Page 50 - TPA Journal September October 2022
P. 50
Bolden were a dating relationship, and the Reasonable suspicion to stop someone
court of appeals erred in holding otherwise. suspected of criminal activity is a low
We therefore reverse the judgment of the court threshold, but not this low. Our cases require
of appeals and affirm the trial court’s judgment officers to have information more specific than
of conviction. “a Hispanic male who once rode away from
police on a bicycle with large handlebars in a
Edward v. State, Tex. Crim. App., No. PD- particular area,” especially in Corpus Christi,
0325-20, December 8, 2021 Texas. That open-ended description would
******************************************** effectively authorize random police stops,
******************************* something the Fourth Amendment abhors.
REASONABLE SUSPICION – Suspect We reverse the denial of Alvarez’s motion to
description. suppress, vacate his conviction and sentence,
and remand for further proceeding.
During a roundup of gang members with
outstanding warrants, Corpus Christi police On July 15, 2019, federal and Texas law
were given information describing one suspect enforcement conducted a state-wide
only as a “Hispanic male” who had “run from “roundup” of known gang members with
officers” on a “bicycle with large handlebars” outstanding warrants. Officer Martin Deleon, a
in the “area of Leopard and Up River” at some thirty-two-year Corpus Christi Police
unspecified time in the past. The officers had Department veteran with twenty-eight years in
nothing else—not the suspect’s photo, his age, the gang unit, led a team of about a dozen
his build, his clothing, or any other identifying officers. Each team received a packet of fifteen
features. Nor were they told when the suspect to twenty subjects grouped geographically.
had last been seen in the area. Nor were they One subject in the Deleon team’s packet was
told anything about the bicycle other than it described as a “Hispanic male” in the “area of
had “large handlebars.” Leopard and Up River.” The information stated
the subject “may be in the area on a bicycle
Armed with this meager description, the police and that he had run from officers in
soon found a person who fit it: Andres Alvarez, the past [o]n that bicycle.” It described the
who was riding a bicycle with large bicycle only as having “large handlebars.” But
handlebars in the noted area. Alvarez at first the officers did not know anything about the
ignored the officers, but he was soon stopped bicycle’s color or condition or whether it had
and a frisk revealed he had a revolver and other identifiers like pegs or distinctive tires.
ammo. The officers later determined Alvarez Nor did the officers know the subject’s age,
was not the Hispanic male on a bicycle they body type, or build; whether he had
were looking for. The government then identifying marks or features; what he was last
charged Alvarez with being a felon in seen wearing; or when he was last seen in the
possession, and Alvarez moved to suppress the area.
evidence against him. The district court
denied the motion, holding the officers had The officers searched for the subject in an
reasonable suspicion for the stop. apartment complex in the Leopard–Up River
area but could not find him, so they left for
46 www.texaspoliceassociation.com • (512) 458-3140 Texas Police Journal
