Brodnex v. Texas (original by judge meyers)
Annotate this CaseAppellant Ike Brodnex was charged with tampering with physical evidence and possession of a controlled substance after he was stopped by police and found to be carrying crack cocaine. Appellant filed a pretrial motion to suppress the evidence, which the trial court denied. After a bench trial, the trial court acquitted Appellant of the tampering offense but found him guilty of the possession offense. Appellant pled true to three enhancement paragraphs, and the trial court sentenced him to twenty years’ confinement. Appellant appealed the denial of his motion to suppress, arguing that the officer did not have sufficient grounds to come into contact with him and that the discovery of the drugs was the result of an excessive pat-down search. The court of appeals affirmed. After refusing Appellant’s petition for discretionary review, the Court of Criminal Appeals granted review on its own motion in order to determine whether an officer had reasonable suspicion to detain a suspect based upon observing the suspect walking with another person at 2 a.m. in an area known for narcotics activity and based upon the officer’s unsubstantiated belief the suspect was a “known criminal.” Under the totality of the circumstances, the Court held that the facts apparent to the arresting officer at the time he detained Appellant did not provide him with a reasonable suspicion for the detention. Thus, Appellant was illegally detained, and the crack cocaine that was found in the subsequent search should have been suppressed. The court of appeals was therefore reversed and the case remanded back to the trial court for further proceedings.
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