Court Opinion

ID: 9769821
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 15:02:47.903968+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:08.343079
License: Public Domain

KELLER, Judge,
concurring.
I write separately to comment on the appropriate standard of review. Although it does not expressly say so, the majority opinion apparently decides de novo that the circumstances in the present case do not constitute reasonable suspicion to detain appellant’s vehicle for further investigation. I agree with this approach. As I stated in my concurring opinion in Villarreal, appellate courts must always give deference to trial courts’ determinations of historical fact, but some application of law to fact questions warrant de novo review. Villarreal v. State, 935 S.W.2d 134, 145-150 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996) (Keller, J. concurring)
The Supreme Court has mandated, in the federal system, de novo review of what circumstances constitute reasonable suspicion. Ornelas v. United States, — U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996). While *249we may not be bound to apply the same standard in the state system, we should seriously consider following the Supreme Court’s lead when federal constitutional issues are involved. Villarreal, 985 S.W.2d at 149. I believe there is good reason to follow the Supreme Court’s lead here. Whether a certain set of circumstances gives rise to reasonable suspicion should be viewed de novo because doing so will advance uniform outcomes and provide guidance for law enforcement behavior. Id. at 148 (citing Thompson v. Keohane, — U.S. -, -, 116 S.Ct. 457, 467, 133 L.Ed.2d 383 (1995)). While reasonable suspicion is a “fluid concept,” that is “not readily, or even usefully, reduced to a neat set of legal rules,” a case-by-case de novo evaluation is nevertheless desirable as a way to “reduce the area of uncertainty.” Villarreal, 935 S.W.2d at 147 & 148 (quoting from Ornelas, —— U.S. at -, 116 S.Ct. at 1661 and Thompson, — U.S. at - n. 13, 116 S.Ct. at 466 n. 13). Indeed, because the concept of reasonable suspicion acquires content only through application, de novo review is “necessary if appellate courts are to maintain control of, and to clarify the legal principles.” Villarreal, 935 S.W.2d at 149 (quoting from Ornelas, — U.S. at -, 116 S.Ct. at 1661-1662, 134 L.Ed.2d at 919).
In his dissenting opinion, Judge Meyers contends that my reliance upon Ornelas is misplaced because the Supreme Court “did not address the appropriate standard of review for discretionary review courts ... but ... set out the appropriate standard of review for appellate courts reviewing trial court decisions.” Dissenting op. at 251 n. 1 (emphasis in original, ellipses inserted). But in Ornelas, the Supreme Court, a discretionary review court, recognized that it had conducted de novo reviews, and the Court referred to its own practice to support its holding that lower appellate courts should do the same. — U.S. at -, 116 S.Ct. at 1661-1662, 134 L.Ed.2d at 919.
In this vein, the Supreme Court cited Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949) and Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990). Ornelas, — U.S. at -, 116 S.Ct. at 1661-1662, 134 L.Ed.2d at 919. In Brinegar, the trial court held that government agents lacked probable cause to search the defendant’s car. 338 U.S. at 163, 69 S.Ct. at 1304-1305 (The trial court denied the defendant’s motion to suppress on an alternate ground). The Court of Appeals took the same view as the trial court. Id. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court disagreed with the lower courts after conducting a de novo review based upon Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 — despite the fact that neither of the courts below had considered the Carroll case. Brinegar, 338 U.S. at 164 n. 3, 171, & 171 n. 10, 69 S.Ct. at 1305 n. 3, 1308, 1308 n. 10. In White, the Supreme Court held that an anonymous tip, combined with the particular corroborating facts present in the case, gave rise to reasonable suspicion. 496 U.S. at 332, 110 S.Ct. at 2417. The Court of Appeals opinion to the contrary was overturned, even though the Supreme Court characterized the case as a “close” one. Id.
Hence, the Supreme Court has recognized that it may, but need not, remand a ease to a lower appellate court to conduct a de novo review under the proper standards. The Supreme Court has also explained that it will not defer to any de novo determinations made by lower appellate courts but will conduct its own de novo review in these types of eases. While statements by the Supreme Court in Ornelas concerning its own practice of de novo review may technically be dicta in that case, such statements are an (accurate) assessment of the holdings of other Supreme Court cases and should not be lightly dismissed.
Unlike the dissent, I do not believe that Arcila v. State, 834 S.W.2d 357 (Tex.Crim. App.1992) requires a different result. Arcila is concerned with our review of a lower appellate court’s resolution of factual issues, not with application-of-law-to-fact questions that are treated as questions of law. Id. at 360 (“ultimate responsibility for the resolution of factual disputes lies elsewhere”) (emphasis added) & 361 (“we decline to substitute our own judgment on ultimate questions of fact .for that of the lower courts”) (emphasis added). In his concurring opinion in Villarreal, Judge Clinton correctly recognized that the *250appropriate standards of review on appeal and on discretionary review are “functionally identical” questions. 935 S.W.2d at 143 (Clinton, J., concurring). The interest in uniformity of outcomes that supports conducting a de novo review applies equally to direct appeal and discretionary review proceedings. Id. To leave constitutional norm elaboration solely to the courts of appeals would substantially thwart the purpose of requiring de novo review: uniformity is best achieved with one interpretation rather than fourteen. The critical inquiry is whether the issue before us is the kind of issue subject to de novo review. If it is, then Arcila is inapplicable. With these comments, I join the majority opinion.
McCORMICK, P.J., joins.