## IN THE COU RT O F CR IM IN AL AP PE ALS OF TE XAS N O S. P D - 0936- 07 A N D P D - 0937- 07
TH E ST A TE O F T EX A S

v. C A N D E L A R I O G A R C I A - C A N T U , A ppel l ee
ON APP ELLEE ’ S PET I TI ON S FOR DI S CRETI ON ARY REVI EW

FROM THE NI NTH CO URT O F AP PEALS M ON TGO M ERY CO UNTY K EASLE R , J. , f

i l e d a di s s e nt i ng o pi ni on i n w hi c h K ELL ER , P . J. and H E RVEY J ., j oi ne d. O P I N I O N I re sp ec tfu ll y d issen t. T h e totali ty o f the circu m stan ce s d o n o t sup p o rtthe m ajority ’s concl us i on t hatthe ci t i zen- pol i ce i nt er act i on betw een C andel ar i o G ar ci a- C antu and O ffi cer O k la n d a m o u n te d to a s e iz u re u n d e r t h e F o u rt h A m e n d m e n t. Supr eme C our tpr ece denti ns t ruct s t hatt he “f r ee t o l eave ” t es thas no appl i cat i on undert he fa ct s of thi s cas e. I n F l or i da v. B os t i ck , B r ow ar d C ount ynar cot i cs agent s boar dedG A R C I A
- C A N T U D I S S E N T —2

5 0 1 U
. S
. 4 2 9 , 4 3 1 -32 (19 9 1 ). 1 I d. 2 I d. at431. 3 I d. at432. 4 I d. 5 Id
. at433. 6 I d. at435. 7 I d. at435- 36. 8 a b u s th a t w a s o n a sto p o v e r in F t. L a u d e rd a le. T h e a g e n ts a sk e d B o stic k , the re sp o n d e n t, 1 f o r p e rm iss io n to se a rc h h is s u itca se . A f ter B o stic k c o n se n ted to th e se a rc h , th e a g e n ts 2 di s cover ed coc ai ne. B os t i ck w as then arr es t ed and c har ged w i t h tr af fi cki ng coca i ne. 3 4 C l ai m i ng t hat the search con du ct ed b ythe ag ents viol at ed h i s F o u rth A m end m ent r i gh t s, B o stic k m o v e d to su p p re ss th e c o c a in e a t trial. T h e S u p re m e C o u r t g r a n te d c e rtio ra ri to 5 det erm i ne w hetherB os t i ck w as “s ei zed” w i t hi n the meani ng of the Four t h A m endmentw hen t he age nt s r eques t ed hi s cons entt o s ear ch hi s s ui t cas e. 6 T h e C o u rt re

jec ted B o stic k ’s a rg u m e n t th a t h e w a s s e ize d u n d e r th e F o u rth A m endmentbeca us e a “ r eas onabl e bus pas s engerw oul d nothave fel t fr ee t o l eave undert he circu m stan ce s o f th is ca se b ec au se th ere is no w h ere to g o o n a b u s. ” In d o ing so , the C o u rt 7
s t at ed that“w hen the per s on i s s eat ed on a bus and has no des i r e t o l eave , t he degr ee t o w hi ch
a r eas onabl e per s on w oul d fee l t hat he or she coul d l eave i s notan ac cur at e meas ur e of the
coer ci ve ef

fec tof the enc ount er . ” C oncl udi ng t hat“B os t i ck’ s fr eedom of m ovementw as 8G A R C I A
- C A N T U D I S S E N T —3

