direct Appeal. The Court's decision may pos
    sibly     set     a    precedent which may affect every future state Court of Appeals review
    in a situation of this nature.
    STATEMENT OF THE CASE
    This is an appeal from the judgement and sentence in a criminal case in the
    354th District Court in Hunt County, Texas. The Appellant was indicted on October
    25,     2013    For    Possession       of   cocaine   in an amount of 400 grams or more, further,
    the grand         jury       found   that Appellant had used or exhibited a deadly weapon during
    the     commission        of    the offense. After entering a plea of Not Guilty, Appellant el
    ected to be            tried and sentenced by a jury. On June 5, 2014 the jury found Appel
    lant guilty           and assessed punishment at fifty-five (551 years in the Texas Depart
    ment of Criminal Justice—Institutional Division Appellant filed a notice of appeal
    on June 18,       2014.
    STATEMENT OF PROCEDURAL HISTORY
    The sixth District Court of §peals rendered its decision affirming the con
    viction and delivered its written opinion on June 2, 2015 a motion for rehearing
    was filed on June 17, 2015 and was OVER RULED on June 30, 2015.
    5.
    GROUNDS FOR REVIEW
    GROUND   ONE
    Where the distance between the vehicle petitioner was traveling in
    and the vehicle his vehicle was behind was a measurable distance in
    dispute which the trier of fact could resolve by viewing the police
    dash cam video, and where trial counsel requested that the jury charge
    include an instruction pursuant to Penal Code 38.23(A), did the
    trial court and the Court of Appeals invade the jury's province by
    resolving the dispute in justifying the denial of the instruction?
    REASON FOR GRANTING REVIEW
    The Court of Appeals]) decision is in conflict with this Court's
    decisions in Madden v. State, 
    292 S.W.3d 504
    (Tex.Crim.App. 2007)
    and Mills v. State, 
    296 S.W.3d 843
    (Tex.App^Austin 2009).
    ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES
    The Trooper testified that one of the reasons he performed a tra
    ffic stop of the vehicle petitioner was traveling in was because he
    observed petitioner's vehicle to close behind another vehicle.
    (RR Vol. 7, 45:8-10). The Trooper claimed the distance was less than
    150 feet and in violation of the Transportation Code. (RR Vol. 7,:
    46: 19-47:11). Petitioner's trial counsel raised the issue of a dis
    pute relevant to the actual distance of the car petitioner was in
    and the car in front of him. Trial counsel said that an instruction
    under Penal Code 38.^3 should be included in the jury charge because
    the measurable distance being disputed could be resolved with the
    jury's viewing of the Trooper's dash cam video of the cars. The trial court
    6.
    ruled that the video was not sufficient to resolve the proposed-dispute and
    denied the instruction (RRVol. 9, 41:19-241. On appeal, the court of appeals ..
    held     that       both     the    trial     court    and the court of appeals had their selves
    viewed     the       video    and      decided that the distance testified to by the trooper,
    was supported by the dash cam.video. It is petitioner's contention that neither
    the    trial        court    nor the court of appeals were authorized under 38.23 to re
    solve     the       dispute       of   the measurable distance and that it was the sole Pro
    vince of the trier of Fact, the Jury to resolve the dispute.
    According to the following Distance statue sec. (545.062) it does not
    use or state a measurable distance at all, it makes no reference to the 150
    feet The trooper testified to during trial on direct and cross-exam RR Vol
    7/34-186—RR            Vol 8/58-81. The trooper also testified that threw his training,
    his opinion is that we were following to close. RR7/121
    And     when       such    a   stop    is not based on objective criteria, the risk of
    arbitrary        and       abusive,     police       practies   exceeds torelable limits. Allowing
    a     police     officer's         opinion     to suffice in specific facts' stead eviscerates
    Terry's      reasonable           suspicion protection. Mere opinions are ineffective sub
    stitutes       for     specific, articulable fact's in a reasonable-suspicion analysis
    Futhermore, the officer's "following too close" conclusion did not constitute
    specific articulable facts to support a stop. And cross-examination did reveal
    that the officer's definition of "following too close" was not in fact a
    description of conduct proscribed by the statue in question! There fore the
    Jury was        left with a testimony from the officer that in fact was false, mis
    leading       and     Perjured.        The    code    of Criminal Procedure Article 38.23 state
    in pertinet part that : "In any case where the legal evidence raises an issue
    hereunder,       the Jury shall be instructed that if it believes, or has a reason
    able    doubt,        that    the      evidence      was obtained in violation of the Provisions
    of this Article, Then and in such event, the Jury shall disregard any such
    7.
    evidense        so obtained"           Tex.    Code   Crim. Proc. Ann. Art. 38.23 (al The terms
    of Art.         38.23    (al     are, mandatory        in nature and grant a statutory right to
    the     defendant.       Mendoza V.           State, 
    88 S.W.3d 236
    , 239 (Tex.Crim. App. 20021
    But     for this        right        to attach to a defendants case, there must be a factual
    dispute regarding              the    legality of the seizure or other act causing evidence
    to be obtained illega;;y. See 
    Madden, 242 S.W.3d at 513-14
    a cross-examiner's
    question do not              create      a conflict in the evidence, although the witness's
    answers        to   those       question mighf'l See also Mill v. State, 296, S.W. 3d 843
    (Tex.        App.   Austin      200^1     when such event exists, the .fudge must include in
    his final charge a 38.23 (al instruction
    The trial court's improper refusal                   to grant the Appellant's request
    for an Art. 38.23 (al Instruction is Reversible error.
    Sec. 545.062 following Distance
    (al     An operator shall,               if following another vehicle, maintain an assured
    clear distance between the two vehicles so that, considering the speed of
    the vehicles,           traffic,        and   the conditions of the highway, the operator can
    safely stop without colliding with                      the preceding vehicle or veering into
    another vehicle, object, or person on or near the highway.
    (bl     An operator of a truck or of a motor vehicle drawing another vehicle
    who     is    on    a roadway         outside a business or residential district and who is
    following another truck or motor vehicle drawing another vehicle shall, if
    conditions permit, leave sufficient space between the vehicle so that a vehicle
    passing       the operator can safely enter and occupy the space. This subsection
    does not Prohibit a truck or motor vehicle drawing another vehicle from pass
    ing another vehicle.
    (d An operator on a roadway outside a business or residential district driving
    in a caravan of other vehicles or motorcade shall allow sufficient space
    between       the operator and the vehicle preceding the operator so that another
    vehicle       can safely enter and occupy the space. This subsection does not apply
    to a funeral procession.
    GROUNDS FOR REVIEW
    GROUND   TWO
    Did the Court of Appeals err when it decided an issue that was nei
    ther argued by defense counsel or the State in the Appeal briefs?
    REASON FOR GRANTING REVIEW
    The Court of Appeals* decision is in conflict with the Texas Rules
    of Appellate Procedure because it resolves an issue not briefed by
    either party.
    ARGUMENTS AND AUTHORITIES
    The issue raised on appeal by appellate counsel was that the trial
    court ruled that the police dash cam video of the traffic stop was
    not sufficient to raise a dispute concerning measurable distances
    between Petitioner's vehicle and the vehicle he was accused of tail
    ing to closely. The Court of Appeals veered from that claim essenti
    ally deciding a different issue of whether the video showed whether
    Petitioner's vehicle was too closely tailing the vehicle ahead of
    his. This review decided an issue that was never raised or brierjed
    by either party and denied Petitioner a fair review of his appellate
    claims that were raised by his attorney and opposed by the State.
    Due to the Court of Appeals not responding to the specific allega
    tions, as raised in his appellant's brief, the Court made an erron
    eous legal conclusion relevant to the correct claims made by the
    Petitioner's appellate counsel and opposed by the State.
    9.
    Prayer For Relief
    Where     fore,    Premises    considered, Mario Donta Persons, respectfully asks the
    Court    to     grant this petition and in regard to Ground number one, The proper remedy
    is    to remand for a new trial. There fore, the appellant respectfully asks the Court
    to    remand    Ground     number     two   The   Proper Remedy is the same as number one remand
    for a new trial which the appelate respectfully pray for.
    The appelant also asks that this Honorable Texas Court of criminals Appeals
    make    a findings of Fact and Conclusion of Law concerning both Grounds »1 and Ground
    *2.
    CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
    The undersigned hereby certifies that on this && day ofTdp2015 The
    following have been completed:
    (11     the   original     copy of the above and fore going petition and supporting brief
    have been mailed by U.S. mail to the clerk of the court of Criminal Appeals
    in Austin, Texas for filing and handling in that court pursuant to Tex.R.
    App.P 9.2 of the Texas rules of Appellate procedure.
    (2) alegible copy of said petition has been mailed by U.S. mail To KELI M. AIKEN
    Fist Assistant District Attorney P.O. Box 441 4th Floor Hunt County Courthouse
    Greenville, Texas         75403.
    MARLQTy>CT«sQg
    Mario Donta Persons
    APPENDIX
    Opinion of the Court of Appeals, June 2, 2015
    Judgement of Court of Appeals* June 2* 2315
    Motion For Rehearing was over ruled   June 30, 2015
    hlLHUUPY
    Chief Justice             Court ofAppeals                                     Clerk
    Josh R. Morriss, III             Sixth Appellate District                     Debra K. Autrey
    Justices
    State of Texas                          Bi-State Justice Building
    Bailey C. Moseley                                                    100 North State Line Avenue #20
    Texarkana,Texas 75501
    Ralph K. Burgess
    (903)798-3046
    June 2,2015
    Keli M. Aiken                                       Elisha Hollis
    Assistant District Attorney                         The Law Office of Elisha Hollis
    PO Box 441                                          2608 Stonewall Street
    4th Floor, Hunt County Courthouse                   Greenville, TX 75401
    Greenville, TX 75401                                * DELIVERED VIA E-MAIL *
    * DELIVERED VIA E-MAIL *
    Noble D. Walker Jr.
    Hunt County District Attorney
    Hunt County Courthouse
    PO Box441
    Greenville, TX 75403-0441
    * DELIVERED VIA E-MAIL *
    RE:        Appellate Case Number:      06-14-00109-CR
    Trial Court Case Number:    29371
    Style:     Mario Donta Persons
    v.
    The State of Texas
    The Judgment of the Trial Court in the referenced proceeding on appeal from Hunt County was this date
    AFFIRMED, in conformity with the written Opinion of this Court of even date.
    A true copy of this Court's Opinion and Judgment is enclosed.
    Respectfully submitted,
    Debra K. Autrey, Clerk
    By.
    Deputy
    cc:       Hon. Richard A. Beacom Jr. (DELIVERED VIA E-MAIL)
    Ms. Stacey Landrum (DELIVEREDVIA E-MAIL)
    Court of Appeals
    Sixth Appellate District of Texas
    JUDGMENT
    Mario Donta Persons, Appellant                        Appeal from the 354th District Court of
    Hunt County, Texas (Tr. Ct. No. 29371).
    NO.06-14-00109-CR           v.                         Memorandum Opinion delivered by Justice
    Moseley, Chief Justice Morriss and Justice
    The State of Texas, Appellee                           Burgess participating.
    As stated in the Court's opinion of this date, we find no error in the judgment of the court
    below. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
    We note that the appellant, Mario DontaPersons, has adequately indicated his inability to
    pay costs of appeal. Therefore, we waive paymentof costs.
    RENDERED JUNE 2, 2015
    BY ORDER OF THE COURT
    JOSH R. MORRISS, III
    CHIEF JUSTICE
    ATTEST:
    Debra K. Autrey, Clerk
    HLtHJUHY
    Chief Justice             Court ofAppeals                               Clerk
    Josh R. Morriss, III           Sixth Appellate District              Debra K. Autrey
    Justices                 State of Texas                     Bi-State Justice Building
    Bailey C. Moseley                                               100 North State Line Avenue #20
    Texarkana,Texas 75501
    Ralph K. Burgess
    (903) 798-3046
    June 30,2015
    Tara Long
    Long Law Firm, PLLC
    2656 S Loop W., Suite 255
    Houston, TX 77054-5632
    * DELIVERED VIA E-MAIL *
    RE:      Appellate Case Number:      06-14-00109-CR
    Trial Court Case Number:    29371
    Style: Mario Donta Persons
    v.
    The State of Texas
    The Court entered its order this date in the referenced proceeding whereby Appellant's Motion
    for Rehearing was OVERRULED.
    PLEASE TAKE DUE NOTICE HEREOF.
    Respectfully submitted,
    Debra K. Autrey, Clerk
    By
    Deputy
    cc:     Keli M. Aiken (DELIVERED VIA E-MAIL)
    Noble D. Walker Jr. (DELIVERED VIA E-MAIL)
    In The
    Court of Appeals
    Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
    No. 06-14-00109-CR
    MARLO DONTA PERSONS, Appellant
    V.
    THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
    On Appeal from the 354th District Court
    Hunt County, Texas
    Trial Court No. 29371
    Before Morriss, C.J., Moseley and Burgess, JJ.
    Memorandum Opinion by Justice Moseley
    MEMORANDUM OPINION
    Mario Donta Persons was convicted by a Hunt County jury of possession of a controlled
    substance, cocaine, in an amount of 400 grams or more while using or exhibiting a deadly weapon
    and was sentenced to fifty-five years in prison. On appeal, Persons claims that the trial court erred
    in refusing his request to instruct the jury under Article 38.23(a)1 of the Texas Code of Criminal
    Procedure. We find no error by the trial court and affirm its judgment.
    I.      Background
    Persons was a passenger in an automobile driven by Brian Woodard2 that was stopped by
    Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Zane Rhone on Interstate Highway 303 (1-30) near
    Greenville, Texas. Rhone's testimony involved occurrences in the mid-afternoon of May 11,2013.
    At that time, Rhone was seated in his stopped patrol car on the eastbound side of 1-30 when he was
    passed by two "showroom clean" automobiles bearing out-of-state license plates.4 Rhone followed
    'Article 38.23(a) provides,
    No evidence obtained by an officer or other person in violation of any provisions of the
    Constitution or laws of the State of Texas, or of the Constitution or laws of the United States of
    America, shall be admitted in evidence against the accused on the trial of any criminal case.
    In any case where the legal evidence raises an issue hereunder,the jury shall be instructed
    that if it believes, or has a reasonable doubt, that the evidence was obtained in violation of the
    provisions of this Article, then and in such event, the jury shall disregard any such evidence so
    obtained.
    Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 38.23(a) (West 2005).
    2This automobile will be referred to as "the Persons Vehicle."
    3Rhone identified Interstate Highway 30 as "a major drug corridor."
    "Rhone explained that people involved in drug trafficking will habitually wash their automobiles in an attempt to
    prevent alerts by drug-sniffing dogs.
    the automobiles in order to check the numbers on their license plates to determine if such a search
    would reveal something amiss with the automobiles. As Rhone approached the automobiles, the
    Persons Vehicle moved from the left lane to the right lane, behind the other vehicle of interest.
    Rhone noticed that the Persons Vehicle was following the lead vehicle at an unsafe distance, and
    Rhone slowed down to pull behind the Persons Vehicle. Rhone testified that after he had pulled
    over into the lane behind the Persons Vehicle, he observed that the license plate on the Persons
    Vehicle was also partially obstructed by a bracket or license plate frame. Since following another
    automobile at an unsafe distance5 and driving with an obscured license plate6 are both violations
    of the Texas Transportation Code, Rhone initiated a traffic stop of the Persons Vehicle. After an
    initial interview with the driver, Rhone obtained the driver's consentto searchthe vehicle.7 During
    his search, Rhone found a loaded gun in the glove box and a kilo-sized brick of what was later
    determined to be cocaine in the engine compartment. The State also introduced a redacted video
    recording of the events leading up to and including the traffic stop taken from Rhone's dash-
    mounted camera, which was published to the jury.
