Chapa v. State

OPINION ON APPELLANT’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

CLINTON, Judge.

At issue in this cause is whether a “passenger qua passenger” in a taxicab has “standing” to challenge a search of the interior of the cab under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, in light of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978).

Following his plea of nolo contendere and judicial confession to the offense of possession of heroin, appellant was convicted and sentenced to 16 years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections. Prior to…