Arroyo v. State

64 S.W.3d 81, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 4909, 2001 WL 842039
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 25, 2001
Docket04-98-00920-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 64 S.W.3d 81 (Arroyo 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
Arroyo v. State, 64 S.W.3d 81, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 4909, 2001 WL 842039 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

HARDBERGER, Chief Justice.

This appeal is on remand from the Court of Criminal Appeals. Tony Arroyo (“Arroyo”) is appealing his conviction of assault. We originally reversed the trial court’s judgment and remanded the cause for a new trial because the jury charge did not include the instruction mandated by Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). See Arroyo v. State, 9 S.W.3d 330 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1999), vacated, 32 S.W.3d 868 (Tex.Crim.App.2000). The Court of Criminal Appeals vacated our decision, stating, “At the time the Court of Appeals decided this case, it did not have the benefit of our opinion in Paulson v. State, 28 S.W.3d 570 (Tex.Crim.App.2000), which overruled that portion of Geesa that required the jury instruction on the definition of reasonable doubt.” Arroyo, 32 S.W.3d at 868. The Court of Criminal Appeals remanded the appeal to this court “for reconsideration in light of Paulson and for consideration of [Arroyo’s] remaining points of error.” Id. The parties filed new briefs on remand. Apparently recognizing that Paulson eliminated the issue regarding the reasonable doubt instruction, Arroyo did not raise the issue in his brief on remand. In view of the holding in Paulson, we agree that the trial court did not err in refusing to submit Arroyo’s request for two additional sentences in the reasonable doubt instruction. Arroyo raises eleven points of error on remand, contending the trial court erred by: (1) denying his motion to set aside the information; (2) allowing an officer to testify to hearsay statements made by the complainant; (3) refusing to allow Arroyo to impeach the complainant; and (4) failing to instruct the jury on self-defense. We overrule each of these points of error and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

INFORMATION

In his first three points of error, Arroyo contends that the information was defective because it failed to allege with reasonable certainty the act or acts relied upon to constitute “recklessness” in violation of article 21.15 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and the United States and Texas Constitutions.

The information alleged:

on or about the 29TH day of JANUARY, A.D., 1998, TONY ARROYO, hereinafter referred to as defendant, did then and there intentionally, knowingly and recklessly cause bodily injury to another, namely: PATRICIA BIVENS, hereinafter referred to as complainant, by STRIKING THE SAID COMPLAINANT WITH THE HEAD OF THE SAID DEFENDANT.

“When the State charges a defendant with acting recklessly in the commission of an offense, the indictment must allege with reasonable certainty the act or acts relied upon to constitute recklessness.” State v. Vasquez, 34 S.W.3d 332, 334 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 2000, no pet.). In this case, the information specified Arroyo’s reckless *84 act as striking the complainant with his head. The information adequately informs Arroyo of the act the State relies upon to constitute recklessness, namely striking the complainant with his head. See State v. Emanuel, 873 S.W.2d 108, 109 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1994, no pet.); Cruz v. State, 838 S.W.2d 682, 684 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1992, pet ref'd). Arroyo’s first three points of error are overruled.

HEARSAY

In his fourth, fifth, ninth, and tenth points of error, Arroyo complains that the trial court erroneously permitted Officer William Stroud, Jr. to testify regarding hearsay statements. Arroyo complains that the statements were inadmissible hearsay and violated his right to confrontation.

A trial court’s decision to admit hearsay evidence is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. Coffin v. State, 886 S.W.2d 140, 149 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). We will not reverse the trial court’s ruling as long as it is within the “zone of reasonable disagreement.” Moon v. State, 44 S.W.3d 589, 593 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 2001, pet. ref'd).

Excited utterances are admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule. Tex.R. Evid. 803(2). An excited utterance is “[a] statement relating to a startling event or condition made while the declar-ant was under the stress of excitement caused by the event or condition.” Id. “To determine whether a statement qualifies as an excited utterance, (1) the statement must be the product of a startling occurrence, (2) the declarant must have been dominated by the emotion, excitement, fear, or pain of the occurrence, and (3) the statement must be related to the circumstances of the startling occurrence.” Moon, 44 S.W.3d at 593-94. “Other factors to consider are whether the statements are spontaneous or responses to questions and how much time has elapsed between the startling event and the statement.” Id. at 594.

The trial court permitted Officer Stroud to testify regarding the events related to him by the complainant at the time of his investigation. Officer Stroud testified that he was dispatched to the complainant’s home at 6:47 a.m. in response to a reported assault. Officer Stroud arrived at the complainant’s home at 6:48 a.m. The complainant was excited and scared, her voice was raised, and she had a bump on her forehead which was causing her pain. The complainant told Officer Stroud that she heard loud knocking on her door and opened the door when she could not see who was at the door through the peephole. Arroyo forced his way into her home, argued with her, yelled at her, and struck her on her head with his forehead, knocking her to the ground. Officer Stroud was unable to locate Arroyo. The complainant asked Officer Stroud to wait until her children were on the school bus and to patrol by her home because she was afraid Arroyo would return.

At 10:53 a.m., Officer Stroud was again dispatched to the complainant’s home in response to a disturbance. When he arrived, the complainant was scared, excited, and angry. The complainant told Officer Stroud that Arroyo had forced his way into her home again and threatened her. Although Officer Stroud did not see any sign of forced entry, Officer Stroud stated that he did not examine the door or go inside the complainant’s home.

Based on Officer Stroud’s testimony, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the complainant’s statements under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule. Officer Stroud’s testimony shows that the com *85

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64 S.W.3d 81, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 4909, 2001 WL 842039, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arroyo-v-state-texapp-2001.