Frederick Manuel v. State ( 2015 )


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  •                                                                                                 ACCEPTED
    01-14-00107-CR
    FIRST COURT OF APPEALS
    HOUSTON, TEXAS
    11/13/2015 9:19:53 AM
    CHRISTOPHER PRINE
    CLERK
    No. 01-14-00107-CR
    FREDERICK MANUEL                           )         IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
    FILED IN
    1st COURT OF APPEALS
    HOUSTON, TEXAS
    V.                                         )            FOR   THE11/13/2015
    FIRST DISTRICT
    9:19:53 AM
    CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE
    Clerk
    STATE OF TEXAS                             )                               OF TEXAS
    APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR REHEARING
    TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF SAID COURT:
    COMES NOW, Frederick Manuel, Appellant, by and through counsel, Ken
    Mahaffey, and respectfully moves for rehearing. In support thereof, Appellant would
    show the Court the following:
    1. Opinion Issued Affirming Conviction. This Court issued an opinion
    affirming the Appellant’s judgment of conviction on November 5, 2015.
    2. Motion Timely. Under Rule 49.1, Tex. R. App. Proc. (2015), a motion for
    rehearing is timely if filed within fifteen (15) days of the date the Court of Appeals
    issues its opinion. This motion was electronically filed with the Clerk of the Court
    on or before that date. The motion is therefore timely filed. Rule 9.2 (b), Tex. R. App.
    Proc. (2015).
    3. Overview. This is a search warrant case where the affidavit focused
    suspicion on Appellant for commission of a convenience store robbery three months
    prior to issuing the warrant. This Court held the affidavit was sufficient because a
    Page 1
    police officer could reasonably conclude that people typically keep clothing in their
    homes and therefore the items would be at that particular location even months after
    the offense. The Court’s opinion may be found at the following link:
    http://www.search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=f8f740e5-56
    b2-44e4-bc7d-ba3391f9ba0d&coa=coa01&DT=Opinion&MediaID=db147244-2e
    7b-4f70-a4be-b5256baea72d
    REASONS FOR REHEARING
    Point for Rehearing Number One:
    The Court’s opinion improperly broadens what is considered probable cause
    by holding suspicion a person committed a crime wearing certain clothing
    automatically constitutes probable cause to search that person’s residence.
    ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES
    “Probable cause to believe that a man has committed a crime on the street does
    not necessarily give rise to probable cause to search his home.” 2 Wayne R. LaFave,
    Search and Seizure § 3.7(d) (3d ed.1996). While the Court reviewed a number of
    aspects concerning the warrant, the principal hold is that if investigators can identify
    clothing worn by a suspect during an offense, that will support a search warrant for
    his residence. This is a sweeping expansion of probable cause determinations. The
    Court cites some cases for this proposition, however, none of these cases support this
    conclusion.
    Page 2
    First, the Court states that “. . . common experience tells us that there is a ‘fair
    probability’ that clothing worn ‘a lot’ over a period of years will be kept at a person’s
    residence,” citing Rodriguez v. State, 
    232 S.W.3d 55
    , 62 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007). Slip
    Op. p. 11. However, 
    Rodriguez, supra
    , does not say this. In that case, the resident
    specifically told the officers there were drugs in the residence. 
    Id. at 57.
    It was this
    admission, not the belief that drug dealers keep drugs in their homes, that supported
    the warrant.
    The other cases cited for this proposition also relied upon much more than the
    fact that a person is presumed to keep clothing in his residence long after the offense.
    In Cuevas v. State, 13-11-00111-CR (Tex. App. - Corpus Christi 2012, no pet.),
    broken car glass was found near shooting a victim. 
    Id. at 10.
    Suspicion focused on the
    defendant and that same day, the defendant’s car was located at his residence with a
    broken window and bullet hole. 
    Id. at 10
    - 11. This showed both a close causal and
    timely connection between the gun sought and the location to be searched. 
    Id. In Appellant’s
    case, the only connection was that appellant may have owned some
    clothing and lived at the home.
    In Arrick v. State, 
    107 S.W.3d 710
    (Tex. App. - Austin 2003, pet. ref’d), the
    defendant bragged to numerous people about the killing providing details concerning
    his transport of the body and describing a particular gun souvenir he had made to
    Page 3
    commemorate the event. 
    Id. at 716.
    The affidavit established a probability that the
    suspect would have gotten blood on his clothing and on the carpet of his home during
    the offense. 
    Id. at 717.
    It was also reasonable to infer the suspect would keep the
    souvenir since he obviously expended great effort to create it and displayed it to
    others. 
    Id. at 717.
    In the instant case, neither the nature of the shooting nor anything in the
    affidavit suggests appellant would have been spattered with blood that would still be
    present months later. SX 81. Nor, does the affidavit assert he created or displayed a
    distinctive object that he showed to others while admitting the offense. SX 81. The
    affiant merely says he knows that murder suspects might have bloody clothing in their
    residences, “. . . if it has been discarded there.” SX 81 p. 5. 
    Arrick, supra
    , is simply
    not authority for the proposition that it is common knowledge that murderers
    habitually keep clothing of evidentiary value in their homes.
    The major case the Court seems to rely upon is a federal case from the 8th
    Circuit. Iverson v. North Dakota, 
    480 F.2d 414
    (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 
    414 U.S. 1044
    , 
    94 S. Ct. 549
    , 
    38 L. Ed. 2d 335
    (1973). In that case, the suspect was interviewed
    shortly after the offense. 
    Id. at 417.
    He admitted knowing the murder victims and
    having been in the victims’ apartment forty-eight hours before the bodies were
    discovered. 
    Id. at 417.
    During the interview, investigators saw numerous scratches
    Page 4
    on the suspect’s hands, arms and neck. 
    Id. As a
    result, probable cause existed for a
    search of the defendant’s home for recently bloodstained clothes. 
    Id. at 417
    - 418.
    The observation that an officer could draw on “. . . “factual and practical
    considerations of everyday life . . ,” 
    Iverson, supra
    at 418, did not deal with keeping
    items such as clothing in one’s residence. Instead, what the Iverson court actually said
    was very different from this Court’s application of the quote. Specifically, the Iverson
    opinion states as follows:
    “. . . [i]t is reasonable to assume that in a violent crime such as murder there
    would be blood present, and that female victims would fight with the weapons
    available to them-their hands and fingernails. Accordingly, it would be
    reasonable to assume that their assailant would bear scratch marks.”
    
