Case Name: Beneficio Tendia v. The State
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Jurisdiction: Texas
Decision Date: 1927-04-27
Citations: 111 Tex. Crim. 627
Docket Number: No. 10229
Parties: Beneficio Tendia v. The State.
Judges: 
Reporter: Texas Criminal Reports
Volume: 111
Pages: 627–633

Head Matter:
Beneficio Tendia v. The State.
No. 10229.
Delivered April 27, 1927.
Rehearing granted February 6, 1929.
The opinion states the case.
Louis D. Hill of San Marcos, for appellant.
A. A, Dawson of Canton, State’s Attorney, for the State.

Opinion:
MORROW, Presiding Judge.
The conviction is for the unlawful transportation of intoxicating liquor; .punishment fixed at confinement in the penitentiary for a period of one year.
A summary of the facts proved is as follows: Allen, the sheriff, having two Mexicans in his custody and while traveling upon the public road, met an automobile driven by the appellant Tendía. The sheriff was not acquainted with the appellant, but the latter was acquainted with one of the Mexicans, who was in' the sheriff's car. As he approached he waved his hand indicating that he desired that the car driven by the sheriff be stopped. It was stopped and the appellant got out of his car, walked to that occupied by the sheriff, and the Mexicans engaged in a conversation with each other. It appears that the appellant was a stranger in the country and did not know the sheriff: At least, this is the inference drawn from the evidence. Without disclosing his identity as an officer, the sheriff, while the appellant was conversing with one of the occupants of the sheriff's car, got out and walked to the car of the appellant which was standing on the road. He observed a grass sack on the floor of the car between the front and back seats. Observing that the grass sack contained something, the sheriff reached his hand into the car, raised the sack and observed a five-gallon jug which was laying on its side. He straightened the jug up and removed the stopper and found that it contained whisky. In making his observation he removed nothing. The sack was observable from his position in the road. At some time during the transaction, the sheriff asked the appellant what he had, and the appellant said it was water. According to the sheriff's best recollection, this occurred at the time he straightened the jug up.
Objection to the officer's testimony was made upon the ground that he was not possessed of a search warrant, and that the information which he conveyed to the jury was acquired in violation of the statutes of this state; also the Constitution of this state and the United States. Appellant refers to Art. 1, Sec. 9 of the Bill of Rights forbidding unreasonable searches and seizures "without probable cause" supported by oath or affirmation;" also Art. 4a, C. C. P., 1925, forbidding search without a warrant, and Art. 727a, C. C. P. 1925, which reads as follows:
"No evidence obtained by an officer or other person in violation of any provision of the constitution or laws of the State of Texas, or of the United States of America, shall be admitted in evidence against the accused on trial of any criminal case."
Under the law of this state, we have held in the case of Odenthal v. State, 290 S. W. R. 743, and Battle v. State, 290 S. W. R. 762, and now re-assert, that neither the Constitution of the State nor the statutes mentioned are violated in the search of an automobile upon the public road which is engaged in the transportation of intoxicating liquor when the officer making the search has probable cause therefor. By "probable cause" is meant:
"A reasonable ground of suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficiently strong in themselves to warrant a cautious man in the belief that the person accused is guilty of the offense with which he is charged." (Landa v. Obert, 45 Texas Report, 539.)
Another definition is: "If the facts and circumstances before the officer are such as to warrant a man of prudence and caution in believing that an offense has been committed, it is sufficient." See Carroll v. United States, 69 Law Ed. 543, 267 U. S. 132.
It is believed that the facts developed in the present instance are sufficient to meet the measure of the law touching probable cause. In other words, that the circumstances in the possession of the sheriff were sufficiently strong in themselves to warrant a cautious man in the belief that the appellant was transporting intoxicating liquor in this automobile.
Because the evidence is deemed sufficient to warrant the search by virtue of the authorities mentioned, and the facts disclosed are sufficient to support the conviction, the judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.