Judge rules partly for defense on Reyes statements but denies suppression of vehicle stop

The 390th Judicial District Court in Bexar County conducted a suppression hearing in State of Texas v. Felipe Reyes concerning the legality of a police stop and the admissibility of statements Reyes made after officers detained him.

The court suppressed a portion of Reyes’s early statements but denied the defense’s request to suppress the stop itself or statements made after Miranda warnings, saying the initial portion of the recorded interview was inadmissible. “The court is finding inadmissible this statement that was obtained from the defendant from, I believe it was listed as 1 hour 17 minutes and 7 seconds to 1 hour 18 minutes, and I believe this is 38 seconds…so that first statement that is made by the defendant…the court will grant your motion to suppress that part of the statement,” the judge said. The court then said the portion made after the Miranda warning would remain admissible: “The statement made by the defendant after he had been, Mirandized, that part of your request to suppress that statement will be, denied.” The court denied the motion to suppress the vehicle stop.

Why it matters: whether officers lawfully stopped Reyes’s vehicle and…