Arevalo v. State

749 S.W.2d 278, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 1083, 1988 WL 47208
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 27, 1988
DocketNo. 04-86-00581-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 749 S.W.2d 278 (Arevalo 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
Arevalo v. State, 749 S.W.2d 278, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 1083, 1988 WL 47208 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinions

OPINION

DIAL, Justice.

This is an appeal from a conviction for aggravated kidnapping. TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 20.04(a)(5) (Vernon 1974). It is a companion case to Miguel Arevalo v. State, 749 S.W.2d 271 (Tex.App.1988).

During the first phase of the trial the jury found the appellant guilty of aggravated kidnapping and further found that he did not voluntarily release the victim alive and in a safe place. Appellant’s punishment was assessed by the jury at twenty-five (25) years’ confinement and a fine of $10,000.00.

In four points of error appellant complains of the charge submitted to the jury during the guilt-innocence phase, of prose-cutorial misconduct during voir dire, and of the court’s refusal to accept proffered mitigation testimony during the punishment phase. He does not complain of the sufficiency of the evidence. We affirm the judgment of conviction.

In his initial point of error appellant contends that the jury charge as submitted was defective in that it did not call for a separate finding on whether or not the victim was released alive and in a safe place. In his second point of error appellant complains that the charge gave the State two opportunities for obtaining a conviction for aggravated kidnapping.

The challenged paragraphs in the charge read as follows:

V.
Now if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about the 7th day of March, 1986, in Webb County, Texas, the defendant SIMON AREVALO, did then and there knowingly abduct another person, to-wit: Guadalupe Martinez and without Guadalupe Martinez’s consent did then and there restrain Guadalupe Martinez with intent to prevent liberation of Guadalupe Martinez by secreting and holding him in a place where he was not likely to be found with the intent to terrorize the said Guadalupe Martinez and you further find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not voluntarily release Guadalupe Martinez alive and in a safe place, you will find the defendant guilty of the offense of Aggravated Kidnapping and so say by your verdict, but if you do not so believe, or if you have a reasonable doubt thereof, you will acquit the defendant of the offense of aggravated kidnapping and proceed to consider whether the defendant is guilty of a lesser included offense of aggravated kidnapping.
VI.
Now if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about the 7th day of March, 1986, in Webb County, Texas, the defendant SIMON AREVALO, did then and there knowingly abduct another person, to-wit: Guadalupe Martinez and without Guadalupe Martinez’s consent did then and there restrain Guadalupe Martinez with intent to prevent liberation of Guadalupe Martinez by secreting and holding him in a place where he was not likely to be found with the intent to terrorize the said Guadalupe Martinez and you further find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did voluntarily release Guadalupe Martinez alive and in a safe place you will find the defendant guilty of the lesser included offense of aggravated kidnapping and so say by a verdict; but if you do have a reasonable doubt thereof, you will acquit the defendant of the lesser included offense of aggravated kidnapping and proceed to consider whether the defendant is guilty of the lesser included offense of kidnapping.

Though there are obvious imperfections in the above charge, we can only consider [280]*280those errors preserved below by objection or special requested instruction, -TEX. CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. arts. 36.14 & 36.15, or errors so egregious that the appellant was deprived of a fair and impartial trial. Almanza v. State, 686 S.W.2d 157, 171 (Tex.Crim.App.1984).

Appellant’s attorney adopted the objections voiced by the counsel for co-defendant Miguel Arevalo. They were merely repetitive of appellant’s objections dictated to the reporter. Appellant complains that incorporating the issue of voluntary safe release of the victim into paragraphs V and VI “doesn’t track the indictment ... and adds an additional element to the indictment in the charge ... It provides the State ... with two shots at the defendant.” The appellant argued that the jury should be instructed to make a separate finding on release of the victim apart from the finding of guilt and referred the court to appellant’s proposed charge.

The proposed charge instructed the jurors to make a separate finding on voluntary safe release of the victim. The proposed charge was basically flawed in that it only addressed the offense of kidnapping, whereas the appellant was charged with aggravated kidnapping.

No criminal defendant has a right to have a special issue submitted except in a capital case. Stewart v. State, 686 S.W.2d 118, 124 (Tex.Crim.App.1984). The request for a separate finding on voluntary safe release was properly denied. The argument that including the safe release issue in paragraphs V and VI did not track the indictment and added an element to the offense is without merit. The safe release issue is not an element that must be plead. Smith v. State, 541 S.W.2d 831, 838 (Tex.Crim.App.1976). It is a fact issue mandated by TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 20.04(b) requiring a finding by the trier of fact. Thornbury v. State, 699 S.W.2d 918, 921 (Tex.App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 1985, no pet.).

The additional argument that the charge as submitted gave the State two opportunities to convict for aggravated kidnapping is also meritless. The charge, though awkward, gave the jury one opportunity to return a general verdict of guilty of aggravated kidnapping with a finding that the appellant did not voluntarily release the victim. The next paragraph gave the jury the alternative opportunity to return a general verdict of guilty of aggravated kidnapping with a finding that the appellant did voluntarily release the victim.1

Though there are no Texas cases reversing an aggravated kidnapping case for submitting the issue of voluntary safe release during the guilt phase of the trial, since the issue relates only to punishment, the far better practice would be to submit the issue during the punishment phase. See Brazile v. State, 497 S.W.2d 302, 304 (Tex.Crim.App.1973) (Issue of malice in a murder trial). In Wright v. State, 571 S.W.2d 24, 25 (Tex.Crim.App.1978) the Court of Criminal Appeals approved in substance a charge submitting the issue in the jury charge on punishment. This authority was followed in Thornburg v. State, supra and Williams v. State, 718 S.W.2d 772, 773 (Tex.App. — Corpus Christi 1986, pet. granted). The appellant here did not object to the submission during the guilt phase, only that there was no separate submission.

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Bluebook (online)
749 S.W.2d 278, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 1083, 1988 WL 47208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arevalo-v-state-texapp-1988.