NO. 07-08 -022 4-CR IN THE CO UR T OF APPEA LS FO R THE S EVEN TH D ISTRI CT O F TEXAS

AT AM AR ILLO PAN EL C JU LY31, 2009

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___ SHELDON KE IT H CRAIN, Appel lan t

v. THE S TATE OF TEXAS, Appel lee

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______ FRO M T HE 47 DIS T RI CT COU RT OF P OT T ERCOU NT Y; TH NO. 540 73-A; HON. HAL MINER, PRESIDING

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____ DISSENT

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____ Before QUINN, C.J., and HANCOCK and PIRT LE, JJ. I respectfull y

di ss ent from the major ity ’s opi nio n. Per the re cord, O ff ic er

Gr iffin tes ti fied th at ap pel lan t
w as w a lki n g in th e roadw ay and or ig ina ll y

ca ug ht my

ey e. And w hen I obser v ed hi m w alk ing and after seei ng me, he - - he l ooked bac k a nd w hat I c oul d remember w as g ra bbi ng at his w ais t.2

He further

ac know led g ed th at ap pel lan t w as doi ng n o thi ng thatco uld be c onst ru ed as
cr imi nal at the ti me. W hen the off ic er ev entual ly re tur ned to the loc ati on, appel lan t w as found near

or i n the fronty ard of a hous e. And, thoug h he admit tedl y sa w noth ing thathe coul d c ateg or iz e as cr imi nal ac ti v ity , t he office r st o pped hi s p atrol car , “ spot li g hted” appel lan t, and t old hi m to “ come o v er here and tal k t o me .” In r e sponse, appel lan t pur por tedl y l ooked bac k a nd s topped after tak ing se v eral more ste p s. An d , a s t hat
occ ur re d, t he officer

ex it ed hi s p atrol car

and approache d appel lan t. Missing f rom th e ph rase “com e over here and talk to me” are w ords of co ntingen cy or opti on. That is , they ar e not a mere sol ic it ati on of c ooperati on. Nor do th ey extend any choi ce, ex pli ci t or

i mpli ci t. Rat her , they are mandator y : “c ome ov er here and t alk to me.” I w ould dare say that an y paren t w ho utte red tho se w ords only to have his or her child w alk
aw ay w oul d not re asona bly cons tr ue the chi ld’ s re spons e as acc eptabl e. And, w e do not hav e a mere parenthere but rather a po li ce off ic er

i n hi s mar ked car

sh ini ng hi s s potl ig ht on hi s q uar ry

i n the mid dle of the n ig ht. Tog ether , those ind ic ia fall shortof sug g est ing that
a reason abl e person under the same c ircums tanc es w oul d find itper mis si ble to ig nore the off ic er and lea v e. Mo re ov er , I se e no diffe re nce betw een an off ic er sh ini ng hi s s potl ig ht up on som eon e an d directing him to “come ov er here” an d an of f ice r e n ga ging his eme rg ency lig hts w hen atte mp ting to stop a v ehicle. Both serve to ann oun ce t h e o f f icer’s presence and car ry

w it h the m an i mpli ci t c ommand. And, for th at reason our opi nio n i n Hudso n v. State , 247 S.W .3d 7 8 0 (Tex . Ap p.–Amar il lo 2008, no pet .) , i s e spec ial ly i nformati v e. There, w e hel d tha t “w hen a person sto ps in re spons e to a pat ro l car 's emerg ency l ig hts3

ra ther than of his ow n ac cord, an i nv est ig ator y de te n ti o n has oc cur re d,” w hic h s top required the presen ce of “reaso nab le suspicion .” Id. at 78 4. T hus, the un cont este d evidence of record dep icting the stop ev inced no m ere encou nter

but ra ther

a detenti on. And, becau se w alk ing dow n a re si denti al street a t ni g ht, thoug h the area may

be o ne w herein burg lar ies may hav e oc cur re d at one ti me or anot her in th e p a st , f a ils to g iv e r is e to a reason abl e bel ief tha t c ri me i s a foot, Dav is v. Sta te , 61 S.W .3 d 94 , 98 ( Tex

. Ap p. –A ma r i l l o 20 01 , no pe t. ) , ev en i f th e i nd i v i du al tugs on his
w aistba nd. I w ould h old, as a ma tter of la w , notonly tha t the dete ntion w as illegal but also that the mot ion to suppress sh oul d hav e been g ra nted.

Br ian Qui nn Chief Justice Publ is h.