Texas v. Copeland (original by judge hervey)
Annotate this CaseShirley Copeland was charged with possession of a dangerous drug after police searched the vehicle she was in and found prescription pain medication in a plastic bag. She filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the search of the car was illegal. The trial court granted the motion and sua sponte issued findings of fact and conclusions of law. The State’s initial appeals focused on whether the police had the consent of the driver and Copeland to search the vehicle. In the first appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that Copeland could not deny consent for police to search the vehicle when the driver and registered owner of the vehicle did consent to the search. In the next appeal, the Court held that the State did not procedurally default its argument at trial or on appeal that the driver freely and voluntarily gave his consent to search his vehicle. The case was remanded with instructions that the court of appeals determine if there was an alternative theory of law upon which to uphold the ruling of the trial court. Specifically, the Court of Criminal Appeals noted that, in her motion to suppress, Copeland argued that the length of her detention was unreasonable but that the State did not challenge that argument on appeal. On remand, the court of appeals held that the State procedurally defaulted the length-of-detention issue. The State appealed, and the Court of Criminal Appeals exercised its discretionary review power to determine: (1) whether the court of appeals erred when it held that the State procedurally defaulted the length-of-detention issue; and (2) whether the court of appeals properly performed the analysis as instructed. The Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with the court of appeals that the State procedurally defaulted the length-of-detention issue on appeal, and affirmed.
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