Opinion
WR-94,867-01
10-11-2023
EX PARTE MICHAEL CHASE JORDAN, Applicant
Do not publish
ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS CAUSE NO. 7152A IN THE 121ST DISTRICT COURT FROM TERRY COUNTY
ORDER
PER CURIAM
Applicant was convicted of possession of methamphetamine and sentenced to forty years' imprisonment. Applicant, through habeas counsel, filed this application for a writ of habeas corpus in the county of conviction, and the district clerk forwarded it to this Court. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 11.07.
Applicant says that the arresting officer had a criminal background, which included convictions for crimes of moral turpitude, but the State did not disclose this impeachment evidence to him before trial. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963); United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667 (1985). The trial prosecutor agrees that the arresting officer's criminal background should have been disclosed, but this was not done because she was not aware of it.
The officer arrested Applicant for suspicion of theft and failure to identify. The officer seized a camera bag that was in Applicant's possession. Methamphetamine was found in the bag during a search of it at the jail. The arresting officer had been in possession and control of Applicant's bag from the time he seized it to the time of its search at the jail. The trial court finds that the arresting officer's testimony "was necessary to obtain a conviction for the controlled substance. [] Without [the officer's] testimony, or if the jury did not believe [his] testimony, the State could not have obtained its conviction against Applicant." Based on the habeas record, and with the State's agreement, the trial court finds that the State violated Brady and that the conviction should be set aside.
The record does not show, however, that the criminal background belongs to the arresting officer. The trial court shall gather additional evidence and make additional findings detailing how the criminal background is known to belong to the arresting officer.
The trial court shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law within ninety days from the date of this order. The district clerk shall then immediately forward to this Court the trial court's findings and conclusions and the record developed on remand, including, among other things, affidavits, motions, objections, proposed findings and conclusions, orders, and transcripts from hearings and depositions. See Tex. R. App. P. 73.4(b)(4). Any extensions of time must be requested by the trial court and obtained from this Court.