Andre Wayne Vittatoe v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 25, 2014
Docket05-12-01679-CR
StatusPublished

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Bluebook
Andre Wayne Vittatoe v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Affirmed as Modified; Opinion Filed February 25, 2014.

S In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-12-01679-CR

ANDRE WAYNE VITTATOE, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. 4 Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. F12-51535-K

OPINION Before Justices O’Neill, Myers, and Brown Opinion by Justice Myers A jury found appellant Andre Wayne Vittatoe guilty of possession with the intent to

deliver cocaine in the amount of four grams or more but less than 200 grams, as charged in the

indictment, and the trial court assessed appellant’s punishment at fifteen years’ imprisonment. In

four issues, appellant contends the trial court erred by overruling his objection to allegedly

improper jury argument, the evidence is legally insufficient to support the conviction, the

evidence is insufficient to support the trial court’s order to pay $324 in court costs, and that the

judgment should be modified to show that the trial court, not the jury, assessed punishment in

this case. As modified, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

BACKGROUND

On the morning of January 23, 2012, at approximately 10:30 a.m., Dallas police officers

Reginald Luster and Josh Tannehill were driving southbound on Harry Hines Boulevard, in an area known for high crime activity. As they drove past a Garden Inn Suites near the 2500 block

of Harry Hines, they spotted a white J30 Infinity exiting the parking lot. The officers made a U-

turn and pulled into the center lane (it was a three lane street) to look for traffic violations. When

the Infinity pulled up behind the officers in the center lane, the “directional” lights on the squad

car directed the vehicle to drive around the officers. The officers then saw the Infinity turn

toward the right-hand lane without signaling, after which they conducted a traffic stop of the

vehicle for changing lanes without signaling. Before stopping the vehicle, Luster noticed that its

passenger, appellant, was “sort of bending forward, backwards, moving around with his hands.”

This “[u]ncommon, odd, and sort of alarming” behavior––seen by Luster in other traffic stops––

suggested that appellant was trying to hide or conceal something.

After they stopped the vehicle, the officers got out of their squad car and approached the

Infinity. Luster moved toward the passenger side; his partner, Tannehill, the driver’s side. As he

came up to the passenger side of the vehicle, Luster saw, in plain view, a small, blue plastic

container with what looked like a green, leafy substance on the floorboard between appellant’s

feet. Based on his experience, Luster recognized the substance as marijuana.

Luster asked appellant to step out of the vehicle. He placed appellant under arrest and

searched him, finding two additional bags of marijuana in appellant’s right front pocket.

Appellant was placed in the back of the squad car.

Meanwhile, Tannehill had asked the driver and owner of the vehicle, Janet Bernard, to

step outside of the vehicle and sit on the curb. Tannehill testified that she was placed under

arrest when the officers found she “had a felony warrant.” 1 Tannehill then searched the car,

finding an Altoids can that held eight individually wrapped or packaged crack cocaine rocks,

1 The record is not clear regarding precisely how many outstanding warrants there were for Bernard’s arrest. Tannehill’s testimony suggested there was a single felony warrant, but Luster testified that Bernard had “some probation violations.”

–2– three large crack cocaine rocks that were not packaged, and one clear glass pipe that, according

to Tannehill, was “probably three to four” inches in length. All of these items were found in the

Altoids can, which was in addition to the small, blue plastic container that Luster testified he saw

in plain view on the floorboard between appellant’s feet. Tannehill testified that he found the

Altoids can on the right front passenger-side floorboard of the car, near the center console. 2

Appellant was charged with possessing with the intent to deliver the cocaine found in the Altoids

can.

Tannehill identified State’s exhibits 4b and 4c as the cocaine he recovered from the

Altoids can and delivered to Dallas Police Department’s property room. State’s exhibit 4b was

three large rocks of crack cocaine weighing a total of 3.74 grams, including adulterants and

dilutants, with 97 percent purity. State’s exhibit 4c was six small Ziplock “baggies” of crack

cocaine weighing a total of 0.26 grams, including adulterants and dilutants. The combined

weight of the two exhibits was 4.0 grams, including adulterants and dilutants. 3

Luster testified that possession of one or two rocks of crack cocaine is typically an

indication that the person possesses the cocaine for personal use. When a person possesses five

to eight baggies, Luster testified that he normally charges the individual with manufacturing and

intent to deliver. He also testified that the way drugs are packaged, in multiple bags or a few,

indicates whether the person is using or selling. On cross-examination, Tannehill testified that

they charged appellant with possession with intent to deliver based on the amount of cocaine

seized and because it included eight individually wrapped cocaine rocks. He agreed that other

than the amount of drugs and the individual packaging, there was no other evidence of

appellant’s intent to deliver.

2 Luster did not recall seeing an Altoids can on the floorboard next to appellant’s feet when he first approached the car. 3 According to the testimony of Tana Langley, a drug chemist with the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, the contents of two other small Ziplock bags containing a “white material” were weighed (0.19 grams) but not analyzed.

–3– The State also called Detective Barry Ragsdale, a supervisor in the narcotics division of

the Dallas Police Department, as an expert witness. Ragsdale began his testimony by describing

his more than twenty-two years of experience with the Dallas Police Department and the Drug

Enforcement Agency, including investigating large-scale drug distribution organizations as a

federal undercover task force officer, supervising a task force targeting street level drugs in

Dallas, and purchasing narcotics as an undercover officer.

Ragsdale testified that the street value of the crack cocaine in State’s exhibit 4b was

$375. He testified that 3.74 grams was “more than what we commonly see for someone using

for personal use.” He added, “I mean it’s going to be used, but generally that quantity is going to

be broken down and be redistributed.” He also testified:

Most individuals that utilize crack or that are addicted to crack, they don’t have the discipline to maintain a larger quantity. They are not going and buying $300 and making it last for the whole week.

A crack addict will smoke fifteen minutes later when he’s feeling nerves. He’ll smoke again, he’ll smoke again, smoke again, smoke again, until it’s gone or until he expires. And that’s been my experience over the last 22 years of talking to people and dealing with people in this business.

He further testified that the six Ziplock “baggies” in State’s exhibit 4c were packaged in such a

way as to indicate they were going to be sold or distributed to others:

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