De H Nguyen v. the State of Texas

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN NO. 03-23-00301-CR De H Nguyen, Appellant v. The State of Texas, Appellee FROM THE 207TH DISTRICT COURT OF COMAL COUNTY NO. CR2020-060, THE HONORABLE GARY L. STEEL, JUDGE PRESIDING OPINION Appellant De H Nguyen challenges his conviction for felony murder. See Tex. Penal Code § 19.02. Specifically, he contends that the trial court erred when it (1) did not suppress evidence that was obtained as the result of a “geofence” warrant and (2) allowed the testimony of Nguyen’s accomplice. We affirm the trial court’s judgment of conviction. BACKGROUND On May 21, 2015, at about 12:45 in the morning, a person identifying himself as “Alexander” called 911. He told the operator he was on a walk when he heard yelling, saw someone hanging out of a car window while the car drove by, heard multiple gunshots, and then saw “a body” on the sidewalk. At trial, Officer Lucas Crawford with the New Braunfels Police Department (NBPD) testified that he was dispatched to a “shots fired call” near a commercial business on the southbound frontage road of I-35 in New Braunfels, Texas. When he arrived at the scene, he found the deceased body of a woman, later identified as Samantha Miranda, lying on the side of the road. She was wearing only a bra, unzipped pants, and white socks. He observed a gunshot wound to her face and pooling blood. Forensic investigator Suzanne Dana testified that an autopsy of Miranda’s body revealed abrasions, bruises, and that she had been shot six times. Detective Greg Walker testified regarding surveillance video that was obtained from nearby businesses. He testified that although the footage was grainy, he watched what he believed to be the murder. He testified that the footage showed a car pull into the spot where Miranda’s body was located, a car door opened twice, a person or people moved to the back of the car, somebody then slumped over, and then the car drove away. Detective Richard Groff, the initial lead investigating detective on the case, testified that officers determined that Miranda’s residence was likely connected to her murder based on the proximity—she lived “very close” to where her body was found—and her state of undress, including that she was not wearing shoes. Detective Walker testified that Miranda’s apartment included indications of drug dealing and drug use. He described the apartment as appearing as though it had been “ransacked” and as showing indications that a robbery and “a violent encounter” had taken place. Detective Groff testified that law enforcement spoke with Miranda’s roommates and reviewed text messages on their cell phones, which identified a suspect, Brian Wilkerson, who was believed to have been in the apartment at or near the time of her murder. Despite conducting interviews and investigating any potential leads that came up or potential witnesses that would come forward, no significant progress was made in the case for the next four years. In 2019, Detective John Mahoney became lead detective when Detective Groff was deployed overseas with the Army Reserve. 2  Detective Mahoney testified that he obtained search warrants for geofence data from Google using cell-phone-mapping technology to assist in the investigation. He explained that a “geofence warrant” is a search warrant for subscriber information that Google collects and stores pursuant to an opt-in clause included in its terms of service. When law enforcement knows the area where a crime has occurred, they can obtain a search warrant for cellphone location data for devices associated with Google accounts in a specified geographical area within a specified time. He explained that it is a multistep process with the initial results provided to law enforcement anonymously—i.e. without identifying the account holders. Law enforcement then sorts through the results to determine which ones may be involved in the offense being investigated. He explained that he came up with the initial parameters for the searches by using the information in the case file, including the 911 call, the surveillance footage, and the locations where Miranda lived and where her body was found. Detective Mahoney requested a search warrant for geofence data reflecting which cell phones were in two areas—tailored to the locations where Miranda lived and where her body was found—for a 25-minute period surrounding the 911 call. He explained that the geographical parameters around Miranda’s home included her