Terry Lynn Stevens v. State, 03-14-00483-CR

Background

Defendant Terry Lynn Stevens was arrested May 9, 2013 after a white pickup backed into a gated-apartment fence; an eyewitness saw the truck at the gate and saw it roll back into the fence; officer encountered Stevens exiting the driver’s side.
Officer Boucher observed strong signs of intoxication (staggering, slurred speech, odor of alcohol), administered field sobriety tests, and arrested Stevens; an opened beer was found in the truck.
Stevens refused a voluntary blood draw; officer obtained a warrant based on an affidavit and blood was drawn, testing 0.25 g/100ml.
At trial the court admitted the blood-test results over Stevens’s motion to suppress (challenging the affidavit), and admitted recorded jail calls in which Stevens made statements about parking/backing the truck at the gate.
Jury convicted Stevens of felony DWI (habitual-offender enhancements); Stevens received life. The State argues (on appeal) the warrant affidavit was sufficient, any error was harmless, operation evidence was sufficient, and the jail-call recordings were properly admitted under Rule 403.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Stevens)	Held
1. Sufficiency of warrant affidavit for blood warrant	Affidavit provided enough facts (time, place, eyewitness report of vehicle at gate, officer observations of intoxication, refusal) for magistrate to infer driver nexus and probable cause	Affidavit was conclusory: no facts tying Stevens to operation, no clear public-place allegation, no timing connecting incident to officer contact	Trial court declined to suppress; appellate brief defends that magistrate had substantial basis and any error was harmless given overwhelming non-blood evidence of intoxication
2. Legal sufficiency of evidence that Stevens "operated" vehicle	Eyewitness (resident) and officer testimony plus Stevens’s recorded jail admissions establish he operated the truck in a public place	Stevens contends operation not proven—affidavit and evidence insufficient to tie him to driving	State: evidence legally sufficient; court should find jury could rationally infer operation from totality (witnesses + admissions)
3. Admission of recorded jail phone calls (Rule 403)	Calls were highly probative (admissions about handling/parking truck) and not merely cumulative; prejudicial effect (shows custody) did not substantially outweigh probative value	Recordings cumulative and unduly prejudicial because they reveal defendant was in custody when made	Trial court applied balancing (implicit on record) and overruled objection; State urges discretion proper and admission not an abuse
4. Harmless-error standard if warrant affidavit deficient	Even if blood evidence admitted error, constitutional harmless standard (Tex. R. App. P. 44.2(a)) is met because other evidence (video, officer testimony, FSTs, jail calls, admissions) would secure guilt beyond reasonable doubt	Admission of blood evidence was prejudicial and central enough to require reversal if affidavit defective	State argues beyond a reasonable doubt that any error did not contribute to conviction given overwhelming alternative evidence

Key Cases Cited

Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (probable cause review applies a totality-of-the-circumstances test and courts should afford Magistrate's probable-cause determinations deference)
Swearingen v. State, 143 S.W.3d 808 (Texas guidance on deference in post hoc review of magistrate-issued warrants)
State v. McLain, 337 S.W.3d 268 (discusses standard of review for suppression rulings and magistrate deference)
Stovall v. State, 440 S.W.3d 661 (recognizes common-sense inferences about prompt response to reported vehicle accidents and breath/blood test refusals)
Cotton v. State, 686 S.W.2d 140 (examples of observable signs of intoxication supporting intoxication findings)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (legal-sufficiency standard: whether any rational trier of fact could have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt)