Second Court of Appeals | Case Summaries

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued – Week of July 16, 2007

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions can be accessed by clicking the cause number then clicking View HTML Version of Opinion.

Martinez v. State, No. 02-06-00088-CR (July 19, 2007) (Livingston, J., joined by Walker and McCoy, JJ.).: Held: The trial court did not err by denying Appellant's motion to suppress. The police officer's removal of passenger from car and subsequent search of his person were not illegally prolonged and were "reasonable" because the driver of the vehicle had been arrested and the officers had articulable facts indicating that the passenger may have had a weapon. Further, the juvenile passenger's statement that his father—the driver—gave him the bag of drugs to hide was admissible because it was nontestimonial. The officers saw the suspicious bulge in the juvenile's pants, and asked him what the bulge was while they were still securing the scene for weapons.
In re J.R.S., No. 02-06-00448-CV (July 19, 2007) (Gardner, J., joined by Dauphinot and Holman, JJ.).: Held: Family code section 263.405(b), which requires an Appellant to file a statement of points for appeal within fifteen days of a trial court's final order in a termination proceeding brought by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, does not apply to proceedings not brought by the Department.