Page 48 - March April 2020 TPA

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

TEXAS POLICE ASSOCIATION

LEGAL DIGEST

March/April 2020

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.

SEARCH & SEIZURE: REASONABLE departed for the house, but Darrell contends that all
SUSPICION –STOP & FRISK relevant events took place “during daytime.” )

Justin Harrington Darrell was arrested and charged As the uniformed officers pulled up to the house in
with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He two marked squad cars, they saw a black Chevrolet
entered a conditional guilty plea, and now Camaro parked in the driveway. “Almost
challenges the legality of the stop that precipitated instantaneously,” Appellant Justin Darrell exited
his arrest. Finding no constitutional infirmity, we the Camaro and began walking toward the back of
affirm Darrell’s conviction and sentence. the house. Officer Billingsley called out to Darrell
and instructed him to stop, but Darrell ignored the
On September 3, 2017, Alcorn County Sheriff’s command and continued walking away from the
Deputy Shane Latch and Farmington Police officers, now at an increased pace. Deputy Latch
Department Officer Mike Billingsley drove to a later testified that if Darrell had walked an
home in Corinth, Mississippi. They intended to additional fifteen to twenty feet, he would have
serve an arrest warrant on one of the home’s been behind the house and outside the officers’
occupants, Brandy Smith, for failing to appear in field of vision. Once out of their sight, the officers
court. Deputy Latch later described the residence feared, Darrell might have withdrawn a concealed
as “a known drug house” where multiple arrests weapon or warned Ms. Smith of her impending
and disturbances—including a shooting—had apprehension—a crime under Mississippi law.
taken place in the past. Indeed, Latch himself had Officer Billingsley again ordered Darrell to stop.
made several arrests there. This time, Darrell complied and began walking
( The record does not state at what time the officers back toward the officers. Officer Billingsley took

March/April 2020 www.texaspoliceassociation.com • (512) 458-3140 41