Court Opinion

ID: 9653917
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 17:58:56.174756+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:03.642982
License: Public Domain

VOLLERS, Judge,
dissenting.
The majority passes upon the question presented in this case on the mistaken assumption that Officer Brackeen must have “probable cause” to arrest the appellant at the time he was initially stopped. This approach by the majority completely overlooks many cases decided by this Court holding that circumstances falling short of probable cause for arrest may justify a temporary detention for the purpose of investigation, since investigation is a lesser intrusion than an arrest. Coleman v. State, 500 S.W.2d 472; Ablon v. State, 537 S.W.2d 267; George v. State, 509 S.W.2d 347; Baity v. State, 455 S.W.2d 305.
I will agree that the information possessed by Officer Brackeen at the time he stopped appellant did not amount to probable cause. However, it was shown that he was aware that a 7-11 convenience store, located near the intersection of 49th Street and Memphis Avenue in Lubbock, Texas, had been the location of an armed robbery by a young black male wearing a multi-col-ored shirt. He was aware that this location was near 50th Street, which was a six-lane thoroughfare that connects east and west Lubbock. He was also aware that a large segment of the black community in Lubbock lives in East Lubbock and the location of this robbery was in West Lubbock. As Officer Brackeen was traveling toward the location of the robbery, approximately one-half mile from that location, he observed a vehicle heading east on 50th Street occupied by a young black male. At this point Officer Brackeen made a u-turn and observed the automobile driven by the young black male speed up slightly. At this point, appellant leaned forward and to the right as he was driving his vehicle and reduced his *768speed. With this basis of information it is apparent that Officer Brackeen was doing the job as an investigator that he was paid to do when he stopped the vehicle for further investigation. With his knowledge that an armed robbery had occurred and the person that he stopped might well be armed with a pistol, coupled with his observation that the driver of the vehicle leaned forward as if hiding a weapon, he prudently ordered appellant from the automobile with his hands up. This is simply logical and necessary police procedure in order to protect the safety of the officer so that he may continue his investigation. With the arrival of other officers, the automobile was checked to see if it contained a weapon and a loaded pistol was found under the dash of the vehicle. It was at this point that probable cause arose for the arrest of appellant and that a search of appellant and the rest of the vehicle was justified.
It is well settled that circumstances falling short of constituting probable cause for arrest may nevertheless justify a temporary detention for the purposes of investigation. White v. State (No. 57,667, delivered June 14, 1978); Shaffer v. State, 562 S.W.2d 853 (Tex.Cr.App.1978); Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1967). The standard applied in determining the reasonableness of such a stop under the Fourth Amendment has been held to be the existence of specific and articulable facts along with reasonable inferences therefrom which, in light of the experience and general knowledge of the officer, reasonably warrant such an intrusion. White v. State, supra; Armstrong v. State, 550 S.W.2d 25 (Tex.Cr.App.1976) (opinion of Onion, P. J., on Motion for Rehearing); Brown v. State, 481 S.W.2d 106 (Tex.Cr.App.1972); Terry v. Ohio, supra. It has been held that in order to satisfy this standard it must be shown that the police officer had a reasonable suspicion that some activity out of the ordinary had occurred; that there was some suggestion to connect the person detained with said unusual activity; and that the alleged unusual activity was criminal in nature. White v. State, supra; Shaffer v. State, supra; Armstrong v. State, supra. Furthermore, a weapons search incident to such a stop limited in scope to the purpose of allowing the officer to pursue his investigation without fear of violence is justified where the officer has reason to believe that the subject of the detention is armed and presently dangerous. Hooper v. State, 516 S.W.2d 941 (Tex.Cr.App.1975); Wood v. State, 515 S.W.2d 300 (Tex.Cr.App.1974); Terry v. Ohio, supra.
In the instant case, Officer Brackeen was acting on the basis of the following specific facts, of which he had reasonably trustworthy information: (1) there had been an armed robbery in close proximity to his location (within six blocks); (2) the robbery had occurred within five minutes of his decision to stop this suspect; (3) the suspect in the robbery was described as a young black male, the subject of this stop was a young black male; (4) when he swung around to follow this car, the driver speeded up slightly and then made a furtive gesture, as if hiding something under the seat; (5) the subject was proceeding eastbound on 50th Street and could have been coming more or less directly from the scene of the crime; (6) the section of town in which the robbery occurred was predominantly white, while the robber was black; and (7) 50th Street was a major east-west thoroughfare connecting the predominantly white with the predominantly black sections of town— the most direct route between the scene of the crime and east Lubbock. In the category of reasonable inferences from the facts, in light of the officer’s (six years’) experience and general knowledge are the following: (1) that the robber would probably be traveling by auto, although no report to that effect had been received; (2) that the robbery might very well be travelling eastbound on 50th Street, based on the fact that that street is a major east-west thoroughfare and the robber was black and the robbery occurred in the predominantly white section of town, not more than a block off of 50th Street.
