Court Opinion

ID: 9771871
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:57:13.476125+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:38.703819
License: Public Domain

STEPHEN F. PRESLAR, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The State has failed in several ways to meet its burden to sustain a judgment of forfeiture under the Controlled Substances Act, Tex.Rev.Civ.StatAnn. art. 4476-15 (Vernon Supp.1986), hereinafter the “Act.”
I would sustain Appellant’s Points of Error Nos. One, Two and Three; the State has not proved by a preponderance of the evidence that it is entitled to a judgment of forfeiture. Secondly, the Act specifies certain crimes for which forfeiture may occur and the evidence does not connect the currency with any such proscribed penal offense. In fact, it cannot in this case, because the offense with which the defendant is charged is not one of those specified in the Act. Thirdly, the record will not support a judgment of forfeiture because the evidence presented by the State was never ruled on by the court as being admissible, and the failure of the court to rule on the admissibility of the evidence is reversible error.
The State’s case was based on items seized in the residence of the’ accused. When these items were offered in evidence, the defendant objected to their admission on the basis that the proffered evidence was obtained as a result of the execution of an insufficient search warrant, was therefore obtained illegally, and was inadmissible under the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule applies to forfeiture proceed*73ings. One Plymouth Sedan v. Pennsylvania, 380 U.S. 693, 85 S.Ct. 1246, 14 L.Ed.2d 170 (1965); Jonas v. City of Atlanta, 647 F.2d 580 (5th Cir.1981); Vance v. United States, 676 F.2d 183 (5th Cir.1982); Tex.Code Crim.Pro.Ann., art. 38.23 (Vernon 1979). Its application to this case is not questioned. A motion to suppress was pending in another court in a criminal trial and the State argued that the court could not rule on the admissibility of the evidence in this civil case because of the pendency of the question in the criminal case. The trial court accepted that argument and maintained that position throughout the trial. There is no motion to suppress filed in this case; the majority seems to assume there is in upholding a waiver position. The defendant’s verified answer denies the facts alleged in the search warrant, but there is no motion to suppress. The prayer in defendant’s pleading was for relief on final hearing with no mention of any motion. The only motion involved is in the criminal trial. Because of the pendency of that motion, the court in this case took the position that it should not rule on the admissibility of the State’s evidence. The court granted Appellant a standing objection to the evidence, and Appellant made additional objections to the State’s evidence to the very end, but the court never ruled, except subject to the suppression motion. One thing is clear — if the evidence was admitted, it was on a conditional basis. The State takes the position that the court was correct in not ruling because there had not been a Franks motion as a prerequisite for going behind the search warrant. Citing: Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978). This position is untenable because this is a civil suit controlled by the rules of civil procedure. It is elementary that the plaintiff in a civil case must prove his case and establish his entitlement to recovery and there is no burden on the defendant to do anything. Those elementary rules apply here, and the plaintiff, by not presenting admissible evidence and having it admitted under the court’s ruling, has not made a case. The court has applied criminal rules to a civil case at the urging of the plaintiff, and has been led into error which is charged to the plaintiff. Even under the criminal rule, Appellant would be entitled to a ruling, for Article 38.23 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Texas statutory exclusionary rule), in providing that evidence obtained in violation of the statutes or Constitutions of the United States or State of Texas shall not be admitted, further provides:
In any case where the legal evidence raises an issue hereunder, the jury shall be instructed that if it believes, or has a reasonable doubt, that the evidence was obtained in violation of the provisions of this Article, then and in such event, the jury shall disregard any such evidence so obtained.
