TX14: Defendant was not “stopped” when officer approached and demanded he answer questions

Defendant was not stopped and was free to go when the officer parked near and in front of him but not blocking him, shone the police car spotlight in his face, and demanded to know what he was doing there. Johnson v. State, 359 S.W.3d 725 (Tex. App.—Houston (14th Dist.) 2011) (concurring judge found reasonable suspicion)*:

In summary, viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling, the evidence supports implicit findings that during the initial interaction between Johnson and Hendrie (1) Hendrie approached Johnson’s vehicle, which was backed into a parking spot outside the gate of an apartment complex at night with its lights on and engine running; (2) Hendrie parked his police vehicle at an angle that partially blocked Johnson’s egress but did not prevent him from maneuvering around him and driving away; (3) Hendrie shined his police vehicle’s spotlight inside Johnson’s car; (4) Hendrie did not activate his siren or emergency lights, or use a bullhorn or loudspeaker to communicate with Johnson; (5) Hendrie approached Johnson’s car and asked, “What’s going on, what are you doing out here?” and requested Johnson’s identification; and (6) Hendrie did not carry a flashlight, draw a weapon, order Johnson to put his hands up, or otherwise inform him that he was being detained. On these facts, the trial court could have concluded that a reasonable person in Johnson’s position would have believed that he was free to ignore Hendrie’s requests or terminate the interaction, and therefore the initial interaction between Hendrie and Johnson was a voluntary encounter rather than a Fourth Amendment seizure.

[Note: This is utter fiction and shows that appellate judges haven’t a clue as to what happens in criminal court or on the streets. The purpose of shining the light in the driver’s face is to control the situation and disorient him. It shows to me that he was stopped. With these facts the officer did not have a flashlight becomes meaningless and not supportive of anything. When the officer approaches on foot, it certainly is to block egress. Thus, what person in his right mind would think that he could drive off? If you try to leave and the officer has to move, at least around here, they’d charge you with aggravated assault on a police officer. If you, heaven forbid, touch the police officer jumping in front of you, they’d charge you with attempted capital murder. Practice Pointer: Develop the facts that the officer was positioned such that defendant could not really leave and no person in his right mind would seriously think he was not detained. Again, develop the cross in such a way that when you ask the officer what he’d do if the defendant ignored him and drove off; 9 times out of 10 he’d say defendant would be stopped for ignoring a police officer’s commands. Then, by the officer’s own admission he was not free to leave.]