Barefield v. State

784 S.W.2d 38, 1989 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 213, 1989 WL 146316
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 6, 1989
Docket69664
StatusPublished
Cited by139 cases

This text of 784 S.W.2d 38 (Barefield v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barefield v. State, 784 S.W.2d 38, 1989 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 213, 1989 WL 146316 (Tex. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

BERCHELMANN, Judge.

Appellant was indicted, convicted and sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of Cindy Renee Rounsaville. Appellant raises ten points of error on appeal. In his first two points, appellant contends that his videotaped confessions were erroneously admitted at trial for their failure to comport with the requirements of art. 38.22 Tex.Code Crim.Proe.Ann. Appellant’s third and fourth points complain that the trial court erroneously excused for cause two prospective jurors. Fifth, appellant complains of the admission of an out of state pen packet during the punishment phase of trial. In his sixth and seventh points, appellant contends that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment, and that the prosecutor’s discretion to seek the death penalty is an unconstitutional invasion upon the legislative branch. Appellant’s remaining points of error complain that photographs of the deceased admitted at trial were offered solely to inflame the jury. We will affirm.

The State introduced into evidence two edited video taped statements made by appellant, from which the following facts were adduced at trial. In the early evening hours of April 21, 1986, Cindy Renee Roun-saville left her apartment and proceeded to her car. At the same time, Appellant and two co-defendants drove through the parking lot and spotted Rounsaville. Appellant and one co-defendant, Ernest Lee Sonnier, accosted Rounsaville at gunpoint and ordered her to get into her car. Appellant drove the victim’s car as Sonnier guarded her in the backseat. The third man involved, appellant’s brother, followed behind in the other car. Appellant drove the woman to an automated teller machine and forced her to withdraw all of the funds from her account. Appellant also stole the woman’s Rice University graduation ring, while Sonnier took her engagement ring. After forcing her to get back in the car, appellant drove Rounsaville to a darkened street and parked the car. Appellant’s brother followed in the second vehicle. A discussion ensued between the three men concerning the victim’s fate. Because Rounsaville had seen all three of them, the men decided they “might as well” go ahead and sexually assault her. The men took turns sexually assaulting Rounsaville in the back seat of her car. Following the sexual assaults, the three men again discussed Rounsaville’s fate, at which point Rounsaville leaped from the car and started running across the field. Appellant chased after Rousanville and fired a nonfatal shot at close range, striking the woman in the left side of the head. After observ *40 ing that the victim was still moving, appellant fired a second shot at close range, striking the right side of Rousanville’s head. Dr. Joseph Jachimczyck, Harris County Medical Examiner, testified at trial that the second shot destroyed a major portion of Rounsaville’s brain, causing her death in a matter of a few minutes. The three men left the woman to die in the field. Her body, nude from the waist down, was found by a city employee mower operator the following day.

After shooting the woman, appellant drove Rounsaville’s car to another field and set it on fire. The three men thereafter fled in the second vehicle. In May of 1986, appellant was arrested for an unrelated case and was found in possession of Roun-saville’s Rice University graduation ring and a .22 caliber pistol later positively identified as the murder weapon. Upon questioning, appellant confessed to the abduction, robbery, sexual assault and murder of Cindy Renee Rounsaville.

Appellant’s first and second points of error complain that the trial court erred in admitting appellant’s video taped confessions for the tapes failure to comply with art. 38.22 Sec. 3(a)(2) Tex.Code Crim.Proc. Ann. because the tapes do not contain an express waiver of his rights. Specifically, he urges this Court to construe art. 38.22 Sec. 3(a)(2) to require that electronically recorded confessions contain an express waiver of rights. Appellant acknowledges that this Court has never so interpreted the statute.

Section 3(a) of art. 38.22 states that no oral confession of an accused made as a result of custodial interrogation shall be admissible against the accused in a criminal proceeding unless certain requirements are met. One such requirement is found in art. 38.22 Sec. 3(a)(2) which states:

(2)prior to the statement but during the recording the accused is given the warning in Subsection (a) of Section 2 above and the accused knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waives any rights set out in the warning;

Art. 38.22 Sec. 2(a) sets forth the requisite warnings:

(a) the accused, prior to making the statement, either received from a magistrate the warning provided in Article 15.-17 of this code or received from the person to whom the statement is made a warning that:
(1) he has the right to remain silent and not make any statement at all and that any statement he makes may be used against him at his trial;
(2) any statement he makes may be used as evidence against him in court;
(3) he has the right to have a lawyer present to advise him prior to and during any questioning;
(4) if he is unable to employ a lawyer, he has the right to have a lawyer appointed to advise him prior to and during any questioning; and
(5) he has the right to terminate the interview at any time;
Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 38.22 Sec. 2(a).

A review of the video tapes reflect that during the recordings and before the statements were made appellant was given the statutory warnings. Appellant affirmatively acknowledged that he understood those warnings. During the recordings appellant was not specifically asked, nor did he specifically volunteer, that he waived those rights.

It is undisputed, however, that appellant was adequately advised of his rights as set forth in art. 38.22 Sec. 2(a). Likewise, it is uncontested that appellant fully understood those warnings, and that appellant was given an opportunity to ask any questions regarding the warnings prior to making the confession. There is no contention that appellant was coerced, nor is there any allegation that appellant was promised anything in exchange for the confession. Instead, appellant urges that this Court interpret the waiver provision of Sec. 3(a)(2) to mandate an express statement from an accused that he waives those rights. We do not, however, interpret the oral confession statute to require an express verbal statement from an accused that he waives his rights prior to giving the *41 statement. In reaching the voluntariness of a confession, this Court looks at the totality of the circumstances. Berry v. State, 582 S.W.2d 463, 465 (Tex.Cr.App.1979). Dealing with a written confession, we have held that, under the totality of the circumstances, the State may establish waiver even where the waiver is not explicitly stated. Williams v. State, 566 S.W.2d 919, 923 (Tex.Cr.App.1978); Moreno v. State, 511 S.W.2d 273 (Tex.Cr.App.1974). In Mays v. State,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
784 S.W.2d 38, 1989 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 213, 1989 WL 146316, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barefield-v-state-texcrimapp-1989.