Christian Vernon Sims v. State
2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 6681
| Tex. App. | 2017Background
- Victim Annie Sims was found shot to death at home; her grandson Christian Vernon Sims (Sims) and his girlfriend Ashley Morrison were missing along with Annie's car, purse, credit cards, and at least one handgun.
- Sims and Morrison used Annie's credit card in McAlester, Oklahoma shortly after the homicide.
- Police, without a warrant, asked Sims' mobile carrier to "ping" his cellphone (real-time cell-site location) and tracked him northbound to a Sapulpa, Oklahoma truck stop and motel; officers located Annie's vehicle and arrested Sims and Morrison.
- Evidence obtained from the warrantless pinging led to discovery of the vehicle, the motel room, and ultimately to arrests; later warrant-based searches of Sims' phone and Facebook account were executed.
- Sims pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement but reserved the right to appeal the denial of his suppression motions, arguing (1) SCA and Texas Art. 18.21 violations require suppression, (2) the warrantless pinging violated the Fourth Amendment, and (3) the later search warrants lacked probable cause.
- The trial court denied suppression; the Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding statutory violations didn't mandate suppression, the pinging did not violate the Fourth Amendment under these facts, and the warrants supported probable cause.
Issues
| Issue | Sims' Argument | State's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether violations of the Federal Stored Communications Act or Texas Art. 18.21 require suppression of evidence obtained from carrier disclosure | SCA and Art. 18.21 were violated by warrantless carrier disclosure of location data and therefore evidence must be suppressed under Tex. Crim. Proc. Code art. 38.23 | The statutes provide exclusive civil remedies and do not create an exclusionary rule; suppression is not a remedy absent a concurrent constitutional violation | Rejected — suppression is not available for nonconstitutional violations of SCA or Art. 18.21; exclusivity provisions control over general exclusion statute |
| Whether the warrantless "pinging" of Sims' cellphone was a Fourth Amendment search | Pinging constituted a search of location data and was unconstitutional because it accessed third-party carrier records without a warrant | Real-time tracking of movements on public highways does not invade a legitimate expectation of privacy; no warrant required for tracking in public places | Rejected — no reasonable expectation of privacy in movements on public highways; pinging was not a Fourth Amendment violation in these circumstances |
| Whether the affidavit for the warrant to search Sims' cellphone contained probable cause | Affidavit was insufficient / analogous to Taunton (insufficient link to crime) | Affidavit contained nexus: relationship, suspicious behavior, stolen-card use, tracking to vehicle and arrests — establishes fair probability evidence would be on phone | Rejected — cellphone affidavit provided sufficient probable cause |
| Whether the affidavit for the warrant to search Sims' Facebook account contained probable cause | Facebook affidavit thinner and insufficient to show nexus to evidence of the crime | Affidavit recited account ownership, facts of murder, stolen-card use, tracking and arrest — supports fair probability evidence related to the murder would be on account | Rejected — Facebook affidavit supported probable cause |
Key Cases Cited
- State v. Kelly, 204 S.W.3d 808 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (standard of review for suppression rulings)
- Wiede v. State, 214 S.W.3d 17 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (same)
- United States v. Wallace, 857 F.3d 685 (5th Cir. 2017) (SCA violations do not carry exclusionary remedy for nonconstitutional violations)
- Ford v. State, 477 S.W.3d 321 (Tex. Crim. App. 2015) (discussion of expectations of privacy in cell-site location information)
- United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012) (long-term GPS monitoring implicates privacy concerns)
- United States v. Knotts, 460 U.S. 276 (1983) (no reasonable expectation of privacy in movements on public roads)
- Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (1983) (totality-of-the-circumstances standard for probable cause in warrant affidavits)
- Taunton v. State, 465 S.W.3d 816 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2015) (contrast — affidavit deficiencies when no nexus to suspect shown)
- Crider v. State, 352 S.W.3d 704 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011) (affidavits interpreted in common-sense manner)