    Iverson, supra
    at 418. This case simply does not say that suspicion of a crime
    committed elsewhere supports a general search warrant for the suspect’s home
    because it is a known fact that criminals keep evidence in their homes. It timely and
    specifically focused suspicion on the place to be searched because the defendant
    would have returned home there soon after the offense with blood on his person.
    The case at bar is decidedly different from 
    Iverson, supra
    . Here, the affidavit
    made no prior connection with the location of the robbery beyond the fact that
    Appellant may have driven by ten minutes before the offense. SX 81, p. 6. Nor did
    the affidavit contain any allegation that appellant came into contact with any blood
    Page 5
    or that it would be reasonable to conclude that any bloody clothing would still be
    present months later. Beyond the officer’s belief, no information placed any item in
    the residence to be searched at the time the warrant issued.
    The Court’s distinction between drugs and firearms on the one hand and
    clothing on the other is also misplaced. Slip Op. pp. 11, 12. Essentially, the Court
    says drugs and guns are different than clothing because these types of items can be
    stored or used in other locations. 
    Id. Like drugs
    that can be used or sold other
    locations, clothing can be worn, stored, laundered, or discarded in an equally likely
    number of places. There is also no significant difference between firearms kept by an
    individual and their own clothing as guns may be carried to other locations as well.
    The Court should reconsider the cases it distinguished based on this perceived
    difference in character between the items asserted to be at the location to be searched.
    Point for Rehearing Number Two:
    The Court’s reliance on information received within twenty-four hours before
    the warrant was issued misreads the affidavit.
    ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES
    The Court draws a conclusion that the affiant obtained key information within
    twenty-four hours before the warrant was issued. Slip Op. p. 20. Specifically, the
    Court states as follows: “The officer obtained a search warrant within 24-hours of
    Page 6
    receiving the last piece of evidence (that Manuel drove a car identical to the one in
    the security video) linking Manuel to the shooting and verifying that Manuel still
    lived at that residence.” Slip Op. p. 20. This misreads the affidavit.
    The affidavit shows that investigators knew about the car since February 1,
    2011. See SX 81 p. 3 (suspect “drove an old white ‘cop car’ type of vehicle”).
    Investigators also linked that car to appellant by color, make and license plate
    number. See SX 81, p. 4)(“a white 1989 Chevy four door, bearing Texas License
    Plate 782FWR”). They also confirmed the information about Appellant’s residence.
    SX 81 p. 3.
    Indeed, the affiant actually states he viewed the video on January 20, 2011. SX
    81, pp. 2 - 3. The only reference to information received in twenty-four hours is the
    statement that after interviewing a witness who identified a jacket, and that, “armed
    with this information” the officer viewed the video again. SX 81, p. 4. Significantly,
    the witness did not mention a car or any sort of vehicle. SX 81, p. 4. As a result, this
    was not new information; investigators had this for months.
    Moreover, the Court does not explain why showing appellant may have driven
    by the store showed that bloody clothing would be found in his residence three
    months later. It only focuses suspicion on Appellant personally. Even if the
    information concerning the car was discovered within twenty-four hours of the
    Page 7
    warrant, it still does not make it any more probable that the items were at the place
    to be searched. Basically, driving a car does not equal storing of clothing at one’s
    residence. This Court should grant rehearing to address these arguments.
    PRAYER FOR RELIEF
    WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Appellant respectfully moves for
    rehearing in this cause.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Ken Mahaffey
    Counsel for Appellant
    P.O. Box 684585
    Austin, Texas 78768
    (512) 444-6557
    St. Bar. No. 12830050
    Ken Mahaffey@yahoo.com
    Page 8
    CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE AND WORD COUNT COMPLIANCE
    The above signature certifies that on November 13, 2015, this document was
    sent by electronic service to the Travis County D.A.’s Office, P.O. Box 1748, Austin
    TX 78767-1748 and to Frederick Manuel, TDCJ No. 01901942, Polunsky Unit, 3872
    FM 350 South, Livingston, TX 77351. The above signature also certifies that the
    above motion contains 1762 words in compliance Rule 9.4(i)(2)(D) and 9.4(i)(3),
    Tex. R. App. Proc. (West 2015) (not to exceed 4,500 words ).
    Page 9
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 01-14-00107-CR

Filed Date: 11/13/2015

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 9/30/2016