I d. at436. 9 I d. at438. 10 I d. at437. 11 4 6 0 U
. S
. 4 9 1 (19 8 3 ). 12 Id
. at497. 13 5 4 0 U
. S
. 4 1 9 (20 0 4 ). 14 re stric ted b y a f

a c to r in d e p e n d e n t o f p o lice c o n d u c t[ ,]” th e C o u rt h e ld th a t “th e a p p ro p ria te i nqui r yi s w hethert he pol i ce c onduct w oul d have comm uni cat ed t o a r eas onabl e per s on t hat t he per s on w as notfr ee t o decl i ne the off i cer ’ s r eq u est orot herw i s e t erm i nat e the
conver s at i on. ” T hi s s t andar d, acc or di ng t o t he C our t , “appl i es t o encount er s t hatt ake pl ace 9
o n a c i t y s t r e e to ri n a n a i rp o r t , a n d i ta p p l i e s e q u a l l y t o e n c o u n t e r s o n a b u s . ” F i n a l l y, 10

w i t houtdeci di ng w hether B os t i ck w as “s ei zed, ” the C our tr emanded t he ca s e t o the Fl or i da Supr eme C our ts o thati tcoul d cons i derthe t ot al i t yof the ci r cu m stan ces unde rthe corr ect l egal s t andar d. 11 I n F l or i da v. R oyer , t he Supr eme Courts t at ed that“l aw enfor cementoffi cer s do not 12

v io late th e F o u rth A m e n d m e n t b ym e re lya p p ro a c h in g a n in d iv id u a l o n th e stre e t o r in anotherpubl i c pl ace , byas ki ng hi m i f he i s w i l l i ng t o ans w ers om e ques t i ons , [or ] byput t i ng ques t i ons t o hi m i f t he per s on i s w i l l i ng t o l i s t en. ” A nd i n I l l i nois v. Li ds t er , aft erquot i ng 13 14 t h e a b o v e l a n g u a g e f

r o m R oyer , i tadded that “it w oul d s eem anom al ous w er e the l aw ( 1)
o rd in a rilyto a llo w p o lice to se e k th e v o lu n tar yc o o p e ra tio n o f p e d e stria n s b u t (2 ) o rd in a rilyG A R C I A
- C A N T U D I S S E N T —4

Id
. at426. 15 9 9 4 S
. W
. 2 d
. 6 7 6 (19 9 9 ). 16 to f o rb id p o lic e to s e e k s im ila r v o lu n ta ry c o o p e ra tio n f ro m m o to ri s ts .” 15 L i ke B os t i ck, G ar ci a- C antu’ s fr eedom of m ovementw as r es t r i ct ed b ya fa ct or i ndepende nt of O ffi cerO kl and’ s conduct
. G ar ci a- C antu del i ber at el yand vol unt ar i l yparked h is tru c k a t th e d e a d -e n d o f th e 3 0 0 b lo c k o f

S o u th P a c if

ic w h ile w a iti n g f

o r his f rie n d to e x it th e h o u se a t 3 0 9 S o u th P a c if ic. T h e re c o rd m a k e s c lea r th a t th e 3 0 0 b lo c k o f S o u th P a c if

ic i s a verynarr ow dead- end s t r eetw i t h no cent erdi vi di ng l i ne. T he narr ow char act erof the str ee t d o es n o t p erm it tw o v eh icl es to p ass f ree lyw h il e trav eli n g in o p p o sing d ir ec ti o n s. In
s uch a c i r cumst ance , one vehi cl e w oul d be for ced t o y i el d t o another
. Par ked w i t h the fr ont of hi s truck fa ci ng t he dea d- end, G ar ci a- C antu pl ace d hi m s el f i n t he pos i t i on of havi ng no d ir ec t tho rou g h fa re. S o ev en w ith o u t the pre sen ce o f O k land ’s p atrol ca r, G arc ia-C an tu’s egr es s w as notcompl et el yuni nhi bi t ed. I n this p o si t i on, anyvehi cl e tr avel i ng on t he s tr eet coul d fur t herr es tr i ctG ar ci a- C antu’ s departur e. I w oul d agr ee w i t h t he maj or i t yi n r ever s i n g t hi s convi ct i on i f G ar ci a- C antu had expr es s ed anyr el uct ance t o t al k t o O ffi cer O kl and. B ut t her e w as no i ndi cat i on thatG ar ci aC a n tu w a n ted to lea v e o r th a t h e in f o rm e d O f

f ice r O k lan d th a t h e d id n o t w a n t to sp e a k to him
. A nd , as B os t i ck

m a k e s c lea r, th is is th e a p p ro p ria te te st. O f cour s e, as w e s ai d i n Stat e v. V elas quez , a cas e i nvol vi ng an enc ount erbetw een

