Hernandez v. State
727 S.W.3d 83
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas. Delivered: December 19, 2025. PD-0176-25.
The legal issue
Texas Penal Code section 38.04 makes it a crime to flee from a lawful detention. Israel Hernandez was convicted of evading arrest with a motor vehicle. The State’s case turned on whether the officer’s attempt to stop him was lawful.
The 9-1-1 call described a “suspicious” four-door Chevrolet Silverado driving slowly in rural Willacy County. Thirty minutes after the call, Officer Marcos Garcia drove to the area and saw a single pickup on a dirt road—a different make, not a Silverado, not four-door. He turned on his emergency lights anyway. Mr. Hernandez did not stop. He continued at the same slow speed to a gate at his brother’s property, parked, and got out to open the gate. Officer Garcia drew his firearm, an argument followed, and after about five minutes the officer tased Mr. Hernandez and arrested him.
Officer Garcia testified at trial that he did not see Mr. Hernandez commit any traffic violation. He admitted thirty minutes was “a lot of time for a vehicle to move in and out of the area.” He did not know Mr. Hernandez’s truck was the truck the caller had described—he “figured” it must be, because there were no other vehicles around.
The trial court denied a directed verdict. The Thirteenth Court of Appeals affirmed.
What the Court held
The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed and rendered a judgment of acquittal. Justice Finley wrote for a six-judge majority. Reasonable suspicion required articulable facts connecting the person stopped to criminal activity. The 9-1-1 description didn’t match. The thirty-minute gap broke any temporal link to the caller’s report. The officer’s testimony confirmed he had no specific facts pointing to Mr. Hernandez beyond his presence on the road. No rational juror could find beyond a reasonable doubt that the stop was lawful.
Acquittal. The case is over. The State cannot retry it.
Read the opinion
Appellate counsel: Mark Bennett (Houston) and Joseph Moreno (Harlingen).