Adelida Trevino v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 31, 2022
Docket04-21-00185-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Adelida Trevino v. the State of Texas (Adelida Trevino v. the State of Texas) 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
Adelida Trevino v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas MEMORANDUM OPINION

Nos. 04-21-00185-CR, 04-21-00186-CR

Adelida TREVINO, Appellant

v.

The STATE of Texas, Appellee

From the 451st Judicial District Court, Kendall County, Texas Trial Court Nos. 18-203-CR, 18-204-CR Honorable Kirsten Cohoon, Judge Presiding

Opinion by: Irene Rios, Justice

Sitting: Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice Luz Elena D. Chapa, Justice Irene Rios, Justice

Delivered and Filed: October 31, 2022

AFFIRMED

Appellant Adelida Trevino appeals her convictions for driving while intoxicated and

possession of marihuana in an amount less than two ounces. In her first issue, Trevino argues the

trial court should have excluded testimony from the State’s expert because the testimony was not

relevant, and the witnesses were not qualified to testify as experts. 1 Trevino also argues the

1 Trevino filed two briefs—one for each cause number in this appeal. In each brief, Trevino raises two different issues. We address all four issues in this opinion. Trevino briefly makes a Fourth Amendment argument in one of her sufficiency issues. However, to the extent Trevino incorporates additional complaints about other alleged errors in her issues, those issues are multifarious. We are not required to address multifarious issues and we decline to address Trevino’s additional complaints. See Jenkins v. State, 493 S.W.3d 583, 605 n.50, 614 n.85 (Tex. Crim. App. 2016). 04-21-00185-CR, 04-21-00186-CR

evidence is legally and factually insufficient: (1) to support her conviction for driving while

intoxicated; (2) to support the jury’s conclusion that she possessed a usable quantity of marihuana;

and (3) to show she possessed marihuana that exceeded .03 percent of Delta 9 concentration. 2 We

affirm.

BACKGROUND

On April 5, 2017, Trevino was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle when

she was driving in the wrong lane of a two-way access road along Interstate-10 near Boerne, Texas.

Texas State Trooper Steven Mayfield responded to the motor vehicle accident and discovered

marihuana in Trevino’s vehicle and on the ground next to the driver’s side door where Trevino

had exited her vehicle. Trooper Mayfield also discovered a device used for smoking marihuana

in the back seat of Trevino’s vehicle. After Trooper Mayfield observed Trevino exhibited signs

of impairment, determined Trevino was driving on the wrong side of the road, and Trevino

admitted to being around people who were smoking marihuana earlier that evening, Trooper

Mayfield decided to conduct four field sobriety tests. Trevino failed three out of the four tests.

Trooper Mayfield determined Trevino was impaired and placed her under arrest for driving while

intoxicated.

Trooper Mayfield then transported Trevino to the hospital where a nurse drew Trevino’s

blood. Dan Rios, a lead forensic scientist in the toxicology section of the Texas Department of

Public Safety crime lab, tested a specimen of Trevino’s blood and identified .01 milligrams per

liter of clonazepam in Trevino’s blood. Sarah Martin, another forensic scientist in the toxicology

2 The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held there is no meaningful distinction between a legal sufficiency standard and factual sufficiency standard. Although Trevino argues the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support her conviction, “the Jackson v. Virginia legal-sufficiency standard is the only standard that a reviewing court should apply in determining whether the evidence is sufficient to support each element of a criminal offense that the State is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.” Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 895 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010).

-2- 04-21-00185-CR, 04-21-00186-CR

section of the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab, also tested a specimen of Trevino’s

blood and found “the active component of mari[h]uana, which is the Delta-9-THC at a

concentration of 2.9 nanograms per milliliter.” Martin also found “a concentration of 23

nanograms per milliliter” of “9-carboxy-THC,” the inactive metabolite of marihuana. 3

The State charged Trevino with driving while intoxicated and possession of marihuana in

an amount less than two ounces. A jury convicted Trevino on both counts and the trial court

sentenced Trevino to 180 days’ confinement on each count to run concurrently. 4 The trial court

suspended the sentence on both counts and placed her on community supervision for twenty-four

months. Trevino appeals.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

When examining the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction, “we

consider all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether, based

on that evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom, a rational juror could have found the

essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Alfaro-Jimenez v. State, 577 S.W.3d

240, 243–44 (Tex. Crim. App. 2019). Under this standard, “we defer to the responsibility of the

trier of fact to fairly resolve conflicts in testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable

inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts.” Isassi v. State, 330 S.W.3d 633, 638 (Tex. Crim.

App. 2010) (internal quotation marks omitted). Our role “is restricted to guarding against the rare

occurrence when the factfinder does not act rationally.” Nisbett v. State, 552 S.W.3d 244, 262

(Tex. Crim. App. 2018).

3 Martin explained the inactive metabolite “[does] not produc[e] an effect on the individual.” 4 For the driving while intoxicated conviction, the trial court also assessed a fine, restitution, court costs, and fees that are not relevant to this appeal.

-3- 04-21-00185-CR, 04-21-00186-CR

“It is not necessary that the evidence directly prove the defendant’s guilt; circumstantial

evidence is as probative as direct evidence in establishing a defendant’s guilt, and circumstantial

evidence can alone be sufficient to establish guilt.” Id. “Each fact need not point directly and

independently to guilt if the cumulative force of all incriminating circumstances is sufficient to

support the conviction.” Id. “Furthermore, the trier of fact may use common sense and apply

common knowledge, observation, and experience gained in ordinary affairs when drawing

inferences from the evidence.” Acosta v. State, 429 S.W.3d 621, 625 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014).

A. Driving While Intoxicated

In her second issue, Trevino argues the evidence is insufficient to support her conviction

for driving while intoxicated.

“A person commits an offense if the person is intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle

in a public place.” TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 49.04(a). A person is intoxicated if: (A) they do not

have “the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a

controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances,

or any other substance in the body; or (B) [the person has] an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or

more.” Id. §49.01(2). A conviction for driving while intoxicated can be supported solely by

circumstantial evidence.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Kuciemba v. State
310 S.W.3d 460 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Vela v. State
209 S.W.3d 128 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Rodgers v. State
205 S.W.3d 525 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Isassi v. State
330 S.W.3d 633 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Brooks v. State
323 S.W.3d 893 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
State v. Perez
947 S.W.2d 268 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Kelly v. State
824 S.W.2d 568 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Moore v. State
562 S.W.2d 226 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1977)
Layton v. State
280 S.W.3d 235 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2009)
Acosta, Victor Manuel
429 S.W.3d 621 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2014)
Nisbett, Rex Allen
552 S.W.3d 244 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2018)
Alfaro-Jimenez v. State
577 S.W.3d 240 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2019)
Jenkins v. State
493 S.W.3d 583 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2016)
Ashby v. State
527 S.W.3d 356 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2017)
Rhomer v. State
569 S.W.3d 664 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Adelida Trevino v. the State of Texas, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adelida-trevino-v-the-state-of-texas-texapp-2022.