16
a p o lic e o f

f ic e r a n d a p a s s e n g e r o n a b u s ,G A R C I A
- C A N T U D I S S E N T —5

I d. at679. 17 B r ow n v. A l l en , 3 4 4 U
. S
. 4 4 3 , 5 4 0 (19 5 3 ) (Jack so n , J. , co n cu rri n g in resu lt ). 18 even a n i nnocentpas s enger ’ s pul s e mi ghtr ace w hen a pol i ce of fi ceri dent i fi es hi m s el f and be gi ns as ki ng ques t i ons . H e mi ghtunder s t andabl ybe u n c o mf o r t a b l e s a y i n g , ‘ Of

f i c e r , I d o n ’ t wa n t t o t a l k t o y o u . P l e a s e l e a v e me a lo n e .’ B u t th e C o n stitu tio n d o e s n o t g u a ra n tee f re e d o m f ro m d isc o m f

o rt. A nd t he t es ti s no t w h ethe r a t i m i d per s on w oul d fee l fr ee t o t erm i nat e the in te rv ie w . In s te a d , th e S u p re m e C o u rt u s e s a ‘r e a s o n a b le p e rs o n ’ s ta n d a rd .” 17 I t hi nk i ti s cl eart hathad G ar ci a- C antu been i n a publ i c s t r eetw i t h a cl ear t hor oughfar e, t her e w oul d have be en no Four t h A m endmentvi ol at i on. So accor di ng t o t he
m a j o r i t y ’ s r e a s o n i n g , a l l o n e n e e d s t o d o t o i n s u l a t e o n e s e l f f r o m p o l i c e c o n t a c t i s t o duck i nt o a bl i nd al l eyupon s eei ng an off i cer appr oachi ng or pul l hi s or her vehi cl e ont o a dea dend s t r eet . T he per s on w oul d t hen be abl e t o s ay , i n eff ect , “K i ng’ s X ! I ’ m on bas e. Y ou can’ teven w al k up t o m e and at t empt t o t al k t o m e. A ny one el s e i n t he w or l d can, buty ou
c a n ’t .” T h is w o u ld in d e e d a d d a n e w d im e n s io n to th e w o rd “ s illy.” T h e m a jo rity h a s lab o re d m ig h til y to ju stif yits c o n c lu sio n th a t G a rc ia- C a n tu ’s F o u rth A m endmentr i ght s w er e vi ol at ed, ci t i ng m anyfede r al and s t at e opi ni ons , i ncl udi ng even a t l eas tone pr e- B os t i ck

c a s e f r o m th e Ni n t h Ci r c u i t . Ye t , i td o e s n ot i nc l ud e a n yS u p r e me C our t cas es t hat ar e di r ect l y i n poi nt , beca us e t her e ar e none. A nd, aft eral l , thatC our ti s t he ul t i m at e and “ i nfal l i bl e . . . beca us e [i t ] i s fi nal ” Four t h A m endment author i t y . I bel i eve that 18 i n l i ghtof i t s r ece nt s ear ch and s ei zur e opi ni ons t hat i tw oul d r eac h t he s ame concl us i on t hat I do— t hat t hi s i s a pol i ce e ncount erperm i s s i bl e underthe Four t h A m endment
. B eca us e the
m a jo ri ty h o ld s o th e rw is e , I d is s e n t.G A R C I A
- C A N T U D I S S E N T —6

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