Opinion
No. 08-14-00013-CR
04-23-2014
THE STATE OF TEXAS, State, v. SILVIA FLORES, Appellee.
Appeal from the
County Criminal Court No. 4
of El Paso County, Texas
(TC# 20120C05196)
ORDER
Pending before the Court is the State's motion to abate the appeal in order for the trial court to make written findings of fact and conclusions of law. The State is appealing an order granting Appellee's motion to suppress her statements made to law enforcement officers. The trial court made verbal findings of fact and conclusions of law during the suppression hearing, but the State filed a request for written findings and conclusions. The trial court has not made any written findings and conclusions.
Upon the request of the losing party on a motion to suppress evidence, the trial court "must make findings of fact and conclusions of law adequate to provide an appellate court with a basis upon which to review the trial court's application of the law to the facts." State v. Cullen, 195 S.W.3d 696, 699 (Tex.Crim.App. 2006). If the trial court fails to make the required findings and conclusions, an appellate court may abate the appeal to allow the trial court to do so. Blocker v. State, 231 S.W.3d 595, 598 (Tex.App.--Waco 2007, no pet.).
At the conclusion of the suppression hearing, the trial court found that Appellee was in custody based on Appellee's subjective belief that she was not free to leave, but the court did not make any findings relevant to the objective factors which are determinative of the custody issue. See State v. Ortiz, 382 S.W.3d 367, 372-73 (Tex.Crim.App. 2012); Dowthitt v. State, 931 S.W.2d 244, 254-55 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996). Additionally, the court did not make any findings or conclusions regarding whether Appellee's statements were the product of custodial interrogation. Accordingly, the State's motion is GRANTED. We abate the appeal and direct the trial court to make the required written findings of fact and conclusions of law and file same with the trial court clerk on or before May 23, 2014. The trial court clerk is directed to file a supplemental clerk's record containing the written findings and conclusion no later than May 30, 2014. The State's brief will be due no later than thirty days from the date the supplemental clerk's record is filed in this Court.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 23rd day of April, 2014.
PER CURIAM Before McClure, C.J., Rivera and Rodriguez, JJ.