Citing Article 38.23, Appellee urges that an adverse ruling must be obtained in order to preserve error and that Appellant has waived this ground of error. Not so. No such motion was required of the defendant in this civil case. Appellant did all he was required to do to preserve error as to the admissibility of the plaintiff’s evidence by timely objecting to it on proper specific grounds. Because no motion to suppress was filed in this case, it therefore was not pending and could not be the subject of a waiver contention. Waiver is not involved as a matter of law. There is no waiver factually. Appellant made strenuous objections initially and throughout the trial, including the last offering that Appellee made of its total evidence. Also, the court gave Appellant a continuing objection from beginning to end. Appellee, and the majority, rely on six cases, for waiver. None are applicable here. Mayfield v. State, 649 S.W.2d 361 (Tex.App.—2nd Dist.1983, PDRR), has no application here. There the motion in limine of the State was granted and the defendant did not ever offer the evidence excluded by the motion. It was held that the error was not preserved. In McMinn v. State, 640 S.W.2d 86 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1982, PDRR), the defendant contended on appeal that the introduction of the tire plugging tool violated the court’s order for discovery. However, the *74proof was that no such order was ever entered. That has no application here. In De La Garza v. State, 650 S.W.2d 870 (Tex.App.—4th Dist.1983, PDRR), the holding was that a motion in limine alone is not sufficient to preserve error; that there must be an objection to the evidence when offered. Marek v. Baylor County, 430 S.W.2d 220, 222 (Tex.Civ.App.—Eastland 1968, writ ref'd n.r.e.), concerned a contention on appeal that the trial court erred in overruling the special exceptions. The record did not show that the exceptions were ever presented to the court for ruling. That has no application here. In Hicks v. Fredericks, 286 S.W.2d 315, 318 (Tex.Civ.App.—Beaumont 1955, no writ), the point on appeal, that the court erred in overruling the defendant’s motion for a mistrial, was held to be no good where the record did not show that the motion was ever presented to the trial court. The parties also argue the application of the Fifth Circuit ruling in U.S. v. Renteria, 625 F.2d 1279 (5th Cir.1980). Citing Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the court there held that there must be a ruling on suppression matters. As has been seen, our Article 38.22 is very similar to the federal rule. However, it must be noted that those are criminal matters and would ordinarily have no application in this civil case, except by analogy. Renteria was based on Fourth Amendment rights involving the question of taking of property without due process of law, a matter present here. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, it is applicable to the State in a criminal trial.
The essence of the matter presented here is that the plaintiff did not make its case. It offered evidence, the admissibility of which was put in issue. The court never ruled on that question of admissibility, but left it to a case pending in another court — a criminal case involving a different criminal offense from the one relied on here. Hence, the evidence was not admitted, and in the absence of the evidence to establish the plaintiff’s case, it must fail. The error becomes a glaring injustice when we look at the judgment arising out of this proceeding; what kind of a final judgment do we have in this civil case when it is contingent on a yet-to-be-heard motion, pending in yet another court in a criminal trial? What validity do we have when that court may, at a later date, declare inadmissible the evidence on which this judgment is based? If the evidence was conditionally admitted, then, at best, we have a “conditional judgment.” No such creature exists in Texas law. We should strike it down here, in this Court.
In regard to Appellant’s points of error on the sufficiency of the evidence, it appears there is no need to review the evidence because as a matter of law there can be no forfeiture here. That is so because the penal offense involved here is not one of those enumerated in the Act which permits forfeiture. The offense here is possession. The owner of the currency is charged only with possession, and under the Act, possession is not one of the enumerated offenses. Forfeiture exists in the United States only by virtue of statute. There is no common law forfeiture in Texas or the other states. Annot., 3 A.L.R.2d 740 (1949). In State v. Richards, 157 Tex. 166, 301 S.W.2d 597 (1957), our Supreme Court set out the fact that though the forfeiture case is a civil proceeding, it involves a penal offense, that is, one of those enumerated in the statute permitting forfeiture. Before there can be a forfeiture, one of the enumerated penal offenses must be established and a link must be shown between that offense and the object forfeited. Henderson v. State, 669 S.W.2d 385 (Tex.App.—4th Dist.1984, no pet.); Bickers v. State, 646 S.W.2d 668 (Tex.App.—5th Dist. 1983, no pet.); Mosse v. State, 332 S.W.2d 383 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1960, no writ). In Henderson, the court said:
The issue is that the money found in appellant’s pocket derived from a violation of the Act and required proof, either by direct or circumstantial evidence, of a connection or a link between that money and the offense. A police officer witnessing a sale or delivery of controlled *75substances and an exchange of money is such an example.
The court then held:
While the circumstantial evidence in this case may make it more likely than not that defendant had been trafficking in controlled substances, on the other hand, it fails to raise even a surmise linking the $903.00 with the violation of the Controlled Substances Act.
