Page 26 - TPA Journal January February 2025

Joe C. Tooley, Legal Digest Editor
Joe C. Tooley, Attorneys & Counselors, Rockwall, Texas
www.TooleyLaw.com 972-722-1058

TEXAS POLICE ASSOCIATION

LEGAL DIGEST

January - February 2025

AUTHOR’S NOTE: It is the goal of this submission to extract those portions of relevant appellate
opinions or the syllabus of the legal reporter which bear directly upon law enforcement methods
and provide guidance for officers on an operational level. Much of the information pertaining to
these cases is lifted verbatim from the court opinion or syllabus with independent analysis inserted
as appropriate. Due to clarity for training purposes, the distinction between quotes from the
opinions and inserted analysis is not always identified and legal citations within the opinion are
often omitted. Emphasis is placed upon reported decisions from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

REASONABLE SUSPICION, MIRANDA, area.”
SEARCH & SEIZURE. The tipster informed Detective Jones that the
transportation of the cocaine would take place
Palma L. Jefferson, Jr. appeals the denial of along Interstate 10 in a green Chevrolet
numerous suppression motions related to his con- Avalanche with a Saints emblem sticker on the
viction for various drug trafficking charges, as rear window. Detective Jones informed his
well as being a felon in possession of a firearm. fellow investigators and had them set up surveil-
He further appeals the calculation of the relevant lance along the described route. JPSO did not
drug quantities and the application of the danger- spot any vehicle resembling the one described by
ous weapon enhancement in his sentence. the tipster, despite waiting an hour past the time-
Because of the independent source doctrine, frame the tipster gave them. Detective Jones then
and clear caselaw regarding his sentence, both called the tipster’s number back. Recognizing
Jefferson’s conviction and sentence are the voice of the tipster, Detective Jones began to
AFFIRMED. ask the tipster for more information regarding the
alleged cocaine trafficker. During this second
This case arises out of a Jefferson Parish conversation with the anonymous tipster,
Sheriff’s Office investigation into Palma L. Detective Jones received a number of key pieces
Jefferson, Jr. On April 29, 2019, Detective of information. First, the supposed transporter of
Benjamin Jones of JPSO was asked by the cap- the cocaine went by the nickname “PJ.” Second,
tain of the narcotics division to follow up on an the tipster described the destination of the
anonymous tip regarding an individual transport- cocaine as “the ‘apartments behind Celebration
ing a “large amount of cocaine from the Baton Station’ off of Veterans Boulevard” and further
Rouge area to the New Orleans metropolitan identified this location as PJ’s residence.

26 www.texaspoliceassociation.com • (512) 458-3140 Texas Police Journal