11th Court of Appeals
Eastland, Texas
Opinion
Marvin L. Harrison
Appellant
Vs. No. 11-00-00289-CR B Appeal from Taylor County
State of Texas
Appellee
This is an appeal from an adverse ruling on a motion to suppress filed in an expired inspection sticker case. A justice of the peace originally convicted Marvin L. Harrison of failing to display a valid inspection certificate. Appellant appealed to the County Court at Law No. 1, where a jury also convicted him of the offense. The county court at law assessed appellant=s punishment at a fine of $100. We dismiss the appeal to this court for want of jurisdiction.
On the date of the offense, Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Larry Brown, a license and weight inspector, stopped appellant=s commercial vehicle. Trooper Brown intended to perform an inspection of the vehicle; and, as he approached it, he noticed that the inspection sticker was expired. Trooper Brown ticketed appellant for the offense.
Appellant claims that the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his motion to suppress. He maintains that TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. ' 644.103 (Vernon Supp. 2001), the statute under which Trooper Brown was performing the inspection, infringes upon constitutional protections afforded him by virtue of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and by Article I, section 9 of the Texas Constitution.
Section 644.103 provides, in relevant part, as follows:
(a) An officer of the department may enter or detain on a highway or at a port of entry a motor vehicle that is subject to this chapter.
(b) A police officer who is certified under Section 644.101 may detain on a highway or at a port of entry within the territory of the municipality a motor vehicle that is subject to this chapter.
(c) An officer who detains a vehicle under this section may prohibit the further operation of the vehicle on a highway if the vehicle or operator of the vehicle is in violation of a federal safety regulation or a rule adopted under this chapter.
We do not have jurisdiction to entertain this appeal because the fine imposed does not exceed $100 and because the issue on appeal does not involve the constitutionality of the statute or ordinance upon which appellant=s conviction was based. TEX. CODE CRIM. PRO. ANN. art. 4.03 (Vernon Supp. 2001); TEX. GOV=T CODE ANN. ' 30.00027 (Vernon Supp. 2001); Bass v. State, 399 S.W.2d 558 (Tex.Cr.App.1966); Aaronson v. State, 779 S.W.2d 472 (Tex.App. ‑ El Paso 1989, no pet=n). Appellant=s conviction was based on TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. ' 548.602 (Vernon Supp. 2001). He does not challenge the constitutionality of that statute.
The appeal is dismissed.[1]
JIM R. WRIGHT
JUSTICE
September 20, 2001
Do not publish. See TEX.R.APP.P. 47.3(b).
Panel consists of: Arnot, C.J., and
Wright, J., and McCall, J.
[1]Moreover, we note that the precise issue presented by appellant in this case was considered and rejected by the court in United States v. Fort, 81 F. Supp. 2d 694 (N.D. Tex. 2000).