So it is in the case before us. There is no evidence linking the money with a violation of the Controlled Substances Act. In fact, as noted, no one has been charged with a violation of the Act. That makes this case like the Bickers case, supra. There the defendant was charged with transporting cocaine and forfeiture of his Mercedes automobile was sought by the State. Prior to the forfeiture trial, he plea-bargained for a guilty plea of possession. The Dallas Court of Appeals reversed the forfeiture judgment because the plea bargain agreement and conviction for unlawful possession “failed to establish the essential ground warranting forfeiture of the Mercedes, i.e., its transport of contraband cocaine for delivery.” The forfeiture judgment in the case before us cannot stand for the same reason; possession is not an enumerated penal offense under the Act.
The constitutional issues arising in civil forfeiture cases under the Act are discussed in State v. Richards, supra, and make it obvious that the forfeitures which meet constitutional muster are those enumerated in the Act. That must mean that there can be no forfeiture where, as here, there is no charge of one of the enumerated violations.
Although under my view there is no need to discuss the evidence points, the majority has written on them and my views need to be added since I disagree with the majority. Appellant has two assignments of error as to the lack of evidence to support the forfeiture judgment. The State briefs only one of them. In reviewing them, we note that the proof must be by a preponderance of the evidence. The Act itself provides by Section 5.07(b) that if the owner has filed a verified answer denying that the property is subject to forfeiture, as was done in this case, then the burden is on the State to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is subject to forfeiture. Preponderance of the evidence is also the case law holding. See: Henderson, supra; One 1984 Ford v. State, 698 S.W.2d 279 (Tex.App.—2nd Dist.1985, no writ). All of the evidence in this case which the State relies on is circumstantial. To establish a fact by circumstantial evidence, the circumstances relied upon must have probative force sufficient to constitute a basis of legal inference. It is not enough that they raise a mere surmise or suspicion of existence of fact or permit purely speculative conclusion. Lumbermen’s Underwriting Alliance v. Bell, 594 S.W.2d 569 (Tex.Civ.App.—Tyler 1980, ref'd n.r.e.); Transport Insurance Company v. Campbell, 582 S.W.2d 173 (Tex.Civ.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1979, writ ref’d n.r.e.). The plaintiff relies on Valles v. State, 646 S.W.2d 636 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1983, no writ), for its position that the burden of proof was that under the circumstances raised by the evidence it was more reasonably probable than not that the recovered money was derived from the sale of controlled substances. Valles cannot be read to set a standard less than a preponderance of the evidence. The statement that the test is more probably than not is attributed to Freeman v. Texas Compensation Insurance Co., 586 S.W.2d 172 (Tex.Civ.App.—Fort Worth 1979), affirmed as modified, 603 S.W.2d 186 (1980), and that is not the holding of that case. It is a worker’s compensation case dealing with presumptions of the worker being on the job at the time of death. Also, a reading of Valles shows that it was, in fact, decided on the basis of a preponderance of the evidence. The standard of proof is the same for circumstantial evidence as direct evidence. Freeman, supra.
The proposition to be proved by a preponderance of the evidence under the State’s pleading is that the “currency was derived from the sale, or distribution or delivery” *76of cocaine. Nothing more than that is involved, as that is the sole basis pled for forfeiture, and we are concerned only with evidence concerning sale, distribution or delivery. There is no contention or argument as to “distribution” or “delivery” or evidence on either of those things, so they are out. So, our sole concern is with “sale.” As to that, the State argued in the trial court, and in this Court, that the cash was not necessarily the direct proceeds of the sale, but rather that it was “derived” from the sale “and derived is not defined in the act.” “[N]owhere in our pleadings does it indicate all or some or any part of this money is particularly related to the sale of cocaine.” That raises the question: if the money was not derived by sale, how was it derived? And in that connection we note that a finding that “the money was derived” would not settle anything under the Act and permit forfeiture. Derived is not a penal offense under the Act, or otherwise, standing alone.
