Agustin Calderon v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided December 19, 2019·No. 01-18-00422-CR·Published

Opinion

Opinion issued December 19, 2019.

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-18-00422-CR ——————————— AGUSTIN CALDERON, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 10th District Court Galveston County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 15CR3346

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury convicted appellant Agustin Calderon of the offense of capital murder.1

Because the State did not seek the death penalty, the trial court automatically

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE § 19.03(a)(7). assessed appellant’s punishment at confinement for life.2 In a single issue on appeal,

appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his

statement to police because the State failed to prove that his waiver of his Miranda3

rights was done knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. Finding no reversible

error, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Background

Nancy Shuffleberger saw appellant running through her fenced-in backyard

around 9:45 one morning. When she confronted him, he apologized and raised his

hands in the air. After she confirmed that appellant spoke English, Shuffleberger

asked appellant if anyone was chasing him, and if he wanted her to call the police.

Appellant answered affirmatively. Appellant also told her several times that he

needed advice.

Officer Anders, who was wearing a body camera, and two other officers

answered Shuffleberger’s 9-1-1 call. The video captured by Officer Anders’s body

camera reflects that one officer interviewed the homeowner while Officer Anders

and the other officer searched appellant and questioned him. Appellant, who did not

have any identification with him, told Officer Anders that his name was “Cruz” and

he lived on Spruce Street. He also told the officer that he needed advice.

2 See TEX. PENAL CODE § 12.31(a)(2). 3 See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).

2 Officer Anders asked appellant if he had been drinking or smoking anything

and appellant told him that he drank beer that morning. When asked why he was at

Shuffleberger’s home, appellant told Anders that he was running. Officer Anders

asked appellant who he was running from, but appellant’s response was inaudible.

Officer Anders also asked appellant if he had any mental disabilities. Appellant

responded that he did not. The officer told appellant that he was checking to see if

he was okay because he was “running around and hiding from apparently nothing.”

Appellant told Officer Anders that he needed help and Anders responded that

he could not help appellant without more information. After he confirmed that

appellant spoke “good English,” Officer Anders told appellant to talk to him and the

other officer and tell them what was going on. Appellant told Officer Anders that

people were after him, but he did not know why. Most of appellant’s statements to

the other officer, however, were inaudible. After speaking with appellant, the other

officer handcuffed him and placed him under arrest for public intoxication.

Approximately ten seconds after appellant was arrested, Officer Anders heard

a call over his police radio that there was a “possible DOA” at “1215 Spruce.”

Officer Anders asked appellant where he lived, and after appellant responded,

Officer Anders told the arresting officer that was the “same area, the same spot.”

Officer Anders then drove to 1215 Spruce. According to his body camera

video, the drive took less than two minutes. When he arrived at the scene, Officer

3 Anders observed a female (later identified as the victim Stephanie Falcon) lying on

the living room floor of a downstairs apartment who appeared to be deceased.

Witnesses who were waiting outside the building told Officer Anders that Stephanie

and “Cruz” lived in the apartment where Stephanie’s body was found. After

speaking with the witnesses, Officer Anders told another officer at the scene that the

man he spoke to outside Shuffleberger’s home was named “Cruz” and that Cruz was

“really nervous” and appeared to be high or drunk. Officer Anders testified that he

believed that it was “highly likely” that the two locations and the two individuals

were going to be connected.

Appellant, who had been in police custody since 10:00 a.m., gave a videotaped

statement to the lead investigator, Detective Walton, at 5:15 p.m.

Detective Walton read appellant his Miranda rights from a form at the

beginning of the videotaped interview. He then asked appellant if he understood

what he had just heard; appellant did not answer. Detective Walton then read the

waiver portion of the form to appellant, handed appellant the form and a pen, and

told appellant to sign his name at the bottom. Instead of signing, appellant began

reading the form out loud to himself in English. A few moments later, appellant

asked Detective Walton, “So what is this for?” Detective Walton told appellant that

the rights that he had just read to appellant were listed on the form and that by signing

the form, appellant would be admitting that he understood those rights. Appellant

4 then starts talking to himself in Spanish. At that point, Detective Walton reiterated

that by signing the form, appellant would be acknowledging that he understands the

rights that were read to him. Appellant continued to read the form, sometimes out

loud in a muffled tone. Detective Walton asked appellant, “What is Stephanie to

you?”, but appellant ignored him and continued to read the form. Detective Walton

appeared to grow impatient, and told appellant, “Are you going to sign it and talk to

me and give me a statement about what is going on? It’s up to you.” He later asked

appellant if he was going to sign the waiver and took the form out of appellant’s

hands and laid it on the table in front of appellant. “Here’s the pen, man. You can

make a decision whether you are gonna talk to me or not.” Appellant then asked

Detective Walton, “what is this about?” Walton told appellant that he wanted to

know what was going on between appellant and Stephanie.

Appellant started fidgeting in his chair and asked Walton to explain again

what the interview was about and if there were any charges. Walton told appellant

that he had not been charged with anything and that “[t]his has nothing to do with

charges.” Walton reiterated that he just wanted to know what had happened.

Appellant continued to stare at the form and either talk to himself or read the form

out loud under his breath. “You gonna sign it, or what, man?” Appellant began

reading the form out loud in English again. At that point, Detective Walton stated,

5 “you’re reading it, so you obviously understand what it says.” Appellant continued

to read the form.

Detective Walton told appellant it was not as difficult as he was making it,

and that it was “a simple paper, it’s a simple document.” “So either you are going to

sign and talk to me or you’re not. It’s not a big deal.” Appellant continued to read

the form and he signed the waiver about nine and a half minutes after the interview

began.

After appellant signed the waiver form, Detective Walton stated, “Tell me

about Stephanie. What is Stephanie to you?” Detective Walton then identified

himself and appellant for the record and stated that “this is in reference to a deceased

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