Court Opinion

ID: 9671958
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:46:12.298228+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:13.389981
License: Public Domain

NYE, Chief Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the majority opinion that the officers had probable cause to arrest appellant for suspected theft, but I disagree with the majority to the extent that probable cause “evaporated” when Officer Torres discovered that the television, belonging to the motel, was still in the room. I believe that the original arrest for theft of the television was lawful and the officers were entitled to seize and examine it. Because the original arrest was lawful, the police were also authorized to make an additional arrest for any other offense unexpectedly discovered during the course of investigation. Byrd v. State, 447 S.W.2d 936, 937 (Tex.Crim.App.1969). Here, the police officers knew appellant had committed prior burglaries and was a known criminal. They had information that he was a heroin addict. The person who registered the motel room from which appellant was exiting had used an alias and a nonexistent address. Appellant was in the company of a known fence. The officers saw appellant leaving the motel room with a television set. Officer Kemp testified that as they came out of the motel room, he saw them “look around real suspicious, like he was looking for some kind of police ear or something, .... ”
I would hold that probable cause had not “evaporated” when the officers realized that the appellant had not stolen the television set from the room he had just exited. Upon further investigation, the police also discovered that the serial number on the television had been removed. Those facts which constituted probable cause to believe that a theft had been in progress could certainly be carried over to found a reasonable suspicion that another crime had been committed upon their discovery that the television set which appellant furtively carried from the motel room was missing a serial number. The officers were in a situation in which, of necessity, they were required to act quickly. Even though their original suspicion that appellant was in the process of stealing a television from room 108 did not prove correct, further investiga*712tion, revealing a missing serial number on the television, in addition to all of the other circumstances which originally caused their suspicion were enough to constitute probable cause. The missing serial number gave police just cause to investigate further. The investigation eventually led to the discovery of various stolen items as part of an inventory search of the trunk. It is my opinion that the items found as a result of this search were properly admitted into evidence.
I agree that, by appellant’s fifth ground of error, the case must he reversed. Therefore, I concur in the result.