In its brief, the State argues for sufficiency of proof by saying that the quantity of drugs, the type of paraphernalia and an article on how to launder money, coupled with the presence of $56,700.00 in $100.00 bills, is sufficient circumstantial evidence to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the $56,700.00 was linked to the sale, distribution or delivery of a controlled substance. The quantity of cocaine, not counting its additives, was some three-fourths of one ounce. Whether this would be considered a small or large quantity is of no consequence because it has no bearing on the question of whether it was for sale or not. Amrani-Khaldi v. State, 575 S.W.2d 667 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1978, no writ), holds that the sheer quantity involved does not provide an inference that the drug was being transported for delivery. As to the State’s contention that the type of the paraphernalia has any bearing on sales, it is obvious that all the cocaine instruments were for preparing it for use — to measure it into dosage by the scales, to mix it/blend it by the grinders, to portion it out by the other items, and to sniff it by the tubes involved. All of those items are consistent with use and not sale. Obviously it could be sold in most any form, either in its pure form, or blended. As to some article on how to launder money, the State commits egregious error in arguing that, because there is no such evidence. A single question was asked by the assistant district attorney if such an article was in an Esquire magazine found in the residence; objection was promptly made and promptly sustained and the question was withdrawn by the assistant district attorney. The fact of this money coming from sales is simply not established by the evidence. Although an ultimate fact may be shown by wholly circumstantial evidence, if the circumstances relied on are equally consistent with the evidence of nonexistence of the ultimate fact sought to be established they do not constitute evidence of that fact. Lopez v. Hernandez, 595 S.W.2d 180 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1980, no writ); Transport Insurance Company, supra. The paraphernalia involved here is more likely to be for personal use than for sales of cocaine. The evidence indicates that it is not too different from a personal bar where one mixes different mixtures with alcohol, measures out the quantities with shot glasses and serves it up in different kinds and sizes of glasses for different drinks. The equipment used in this drug mixing-for-use is not unlike the equipment used for mixing drinks, yet we are prejudiced by the drug paraphernalia. Our abhorrence of the one drug and our acceptance of the other does not transform use to sale. Resolving the question of whether the items in evidence here are for use or sale is merely a guess, and it’s a guess against the facts to select sale because there is no evidence of any kind about any sale — none. There is no evidence of the owner ever before, in any way, being connected with the drug business or sales. To the contrary, he is a respected, highly successful architect. One of his buildings is that of the Border Tobacco Company, located one block from the Courthouse, as to which we can take judicial notice that it is an outstanding example *77of architectural work. The amount of money involved is nothing compared to the projects which the witnesses testified that this architect had worked on and was working on. Involved here was the construction of a night club and the remodeling of a hotel. There was evidence that he had built some twelve or fifteen buildings during a period of over twenty years for one of the witnesses, one being a candy factory; that he had built the Cliff Medical Center, and had been the architect for the City of El Paso. The two principal witnesses for the State testified there had not been any purchases of drugs from Harry Farah by any of their agents. The plaintiffs principal witness also testified that the residence that was later searched was under surveillance for thirty days and nothing suspicious was noted. The circumstances relied upon here simply do not have probative force sufficient to constitute a basis of legal inference that the currency involved was derived from the sale of cocaine. There is no fact from which a circumstance can be inferred. Before there can be an inference drawn in a circumstantial evidence matter, there must be a fact giving rise to it. That very elementary rule is ignored here by the majority. Not one fact about sales is mentioned — even the State does not contend there is evidence of sales — witness its argument in both the trial court and this Court that it does not so contend. It makes this argument because it cannot point to any evidence of sales in the record of this trial. The majority opinion also avoids the critical question of evidence of sales in passing on the points of error raising it. The owner of the money had no duty to prove anything, but doubts are dispelled by his plausible explanation of the source of the money. Long-time El Paso merchants testified to their requirement of payment in American dollars; that they did not extend credit to residents of Mexico, accept checks on Mexican banks, or take payment in pesos. They were due the money here involved and trusted Farah to collect it for them in dollars. He was not the buyer or seller, but simply the architect who recommended use of the items which in turn were bought by his clients from the American merchants through his order. Because I can find no evidence in the record, and most certainly no preponderance thereof, that the currency found in this man’s “castle,” his home, is derived from the sale of a controlled substance, I cannot agree to the overruling of the points of error thereon. Citation of the rules will not pass for evidence or be beneficial in this instance; the case presents a single, simple proposition regarding the evidence to sustain a finding that the currency was derived from the sales of cocaine. In determining that question, it makes no