Brian Charles Frankenfield Jr. v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided October 16, 2008·No. 03-05-00715-CR·Published

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-05-00715-CR

Brian Charles Frankenfield Jr., Appellant v.

The State of Texas, Appellee

FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, 26TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT NO. 05-245-K26, HONORABLE BILLY RAY STUBBLEFIELD, JUDGE PRESIDING

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Brian Frankenfield appeals his conviction for the offense of aggravated robbery. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 29.03 (West 2003). Appellant entered a plea of not guilty, but the jury found him guilty and assessed his punishment at thirty years’ imprisonment.

POINTS OF ERROR

Appellant advances six unnumbered points of error. We have numbered the points in the order presented for purposes of reference and convenience. All points claim that the trial court erred or abused its discretion. First, appellant claims that the trial court prevented him from questioning the jury panel about the standard of proof in a criminal case. Second, the trial court is faulted for failing to grant the motion to suppress evidence. Third, complaint is made of the admission of “shoe print” evidence. Fourth, error is urged in the admission at the punishment hearing of an extraneous offense that occurred during the time of the trial for which the State gave

no timely notice. Fifth, an abuse of discretion is asserted because the trial court failed to conduct a separate hearing on the threshold admissibility of the above described extraneous offense. Sixth, error is alleged in the admission at the punishment hearing of an extraneous offense “that was based on a tainted identification.”

BACKGROUND

Appellant does not challenge the legal or factual sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction. Briefly the facts show that Richard J. Horton, a night auditor, was working alone at the Red Roof Inn in Round Rock on the morning of April 15, 2004. About 2:00 a.m., after checking some guests into the hotel, Horton saw a white male with a bandana covering his face come through the front door, climb over the hotel counter, and reach for the cash drawer. Horton came forward. The man brandished a knife and pointed it at Horton, who felt threatened and backed away. The man took approximately two hundred dollars, crossed the counter again, and fled from the hotel. Horton stated that the man weighed approximately 150 pounds, was about 5' 9" tall, had dark hair, and wore a dark blue T-shirt and blue jeans. Horton was unable to make an identification of the man who took the money.

Stacey Kerr testified that in the early morning hours of August 15, 2004, about 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 a.m., she and a friend were driving home from a reception when they were stopped by police near the Red Roof Inn for having an expired registration sticker. After obtaining permission from the hotel attendant, Kerr parked her car at the rear of the hotel. Kerr sat on the grass in the front of the hotel while her friend walked to a nearby Shell service station to telephone for a ride. While Kerr waited, she saw a maroon or burgundy colored “Grand Am or Pontiac” drive up.

A black-haired man with a blue shirt and blue jeans got out and walked to the hotel door. He pulled a bandana over his face. Kerr saw the man go over the hotel counter, saw the clerk step back, and observed the man cross the counter again. Kerr then saw the man run from the hotel and get in the driver’s side of the car. When shown a picture of a car, Kerr identified it as being similar to the car she had seen, particularly because the hub caps were painted the same color as the car. But she was unable to make an in-court identification of appellant.

Other evidence showed that fingerprint and boot impressions were lifted from the hotel counter by the Round Rock Police Department shortly after the robbery. The fingerprint impression matched the known print of appellant’s left ring finger. The boot impressions matched the boots worn by appellant when he was arrested three days later.

Austin Police Sergeant Gilbert Cardenas testified that on the morning of August 18, 2004, he was investigating another robbery when he saw two white males in a maroon Pontiac Grand Prix in the traffic ahead of his vehicle. The Pontiac fit the description of the car used in several recent robberies and had the license number previously furnished to him by law enforcement sources. When the Pontiac pulled into a hotel parking lot and stopped, Sergeant Cardenas pulled in behind it. The officer learned from the dispatcher that the Pontiac had been reported stolen. Appellant, a passenger in the Pontiac, was arrested. Two knives and a bandana were found in the car near the passenger seat.

JURY VOIR DIRE

In his first point of error, appellant claims that the “trial judge erred in preventing appellant from questioning the jury panel about the standard of proof in a criminal case.” The trial

court has broad discretion over the process of jury selection. See Hankins v. State, 132 S.W.3d 380, 384 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004); Sells v. State, 121 S.W.3d 748, 755-56 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003); Barajas v. State, 93 S.W.3d 36, 38 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002). Appellate courts leave to the trial court’s discretion the propriety of a particular question and the trial court’s conclusion will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion. Barajas, 93 S.W.3d at 38; Allridge v. State, 762 S.W.2d 146, 163 (Tex. Crim. App. 1988). A trial court’s discretion is abused only when a proper question about a proper area of inquiry is prohibited. Barajas, 93 S.W.3d at 38. A “proper” voir dire examination question is one that seeks to discover a veniremember’s views on an issue applicable or relevant to the case. See Rhoades v. State, 934 S.W.2d 113, 118 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); McCarter v. State, 837 S.W.2d 117, 121-22 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992); Smith v. State, 703 S.W.2d 641, 643 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985).1 A voir dire question may be proper and relevant to an issue in a criminal case where it seeks to uncover grounds for a challenge for cause or for the purpose of intelligently exercising peremptory challenges. Barajas, 93 S.W.3d at 39. Further, a defendant is normally entitled to question a veniremember on voir dire examination to determine how they would apply the State’s burden of proof in a criminal case (beyond a reasonable doubt) because such an examination seeks to discover a veniremember’s views on an issue applicable to the case. See id. at 38;

1 An otherwise proper question is impermissible if it attempts to commit the veniremember to a particular verdict based on particular facts. Standefer v. State, 59 S.W.3d 177, 181 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001). Further, a voir dire question that is vague and broad in nature is not proper and may be prevented by the trial court. Barajas v. State, 93 S.W.3d 36, 39 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002) (citing Smith v. State, 703 S.W.2d 641, 645 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985)).

Woolridge v. State, 827 S.W.2d 900, 906 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992); Rich v. State, 183 S.W.3d 473, 476 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2005, pet. ref’d).

In Jones v. State, 223 S.W.3d 379 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007), the court held that a defendant’s state constitutional right to be heard by himself or by counsel, under article I, section 10 of the Texas Constitution, requires permitting a proper question that defense counsel wishes to ask a veniremember on voir dire examination, and the denial of that right is a state constitutional violation. Id. at 382-83.2 A trial court’s impermissible exclusion of a proper question during jury voir dire examination is subject to a harm analysis. Rich v. State, 160 S.W.3d 575, 577 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005); Gonzales v. State, 994 S.W.2d 170, 171 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999); Cena v. State, 991 S.W.2d 283, 283 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999).

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