Page 34 - TPA Journal September October 2024

lights in the appellant’s direction would not allow between Appellant and the officers became an
a reasonable person to feel “free to leave or investigative detention. Appellant was detained
decline the officer’s requests”). when Officer Starks moved very close to
In this context, even though the officers used rela- Appellant, told Appellant “manos, manos” while
tively mundane tones, did not initially display holding his hands out to direct Appellant to follow
their weapons, and did not use their lights or suit while Officer Sallee had his hand on
sirens, a reasonable person in Appellant’s position Appellant’s back. At the time this happened one
would not feel free to ignore Officer Starks’s state- officer had his hand on Appellant’s back, the other
ment “manos, manos.” Before Appellant “con- officer was two or three feet in front of Appellant,
sented” to Officer Sallee’s request to search, the the patrol car was within four or five feet from one
investigative detention was underway. While side of Appellant and the apartment complex was
beginning as a consensual encounter, Appellant’s approximately twenty-five feet from Appellant’s
interaction with Officers Sallee and Starks rose to other side. A reasonable person in Appellant’s
the level of an investigative detention when shoes would not feel free to leave under these cir-
Officer Starks stepped towards Appellant, stated cumstances. We conclude the appellate court erred
“manos, manos” (“hands, hands”), and showed in finding that Appellant was not detained.
Appellant to hold his hands out while Officer Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the court
Sallee had his hand on Appellant’s back. of appeals and remand to that court to determine in
accordance with this opinion whether Officer
For an investigative detention to be permissible Sallee and Officer Starks had reasonable suspicion
under the Fourth Amendment, it must be support- to detain Appellant and whether that detention was
ed by reasonable suspicion. Because the court of valid.
appeals did not reach the issue of whether reason-
able suspicion existed, remand is appropriate. Monjaras v. State, Tex. Crim. App. No. PD-
0582-21, 11/23/22.
Although initially consensual, the encounter

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