    During cross-examination, Rhone testified that the driver of the Persons Vehicle violated
    the Texas Transportation Code by operating an automobile with an obscured license plate (one in
    which the name of the issuing State is more than fifty percent obscured). He said that most of the
    name of the issuing state (Ohio) on the license plate was covered by the bracket. Mack Woodard,
    5See Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 545.062(a) (West 2011).
    6See TEX. Transp. Code Ann. § 504.945(a)(7)(B) (West Supp. 2014).
    'Persons does not challenge the consensual nature of the search.
    3
    the owner of the Persons Vehicle, testified that the automobile dealership that sold him the vehicle
    had placed the bracket on the license plate and that even with the license plate bracket in place, he
    was able to see more than fifty percent of the state name Ohio on the license plate. Through
    Woodard, Persons also introduced photographs of the license plate and bracket on the Persons
    Vehicle taken from different angles, some of which tended to show that more than fifty percent of
    the state name Ohio might be visible from those angles. When Persons recalled Rhone, he again
    questioned him extensively about his ability to see the state name on the license plate. Rhone
    repeated his assertion that when he pulled his patrol car behind the Persons Vehicle, he could not
    read Ohio on the license plate. Rhone also testified that the recording shows that the Persons
    Vehicle was following the car in front of it too closely and that the jury would be able to see that
    on the video recording. Persons did not call any witness to dispute Rhone's testimony that the
    Persons Vehicle was following the lead vehicle at an unsafe distance.
    At the charge conference, although Persons requested the inclusion of an Article 38.23(a)
    instruction permitting the jury to disregard evidence if it believed that the evidence had been
    wrongfully obtained, the trial court rejected that instruction
    II.     Persons Was Not Entitled to an Article 38.23(a) Instruction
    Persons' sole point of error on appeal is his contention that the trial court erred in failing
    to give an Article 38.23(a) instruction. Both the United States and Texas Constitutions are
    implicated by a routine traffic stop, and under both, the stop must be reasonable. Berkemer v.
    McCarty, 
    468 U.S. 420
    (1984); Earl v. State, 
    362 S.W.3d 801
    , 802 n.2 (Tex. App.—Texarkana
    2012, pet. refd); see U.S. CONST, amend. IV; TEX. CONST, art. I, §9. To conduct a constitutionally
    valid traffic stop, an officer must have a reasonable suspicion based on '"specific^] articulable
    facts that, when combined with rational inferences from those facts, would lead [the officer] to
    reasonably suspect that [the person stopped] has engaged or is (or soon will be) engaging in
    criminal activity.'" Hamal v. State, 
    390 S.W.3d 302
    , 306 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012) (quoting York
    v. State, 
    342 S.W.3d 528
    , 536 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011)); Zervos v. State, 
    15 S.W.3d 146
    , 151 (Tex.
    App.—Texarkana 2000, pet. ref d). Since the reasonable suspicion standard is an objective
    standard, the subjective intent of the officer making the stop is irrelevant. 
    Hamal, 390 S.W.3d at 306
    ; York v. State, 
    342 S.W.3d 528
    , 536 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011). "If an officer has a reasonable
    basis for suspecting that a person has committed a traffic offense, the officer may legally initiate
    a traffic stop." 
    Zervos, 15 S.W.3d at 151
    (emphasis in original); Graves v. State, 
    307 S.W.3d 483
    ,
    489 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2010, pet. ref d).
    If a fact issue has been raised about whether the traffic stop violated the Constitution or
    laws of either the United States or Texas, the trial court should submit a jury instruction to
    disregard evidence the jury finds was obtained in violation the Constitution or laws of the United
    States or Texas. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 38.23(a); 
    Hamal, 390 S.W.3d at 306
    .
