Finding Drugs During Arrest for Violence Against Ex-Wife In Texas

In Romero v. State, 709 S.W.2d 53 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 1986, no pet.), a woman told a police officer that her ex-husband had beaten her. The officer could see that the woman had a cut lip, blood in her hair, and a swollen eye. The woman described and named her assailant, said she was fearful he would return, and that he had recently been living with some friends one block away. Approximately 45 minutes to an hour later, the officer spotted a person fitting the description of the woman's ex-husband sitting on the porch of a house about a block away from the woman's residence. When the officer inquired as to his identity, the man gave the officer a fictitious name. However, in the officer's opinion, the man matched a photograph given to him by the woman. The man was arrested and found in possession of cocaine. Citing Article 14.03, the court wrote: "The former wife's obvious injuries; plus her statements recounting his assault; plus her fear that he would do it again; plus his location only a block away; plus appellant's giving of a false name and other lies all compounded to give Endsley, the policeman, all the probable cause he needed to make an immediate arrest."