Court Opinion

ID: 9642709
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 18:07:35.041299+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:51.643121
License: Public Domain

PATRICK A. PIRTLE, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the judgment of the Court. I agree with the majority’s analysis as to whether or not Officer Hayes had a reasonable basis to suspect that Appellant was or would soon be engaged in criminal activity. However, I respectfully disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the Officer’s interaction with Appellant amounted to no more than an encounter. I am of the opinion that facts and circumstances of this case amounted to an investigative detention.
An investigative detention occurs when a reasonable person would believe he or she was not free to leave and has yielded to a show of authority or has been physically forced to yield. California v. Hodari, D., 499 U.S. 621, 627-28, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 1551-52, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991). Therefore, an investigative detention may occur when a person in a parked car complies with a police officer’s order to roll down the window or open the door. Merideth v. State, 603 S.W.2d 872, 873 (Tex.Crim.App.1980); Ebarb v. State, 598 S.W.2d 842, 850 (Tex.Crim.App.1979); State v. Bryant, 161 S.W.3d 758 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2005, no pet.). Under the facts of this case, I am of the opinion that a reasonable person in Appellant’s position would not have felt free to drive away from Officer Hayes at any time during the incident. Therefore, I believe that the Officer’s request that Appellant step out of her vehicle constituted an investigative detention.