Aragon v. State

910 S.W.2d 635, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2935, 1995 WL 688639
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 22, 1995
DocketNo. 09-94-349 CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 910 S.W.2d 635 (Aragon 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
Aragon v. State, 910 S.W.2d 635, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2935, 1995 WL 688639 (Tex. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION

WALKER, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from a conviction for the felony offense of Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle. Following its verdict, the jury assessed appellant’s punishment at ten (10) years’ confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division, and additionally fined appellant $8,000. Appellant raises two points of error on appeal, viz:

Point of Error One: The evidence was insufficient to find the appellant competent to stand trial. Appellants (sic) motion for [636]*636instructed verdict during the competency hearing was improperly denied.
Point of Error Two: Appellant proved his affirmative defense of insanity and the judgment is against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence so as to be manifestly unjust.

Under his first point of error, appellant provides us with arguments, both legal and factual as to why the competency issue should have been decided in his favor. Appellant fails, however, to provide us with any constitutional, statutory, or case authority in support of said argument. This point of error would not normally be addressed because of the inadequacy of appellant’s brief. See Vuong v. State, 830 S.W.2d 929, 940 (Tex.Crim.App.1992), cert, denied, 506 U.S. 997, 113 S.Ct. 595, 121 L.Ed.2d 533 (1992); Tex.R.App.P. 74(f). Nevertheless, we will address point of error one in the interest of justice.

Tex.Code CrimProcANN. art. 46.02, sec. 1 (Vernon 1979) provides the following:

(a) A person is incompetent to stand trial if he does not have:
(1) sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding; or
(2) a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.
(b) A defendant is presumed competent to stand trial and shall be found competent to stand trial unless proved incompetent by a preponderance of the evidence.

Because an accused is presumed competent, a defendant must prove his incompetency by a preponderance of the evidence. Manning v. State, 730 S.W.2d 744, 748 (Tex.Crim.App.1987). We review the entire record of the competency hearing to determine whether the finding of competence is so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence that it is manifestly unjust. Meraz v. State, 785 S.W.2d 146, 155 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). In the instant proceeding, the parties, selected a jury to hear the issue of competency. The actual competency trial began on October 6, 1994. From the record before us, it appears that the State was initially in agreement with the defense that appellant was indeed incompetent to stand trial. This is evident from the State’s opening remarks to the jury, to-wit:

[The State]: Very briefly, your honor. [Defense Counsel] is correct, I don’t take too much issue with anything he said regarding the defendant’s current mental state.... All we’re going to be doing here today is getting a jury verdict that he is not presently competent to stand trial.... So, I think that once you hear all of the evidence regarding not just his mental illness but also regarding the treatment that he at one point did receive, you will come to the conclusion that with further treatment he is likely to regain his competency to stand trial and I will ask you to answer that special issue in that fashion. Thank you.

The record reflect that the appellant called five witnesses in his behalf. The State called no witnesses. The first two witnesses were Lieutenant Ken Stewart, Jail Administrator for the Angelina County Jail, and Assistant Jail Administrator, Lieutenant Glenn Wideman. Both witnesses testified to a variety of instances of unusual behavior exhibited by appellant either from having personally witnessed said behavior, or from examination of incidents documented by jail staff. In describing attempts to communicate with appellant, Lt. Stewart testified to the following:

Q. [The State] Does he sometimes just blurt out or make inappropriate statements that you don’t know where they are coming from?
A. [Lt. Stewart] Yes. Yes sir, he does. I’m trying to think of an example for you. He just sometimes just, it’s not—it’s like he doesn’t know where he is. You will try to talk with him about an issue and he is out in left field talking about other things. Q. You can’t direct his attention to the matter you are trying to talk about?
A. No, you cannot bring him back to talk about what you want to discuss.
* * * * ⅝ *
Q. Okay. In regards to his, how he has been in the last week or so, have you experienced any difficulty with Mr. Aragon in the last week or so?
[637]*637A. He was in the past oh, five or six days, he has been a little more settled than he had been for some time. But we have twice within the last five or six days had to restrain him to his bed for a short period of time because he again started playing with the electrical outlets. We had replaced the outlet, put a cover on it. He was able to break that cover and tear the electrical outlet from the wall so in order to protect himself from hurting himself or damage property we did restrain him to the bed again.
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Q. In regards to the question [The State] asked you about you observing me trying to communicate with Mr. Aragon. Would you agree that at the time that I was trying, you observed the one communication that I tried to have with Mr. Aragon and he was again not directed to the conversation that was at hand that he was combative and argumentative and communication was not very effective?
A. I would agree with that, yes sir.
Q. And his responses to the question that I was asking him, posing to him at that time, were not in relation to the questions I was trying to ask him?
A. That’s correct.
Q. They were about other subjects which had nothing to do with the questions I was trying to talk to him about?
A. That’s right.

Lieutenant Wideman echoed the testimony of Lt. Stewart and testified specifically to the following experiences with appellant:

Q. [Defense Counsel] Have you had occasion to observe and to converse with Mr. Aragon while he has been in Angelina County jail?
A. [Lt. Wideman] Yes sir, I have.
Q. What, if anything, have you observed unusual in regards to his behaviour (sic) or actions?
A. I can only confirm most everything Mr. Stewart said. At times he seemed to be rational and the next time he is completely irrational and we can’t control him or do anything with him.
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Q.

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Bluebook (online)
910 S.W.2d 635, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2935, 1995 WL 688639, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aragon-v-state-texapp-1995.