These facts and inferences are sufficient to warrant a reasonble man in making an *769investigatory detention of the driver of the brown car which Officer Brackeen spotted heading eastbound on 50th Street; the officer at that time had a reasonable basis for his suspicion that this car was being driven by the man who had perpetrated the armed robbery a few short minutes before. The same facts and inferences which warranted the stop in the first place also warranted the belief that this suspect was armed and presently dangerous.1
In Wood v. State, supra, this Court upheld the search under the seat of an automobile as a limited weapons search in spite of the fact that the subjects of the stop were outside of the car at the time of the search. This Court said:
“The officer then searched under the seats of the Ford automobile, which appeared to be within four or six feet from the appellant and his companion. The record does not reflect that the same was a general exploratory search, but one limited to a search for weapons for the officer’s protection. The area which police may search for potential weapons in frisk situations is the same as that area which the police may search when making a search incident to a lawful arrest, and is the area within the lunge, grasp or reach of the suspect or suspects.”
In the instant case, the record reflects that appellant was standing just outside of his vehicle when the officer reached in under the dashboard, to a place toward which he had seen the appellant make a furtive gesture. In that place, underneath the dashboard on the driver’s side, he located a loaded pistol, which was cocked. The other items seized were also retrieved from an area toward which this officer had seen the appellant make a furtive gesture. The discovery and seizure of the pistol, the money and money bag and the hat were in the course of a search reasonably limited in scope to enable the officers to proceed with their investigation without fear of violence. Hooper v. State, supra; Wood v. State, supra; Brown v. State, supra; Terry v. Ohio, supra; Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 88 S.Ct. 1889, 20 L.Ed.2d 917 (1967).
This case is more similar on its facts to Hooper v. State, supra, although it is conceded that there the facts are stronger. That case involved a 7-11 robbery in Lubbock, Texas, as well. Also, the suspects were stopped in that ease by officers who had set up surveillance along the route which it was believed that the robbers, identified as black, would travel from the predominantly white to the predominantly black section of town. Shining a light into the car, the officers noticed that the passenger fit the general description they had received over the radio. Unlike the instant case, the car continued down the highway for approximately one mile before yielding to the officers’ flashing red lights. The defendants were stopped within 18 minutes of the robbery in Hooper. True, in Hooper, the defendant was described somewhat more particularly than in the instant case (six-foot to six-foot-two inches, black male, black leather coat or jacket, approximately 180 pounds). It is also true that a police unit had given chase to an automobile spotted in the area shortly after the robbery and had lost the car on a street connecting with the highway on which the defendants were ultimately stopped whereas in the instant case there was no direct information that the suspect was in a car at all. However, I do not feel that the distinctions between the two cases are sufficiently strong to call for different results. The description in the Hooper case is not significantly more detailed than that given in the instant case. And, although there was a chase of some nature before the ultimate stop in the Hooper case, it was never clear that the vehicle chased was the same as the vehicle stopped, nor was there any solid *770evidence that the vehicle chased was actually involved in the robbery — it was merely seen in the neighborhood shortly thereafter.
Since the officer properly made an investigatory stop, I dissent to the reversal of this cause.

. Although Officer Brackeen did not testify directly on the question of whether he feared the subject to be armed, his actions, which appear from his testimony and that of other officers who investigated the crime, demonstrate that he had such apprehension. Thus the record discloses that Brackeen stood behind the door of his police unit, gun drawn and pointed at appellant, while he ordered him out of his car and ordered him to place his hands on the roof of his car. See, e. g., Wood v. State, supra; and Hooper v. State, supra.