difference that the court is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony, that if no findings of fact are made it is presumed all facts necessary to support the judgment were found, and that certain rules are followed in determining no evidence and insufficient evidence points of error. We can admit that, in support of its judgment, the court found the issue of sales against the Appellant, but there has to be some evidence of sales before we reach an issue of the credibility of the witnesses thereof; and there must be some evidence of sales before the reviewing court can view that evidence in any particular light. Application of the rule on the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony in this case would result in: no-person’s testimony of sales versus longtime businessmen of El Paso as to the source of the money. Preponderance of the evidence on that issue comes down to speculation of sales versus direct evidence from the merchants. The ruling is that every element of the plaintiff’s case is established by a preponderance of the evidence when speculation is balanced against direct evidence. I cannot agree. We cannot use those rules to deny Appellant an answer to his question of what evidence justifies the confiscation of his property. Citation of evidence that is not pertinent to the issue does not suffice either. If there is evidence of sales, it should be pointed out so that it can be evaluated and weighed openly. The Act which permits the confis*78cation requires a preponderance; that means that the evidence must preponderate on each and every element of the case for forfeiture. The standard of proof required is the same for circumstantial as for direct evidence. Freeman v. State, 654 S.W.2d 450 (Tex.Crim.App.1983). Due process under both the United States and Texas Constitutions requires that the property to be forfeited was used in an illegal manner. Money is derivative contraband; its possession, without more, is legal, as distinguished from contraband per se. See: One Plymouth Sedan, supra. Only the criminal offenses listed in the Act will meet that test and permit the confiscation of property-
As has been discussed earlier, confiscation occurred in this case without the trial court ever ruling on the admissibility of the evidence offered to justify it. The failure to rule is error that cannot be explained away or denominated harmless.
When Appellant objected to the evidence offered by the State, he was entitled to either have it admitted or rejected in order to protect his rights; that he is entitled to some ruling in order to be able to show the error of the court’s ruling is elementary. If it was admitted, he is in a position to assign error. Rule 103, Tex.R.Evid. It is obvious that he cannot be denied that right by the refusal of the court to rule; and the error is compounded when this Court upholds some kind of conditional ruling that the evidence may or may not become admissible after judgment is rendered, depending on what happens in another court in another trial, and that based on criminal law applied to this civil case. It cannot be labeled “harmless error” when the entire case hinges on its admissibility and a final judgment is entered. As to that judgment, Appellant’s rights' are forever lost regardless of how the other court rules, if it ever does; for there is no guarantee the trial will ever occur. And the only place that final judgment can be corrected is here in this appeal.
As has been discussed, the failure of the court to rule means the evidence was not admitted and no case was made. Reversal and rendition is mandated.
There has been no waiver. A proper ground of objection was made from beginning to end — the exclusionary rule. Neither the clarity and validity of the objection nor the application of that rule are challenged. There were clear objections to the evidence, not to be confused with the urging of some motion. The error assigned in this Court is also clear on that point. It is:
III.
WHETHER ALTERNATIVELY, THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN RECEIVING THE STATE’S EVIDENCE WITHOUT RULING ON THE APPELLANT’S OBJECTION TO THE SEARCH AND SEIZURE BASED ON THE FEDERAL AND STATE CONSTITUTIONS. (Emphasis added).
The error has not been made harmless by this Court now deciding that the search warrant was valid. That was never decided in the trial court. The court held throughout that it could not rule on it. As has been seen, the State as plaintiff in this civil case has the burden of proof; defendant had no obligation to prove anything, search warrant or otherwise. Evidence was offered and he objected to it, giving a valid reason. He has preserved his error on admissibility of the evidence. Also, the court refused to allow the defendant to attack the warrant; and it ruled that the validity of the warrant was not before the court, but was a matter pending in another court. The record is clear that the Appellant was not allowed to put the validity of the search warrant in issue. The court was positive in its position that “that is not before this court” and had no place in the hearing. Appellant was limited by the court to questioning the application of what is shown “on the face” of the warrant, but prohibited from asking questions which went to the verity of what was shown on the face. How can this Court rule on the validity of a matter still pending in another trial court? The issue was not tried and cannot pend before this Court on appeal. The State, with the burden of proof, argued throughout that it was not before the court. The trial court reiterated in its let*79ter to the lawyers, announcing its judgment, that the matter still pends in the other court. The grievous error here is that judgment has been entered as a final judgment. If this Court does not act on it, it remains final. It can never be changed. There is no procedure to change it when the other court rules on the search warrant in the criminal trial. Even if it turns out that the evidence in this case was not admissible, this judgment stands — based on it!
The judgment should be reversed.