Page 21 - Police Officer's Guide 2013

other charges against the man. After pleading guilty to possessing the controlled substance and a prohibited
weapon, the defendant appealed. He argued that his suppression motion should have been granted because his
detention was illegal.

Holding: If a reasonable person would feel free to disregard the officer, an officer may ask if someone
requires assistance without implicating the Fourth Amendment. Even if a person is seized within the meaning of
the Fourth Amendment, a community caretaking exception allows police officers, as part of their duty to serve
and protect, to stop or temporarily detain an individual whom a reasonable person would believe is in need of
help, given the totality of the circumstances. Two steps are required in valuating the validity of a community
caretaking function stop. First, the court must consider whether the officer s primary motivation was community
caretaking. If it was, then the court determines whether the officer s belief was reasonable by analyzing four
factors.

The factors used to decide the reasonableness of such a stop are: (1) the nature and level of distress
exhibited by the citizen; (2) where the person was located; (3) whether the person could obtain other assistance;
and (4) the degree to which the person presented a danger to himself or others. One of the deputies testified that
when they saw the defendants truck, it was parked wrong on the shoulder of the highway, in a dark, non-
residential area, and only had its parking lights on. The defendant appeared to be alone with no apparent
assistance available.

The other deputy testified that it was an extremely dark area and no residences or streets were within a
close distance. The vehicle seemed to be parked out of the ordinary, and both officers said they approached it
to make sure there were not problems, and to offer assistance. Based on this testimony, it was reasonable for the
trial judge to conclude that the deputies were motivated primarily by community caretaking concerns, and that
those concerns were reasonable. Once the officers were standing beside the vehicle, they saw at least one open
container of alcohol in the truck. Defendants false representation and consent to search justified further
investigation and his arrest. The inventory of the vehicle following defendants arrest was reasonable. The
circumstances surrounding the contact with the defendant supported the deputies view that community
caretaking was appropriate. Admission of the evidence that was discovered after that contact was made was not
error.

Kuykendall v. State, 335 S.W.3d 429 (Tex. App. Beaumont 2011).

PRETEXT STOP DWI ARREST
After receiving information from the suspects husband that the suspect was driving while intoxicated, an
officer located and stopped the suspect after witnessing a turn signal violation. The suspect was charged with,
and convicted for, felony DWI and appealed claiming the detention and arrest was not reasonable and a pretext.
When, as here, an officer makes a valid traffic stop, the existence of another motive for the stop is irrelevant
because the prohibition against pretextual stops has been abandoned in Texas. Citation omitted. A stop is justified
if the officer has specific articulable facts that, when combined with rational inferences from those facts, would
give the officer a reasonable suspicion that the driver has engaged in criminal activity. Citation omitted. This
standard is an objective one; so long as there is an objective basis for the stop, the subjective intent of the officer
conducting the stop is irrelevant. Citation omitted. The reasonable suspicion determination is made by
considering the totality of the circumstances. Citation omitted. The conviction was upheld as the initial stop was
valid and based upon probable cause.

Graves v. State, No. 05-10-01151-CR, 5th Ct. App.Dallas, August 25, 2011. Unpublished.

(Note: Federal Constitutional cases are consistent with the notion that pretext stops are valid where the

A Peace Officer’s Guide to Texas Law 14 2013 Edition