Bahr v. State

295 S.W.3d 701, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 6219, 2009 WL 2431490
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 10, 2009
Docket07-07-0328-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 295 S.W.3d 701 (Bahr 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
Bahr v. State, 295 S.W.3d 701, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 6219, 2009 WL 2431490 (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

OPINION

MACKEY K. HANCOCK, Justice.

Appellant, George William Bahr, was convicted by a jury of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, methamphetamine, of four grams or more but less than 200 grams.1 The jury affirmatively found that appellant used a deadly weapon during commission of the offense.2 After hearing the evidence on punishment, the jury found the enhancement allegation in the indictment true and sentenced appellant to incarceration for life in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and imposed a $10,000 fine.3 It is from this judgment and sentence that appellant appeals. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

On June 1, 2006, Randall County Sheriff’s Deputies, assisted by Amarillo Police Department Officers, executed a search warrant on appellant’s home, office, and shop complex at 11821 Tanglewood Road in Randall County, Texas. During the search of the premises, drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in a number of places. Additionally, loaded weapons were found in two separate locations in the office portion of the searched premises. In total, the police charged appellant with possession with intent to distribute 27.45 grams of methamphetamine.

Deputies with the Randall County Sheriffs Office testified as to the actual search of the various buildings and vehicles covered by the search warrant.4 During the search, deputies located various items of mail and personal identification in a desk within the office area that identified appellant as the owner of the property. Additionally, a checkbook in the name of GWB Trucking was found in the desk.5 In addition, the officers found a medicine bottle containing 16.31 grams of methamphetamine, a methamphetamine pipe, a marijuana pipe that resembled a cigarette lighter, another 3.57 grams of methamphetamine in a clear plastic bag contained within a black plastic bag, a yellow baggy with 0.16 grams of methamphetamine, a black digital scale, three counterfeit $100 bills, a white digital scale,, a roll of cash that contained $180, a brown nail polish tube containing 1.31 grams of methamphetamine and a blue tube containing marijuana in or on the desk. At the time of the entry into the office area, appellant and Barbara Roland were asleep on a futon bed in the office. The record reveals that there was a shotgun located a few feet from where appellant’s head lay while he was asleep. Additionally, the search located a handgun in a case beneath the desk. Both the shotgun and handgun were loaded. There was also ammunition found within the office. While continuing to search the office, officers located a trash can adjacent to the desk in which eight plastic baggies with the corners cut out were found. In a pair of male jean pants [706]*706found in the office, officers found $211 in cash. Finally, in a purse that officers believed belonged to Barbara Roland there was a plastic tube that contained 3.69 grams of methamphetamine.

During the execution of the warrant, officers searched a red Chevrolet truck with a GWB Trucking, Inc. sign on it. Located within the truck, on the driver’s side dashboard, was a black leather pouch that contained a baggy with 6.10 grams of methamphetamine inside.

The house was also searched and a homemade improvised explosive device was found. Additionally, a document known as an “anarchy cookbook” was seized. No additional drugs were found in the house.

At trial, in addition to presenting the evidence of all of the drugs seized, the State spent a considerable amount of time questioning the various officers about the total amount of the drugs seized and their opinion about what the amount of drugs seized meant vis-a-vis personal consumption or distribution. Each officer stated that 27.45 grams of methamphetamine is not what they expect a person to possess for individual consumption.6 In fact, each witness testified that this would be an amount a dealer might have on hand. Further, each of the witnesses gave opinion evidence that finding the two sets of scales, cash on hand, and evidence that baggies had the corners cut off is further evidence of distribution of methamphetamine. The record further reflects that the office had a television that was set to monitor the picture provided by a security camera that faced the drive up to the office/shop and house. As to these items, each officer again was of the opinion that this type of surveillance equipment would be used by one involved in the distribution of drugs.

After the State had closed the presentation of the evidence during its case in chief, appellant’s trial counsel began calling witnesses. The first witness called was appellant. Appellant admitted to possessing approximately six grams of the methamphetamine found in and on the desk in the office. Appellant denied possessing the remainder of the methamphetamine found during the execution of the search warrant and, further, appellant denied possessing any methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Appellant did admit to being a user of methamphetamine, however, appellant claimed that he was a recreational user and that his brother, Curtis, was a much more significant methamphetamine user than he was. During direct examination, appellant claimed that the weapons found were not within his reach or immediate access.

After the State began cross-examination, the court recessed for the day. When the case was called for trial the next day, appellant was not present. Eventually, the trial went forward without the presence of appellant. Appellant’s trial counsel called appellant’s sister, Cindy Koons, who testified that appellant was, in fact, an addict. She further testified that appellant was not a dealer of drugs, only a user. Koons stated that Curtis was the much more addicted of the two brothers and, in her opinion, the most likely candidate to have possessed a larger amount of methamphetamine. During cross-examination, the State impeached Koons’s testimony about appellant not being a dealer with recordings of telephone conversations she had with appellant while he was in jail. [707]*707During these conversations, appellant made statements that could be interpreted as admitting dealing drugs. Subsequently, appellant’s trial counsel called Marlene Bahr, appellant’s mother, to testify about the history of appellant’s drug usage. She also testified that both appellant and Curtis were addicted to methamphetamine. During her testimony, Marlene pointed out that several people had access to the office area in the day or so immediately prior to the execution of the warrant.

After hearing the evidence, the jury convicted appellant of possession of methamphetamine, four grams or more but less than 200 grams, with intent to distribute. The jury further found that appellant used or exhibited a deadly weapon during the commission of the offense. Appellant appeals alleging that: 1) the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain the conviction for possession with intent to deliver; 2) the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain the deadly weapon finding of the jury; and 3) appellant received ineffective assistance of counsel.7 Disagreeing about the legal sufficiency of the evidence and about the effectiveness of trial counsel, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Legal Sufficiency of the Evidence

Through two issues, appellant challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence.

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Bahr v. State
295 S.W.3d 701 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
295 S.W.3d 701, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 6219, 2009 WL 2431490, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bahr-v-state-texapp-2009.