    However, an Article 38.23(a) instruction is "mandatory only when there is a factual dispute
    regarding the legality of the search." Williams v. State, 
    356 S.W.3d 508
    , 525 (Tex. App.—
    Texarkana 2011, pet. ref d) (citing Pickens v. State, 165 S.W.3d 675,680 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005)).
    To be entitled to an instruction under Article 38.23(a), the following factors must be shown to
    exist:
    (1)     The evidence heard by the jury must raise an issue of fact;
    (2)     The evidence on that fact must be affirmatively contested; and
    (3)     That contested factual issue must be material to the lawfulness of the
    challenged conduct in obtaining the evidence.
    Madden v. State, 
    242 S.W.3d 504
    , 510 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007); 
    Williams, 356 S.W.3d at 526
    .
    However, if there are facts not in dispute that are sufficient to support the legality ofthe challenged
    conduct, "the disputed fact issue is not submitted to the jury because it is not material to the
    ultimate admissibility of the evidence." 
    Madden, 242 S.W.3d at 510
    . Thus, when an officer
    articulates more than one reason for a traffic stop, the defendant must show that there is a disputed
    factual issue as to each reason to be entitled to an Article 38.23(a) instruction. See, e.g., Gerron
    v. State, 
    119 S.W.3d 371
    , 376-77 (Tex. App.—Waco 2003, no pet.) (when officer testified he saw
    defendant commit at least three traffic violations but defendant only disputed one, defendant not
    entitled to Article 38.23(a) jury instruction); Reynosa v. State, 
    996 S.W.2d 238
    , 240 (Tex. App.—
    Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, no pet.) (same).
    Persons argues that there is a factual dispute as to both the obstructed license plate and
    following at an unsafe distance. Regarding the issue of following at an unsafe distance, Persons
    argues that when he played the video recording during his cross-examination of Rhone, this fact
    alone was a sufficient challenge to that fact so as to raise a fact issue. In other words, Persons
    maintains that because the jury was able to see the recording, which showed the position of the
    two automobiles, the jury was able to determine whether Rhone's testimony was correct. This,
    Persons posits, provided the basis for the requested jury instruction. In Madden, the appellant also
    contended that the video recording from the officer's dash-mounted camera (a recording that
    6
    Madden claimed contradicted the officer's testimony that Madden was acting in a nervous manner)
    was "affirmative evidence" that raised a fact issue. 
    Madden, 242 S.W.3d at 515-16
    . The Texas
    Court of Criminal Appeals pointed out that "[o]nly if the video clearly showed that appellant
    affirmatively did not do something that [the officer] said that he did do, and the video clearly would
    have shown that conduct if it had occurred, would there be some affirmative evidence of a disputed
    historical fact." 
    Id. at 516.
    At the trial below, Rhone testified that the two vehicles were travelling
    at a speed of seventy miles per hour and that a safe following distance at that speed would be at
    least 150 feet.    He also testified that the Persons Vehicle was following the lead vehicle at a
    distance of thirty to forty feet. The trial court found that the video recording confirmed Rhone's
    trial testimony that he stopped the Persons Vehicle for following the vehicle in front of it too
    closely.
    We have viewed the video recording and have listened to its audio. It shows the Persons
    vehicle following at a distance significantly less than 150 feet; the recording reflects that Rhone
    stated, as he activated his emergency lights, his intention to perform a traffic stop for following
    too closely and due to an obstructed license plate. We agree with the trial court that the video
    recording supports Rhone's trial testimony and that it raises no contested fact issue.
    Since Rhone's stop of the Persons Vehicle for following at an unsafe distance is not in
    dispute and since this would supportthe legality of the traffic stop, Persons was not entitledto an
    Article 38.23(a) instruction. Wefindthat the trial courtdid not err, and we overrule Persons' point
    of error.
    We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
    Bailey C. Moseley
    Justice
    Date Submitted:      May 27, 2015
    Date Decided:        June 2, 2015
    Do Not Publish
    CERTIFIED MAIL
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