$22,922.00 v. State

853 S.W.2d 99, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 818, 1993 WL 82705
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 25, 1993
DocketNo. C14-92-00747-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 853 S.W.2d 99 ($22,922.00 v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
$22,922.00 v. State, 853 S.W.2d 99, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 818, 1993 WL 82705 (Tex. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

CORRECTED OPINION

CANNON, Justice.

This is an appeal of a judgment of forfeiture. Claimant Ronald L. Richardson complains that there was no evidence or insufficient evidence that $22,922 seized by police was proceeds gained from the commission of a felony under the Texas Controlled Substances Act. We affirm.

In response to reports of marihuana sales, Officers Beasley and Brooks set up surveillance of a scrap metal business. Brooks hid in an overgrown lot across the street and spied with a telescope. He was within earshot. Beasley parked in a marked patrol car a short distance away.

Chester Carthan was sitting on a chair just inside a metal building. Clifford Brown drove up and asked for a nickel bag of weed. Brown handed Carthan a single bill of unknown denomination. Richardson then appeared and handed Carthan a small pink envelope. Carthan passed the envelope to Brown and the bill to Richardson. Brown drove off but was stopped by Officer Beasley. Police found on Brown a pink envelope containing a small amount of marihuana.

Meanwhile, Richardson mounted a bicycle and exited the driveway. He went only twenty feet before turning back. Carthan closed the gate behind Richardson and said, “The cops are up the street.” Richardson entered the metal building. He left carrying a large, brown paper sack which he took to a truck parked across the street, only a few feet from where Officer Brooks hid. Richardson spotted Officer Brooks, froze for a moment, and then tossed the sack into the truck. Police arrested Richardson.

The sack was bushel-size with a tear in the side from which money protruded. The bag contained $20,985. The police seized the money and $1,937 found on Richardson’s person. The $22,922 total is the subject of the forfeiture action.

Richardson or Brown gave written consent to search the building. Police searched the trunk of a Ford Granada, one of several vehicles inside the building. The owner of the Granada was unknown, but police got a key from Richardson. Inside the trunk was a suitcase containing eight gallon-size ziploc baggies; a pair of scissors; three dust masks; a large quantity of small ziploc bags; a metal crack pipe; two spoons with white residue; three syringes; and one bottle cap. A drug dog alerted on the trunk, and later chemical analysis revealed that seven of the eight large baggies contained marihuana residue. Also, the crack pipe contained cocaine residue; the spoons, cocaine and heroin; and the bottle cap, heroin. The drug dog alerted on the sack of money which had been placed in a ditch to provide the dog with a drug-neutral setting.

Police charged Richardson with misdemeanor delivery of marihuana without remuneration. They also seized the $22,922.

In point of error one, Richardson complains that there is no evidence to support the finding that the $22,922 was proceeds gained from the commission of a felony [101]*101under the Texas Controlled Substances Act.

A forfeiture proceeding under the forfeiture of contraband statute is a civil proceeding. Tex.Code CRIM.Proc.Ann. art. 59.05(b) (Vernon Supp.1993). The State has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is subject to forfeiture Id. The State must prove that, considering all the evidence, it was more reasonably probable than not that the seized money was either intended for use in, or derived from, a violation of one of the offenses enumerated in the forfeiture statute. See Money of the U.S. in the Amount of $8,500.00 v. State, 774 S.W.2d 788, 792 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1989, no writ). One category of offenses included in the forfeiture statute are violations of the Texas Controlled Substances Act. Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 59.01(2)(B)(i), (C) (Vernon Supp.1993); Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.001 et seq. (Vernon 1992 & Supp.1993). The State’s proof must raise more than a mere surmise or suspicion but need not exclude every other possible use or source of the money. See $8,500.00, supra at 792. The court may draw any and all inferences reasonably capable of being drawn from the circumstances shown in evidence. Three Thousand Four Hundred Fifty Dollars in U.S. Currency v. State, 743 S.W.2d 759, 762 (Tex.App.—El Paso 1988, writ denied).

In our review of a no evidence point of error, we consider only the evidence and inferences tending to support the trial court’s judgment and disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary. State v. $11,014.00, 820 S.W.2d 783, 784 (Tex.1991). If there is any evidence of probative value to support the judgment, the no evidence challenge fails. See id. at 785.

The evidence tending to support the judgment follows: (1) Police saw Richardson sell a misdemeanor amount of marihuana to Brown; (2) Shortly after learning that police were nearby, Richardson tried to leave with a torn paper sack containing an inordinately large sum of money; (3) A drug dog alerted on the sack of money; (4) The dog also alerted on the trunk of a car on Richardson’s business premises; (5) Richardson had a key to that trunk; (6) In the trunk, police found evidence of marihuana trafficking, i.e., scissors used to cut marihuana leaves, dust masks for use when cutting and packaging, gallon-size baggies typically used to store one-pound quantities of marihuana, and a large supply of small baggies for distributing/retailing smaller amounts; and (7) During the two to three hours of police surveillance and on-scene presence, police saw no scrap metal transactions.

We find that this evidence is some evidence of probative value from which the trial court could infer that the $22,922 derived from a felony offense violative of the Texas Controlled Substances Act, e.g., delivery of more than one-fourth ounce of marihuana and/or possession of more than four ounces. See Tex.Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.120(b)(3), 481.121(b)(3) (Vernon 1992). We overrule point one.

In point two, Richardson complains that, even if there is some evidence, it is insufficient.

In our review of an insufficiency of evidence point, we consider and weigh all the evidence, including evidence contrary to the trial court’s judgment. $8,500, supra at 792. We will set aside the judgment only if the evidence is so weak or the judgment so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unfair or unjust. Cain v. Bain, 709 S.W.2d 175, 176 (Tex.1986).

Under point one, we reviewed the evidence favorable to the judgment. We now survey and evaluate the contrary evidence.

Richardson was arrested and charged only with a misdemeanor. No charges, much less felony charges, were ever brought in connection with the alleged trafficking evidence. The amounts of residue testing positive for marihuana were measured in milligrams — too small for felony possession. But, the forfeiture statute does not require conviction for an underlying felony. Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 59.05(d) (Vernon Supp.1993). The forfei[102]

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Bluebook (online)
853 S.W.2d 99, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 818, 1993 WL 82705, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/2292200-v-state-texapp-1993.