Page 45 - Texas police Association Peace Officer Guide 2017

testimony in their probable cause analysis because they found that the absence of testimony from
the arresting officer himself, or other testimony to show what information was expressly
“relayed” to him, to be—by itself—dispositive of the probable cause issue. As a result, the trial
court stopped short of evaluating the accuracy and credibility of the testimony to ascertain which
facts were shown by circumstantial evidence to be within the arresting officer’s knowledge at the
time of Appellee’s arrest. Findings on that issue are essential to appellate review of the trial
court’s probable cause determination, and the court of appeals should not have affirmed the trial
court’s judgment in the absence of such findings. We therefore vacate the judgment of the court
of appeals and remand this cause to that court with instructions to abate it to the trial court for
supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law consistent with this opinion.

th
State v. Martinez, No. PD-1337-15, Ct. Crim. App. Dec. 14 , 2016. Unpublished.
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SEARCH AND SEIZURE – WARRANTS – TEXT MESSAGES (Ed. Note: Get a warrant )

In July 2013, a jury convicted appellant of capital murder for the March 28, 2011 murders of
Keenan Hubert and Tyus Sneed during the same criminal transaction. The trial judge sentenced
appellant to death. Direct appeal to this Court is automatic. Appellant raises eleven points of
rrror. After reviewing appellant’s points of error, we find appellant’s sixth point of error,
regarding the warrantless seizure of his text messages, to have merit. Consequently, we reverse
the trial court’s judgment and sentence of death.
The evidence at trial showed that on April 8, 2010, Emuel Bowers III was shot and killed while
sitting in his car at a Waco park. Close friends and associates of Bowers concluded that Keenan
Hubert, a.k.a. “Lockie,” was responsible for Bowers’ death even though the police had
uncovered no evidence to support this theory. These friends included appellant, Rickey
Cummings (“Rickey”), and Rickey’s brother D’Arvis (“D’Arvis”) Cummings. Appellant and the
Cummings brothers had grown up with Bowers, who was also known by the nicknames “T-
Bucks” and “Man-Man.” This group was also close to Bowers’ mother, Shelia Bowers, whom
appellant referred to as “Mama Shelia” or “Aunt Shelia.”
As the first anniversary of the shooting approached, no charges had been filed against any
suspect. Appellant, his friends, and Bowers’ family were frustrated by that. They felt that they
had identified a good suspect, and they had provided that information to the authorities.
On the evening of March 28, 2011, Hubert, Marion Bible, and Deontrae Majors were in Majors’
car, which was parked at the Lakewood Villas Apartments in east Waco. Rickey walked by and
glared at Hubert, who then “rapped” some antagonizing lyrics at Rickey.
After Rickey walked away, Tyus Sneed arrived and joined Hubert, Bible, and Majors in the car
to watch videos and smoke marijuana.
At approximately 11:20 p.m., Majors’ car was hit with a hail of bullets, shattering all of its
windows except the front windshield. Sneed and Hubert were each shot eight times and died in
the back seat of Majors’ parked car. Majors and Bible, although wounded, were able to escape
through the front passenger door. Immediately thereafter, an eyewitness saw Rickey chase Bible
and Majors and then abandon his pursuit when his .45-caliber gun jammed.
The evidence showed that the attackers most likely used an AK-47, along with weapons that
fired .38-, .40-, and .45-caliber ammunition. Around the time of the offense, three men had been
seen in the complex, including a heavy-set man carrying a “long gun.”

A Peace Officer’s Guide to Texas Law 40 2017 Edition