Brooks v. State

642 S.W.2d 791, 1982 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1179
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 15, 1982
Docket62702
StatusPublished
Cited by216 cases

This text of 642 S.W.2d 791 (Brooks 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
Brooks v. State, 642 S.W.2d 791, 1982 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1179 (Tex. 1982).

Opinion

OPINION

CLINTON, Judge.

Appellant was indicted for possession with intent to deliver heroin, enhanced by two prior felony drug convictions. The trial court granted the State’s motion to strike from the indictment the words “with the intent to deliver.” Allison v. State, 618 S.W.2d 763 (Tex.Cr.App.1981). The jury found appellant guilty of possession of heroin and found both enhancement allegations true. The court fixed punishment at confinement for life, in accordance with V.T.C.A. Penal Code, Section 12.42(d).

Appellant’s brief sets out thirty four grounds of error, the first of which raises insufficiency of evidence but interjects the right to confront and crossexamine witnesses. By combining more than one contention in a single ground an appellant risks rejection of the ground for presenting nothing for review. See Williams v. State, 605 S.W.2d 596 (Tex.Cr.App.1980).

However, addressing its essence, we find this ground is without merit. The evidence was sufficient to show appellant’s possession of heroin. The State elicited from its witnesses testimony establishing appellant’s possession of heroin at the time of his arrest. Police officers testified to finding the substance in appellant’s possession and delivering it to a toxicology laboratory for analysis. The head of the laboratory testified that one of the substances was heroin. That the toxicologist who testified did not personally test the heroin does not make his testimony about results obtained by his subordinates inadmissible hearsay. Hodge v. State, 631 S.W.2d 754 (Tex.Cr.App.1982); Alvarez v. State, 508 S.W.2d 100 (Tex.Cr.App.1974).

Furthermore neither the State nor appellant attempted to put on the witness stand the subordinates who tested the heroin. Therefore, appellant cannot now complain he was denied the right to examine or cross-examine them. Ground of error number one is overruled.

In the second ground of error appellant complains the court denied him the right to testify that he did not know the substance in his possession was heroin. He maintains this was a violation of Article 38.08, V.A.C.C.P. 1

Appellant testified on redirect examination that a female acquaintance obtained from a third person some balloons containing drugs. He testified that he placed the balloons and drugs in a billfold in order to carry them for the woman, and that police officers found them there. He further stated on redirect that at his residence she injected some of the substances into her arm and that he was in the process of injecting some into his arm when police arrived.

Appellant later made it clear he knew at the time of the offense that the drug was heroin. On recrossexamination the following occurred:

“Q [Prosecutor]: There wasn’t any question in your mind that she wasn’t talking about anything but heroin? She *794 came out with drugs and you knew what kind of drugs they were?
A [Appellant]: Right.
Q: So there was no question in your mind then that this was heroin that we are talking about?
A: Right.
Q: And you did have it in your upper pocket?
A: Right.” 2

Both sides rested, and final arguments were scheduled to begin the next morning. The following day, before final arguments had begun, the court granted defense counsel’s request for permission to reopen to recall appellant for “just a few questions.” After questioning appellant about the female companion mentioned above, defense counsel asked him if he recalled the questions asked by the prosecutor the previous day about appellant’s possessing heroin when he was arrested. Appellant replied that he did recall. Then the following occurred:

“Q [Defense counsel]: Had you previously heard the chemist testify that the substances were heroin or some of the substances were heroin?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you know of your own personal knowledge whether or not it was heroin?”

The prosecutor objected that defense counsel was trying to impeach his own witness, and the court sustained. The questioning then proceeded as follows:

“Q [Defense Counsel]: Can you look at a substance and tell whether or not it is heroin?
A: No.
Q: Are you a chemist?
A: No.
Q: At the time that the substance was there in your house did you know in fact it was heroin?”

The court again sustained the State’s objection and instructed defense counsel not to ask the question again.

Defense counsel then showed appellant the balloons that had been admitted into evidence and asked, “Do you know of your own personal knowledge whether or not this is heroin in there?” The court again sustained the State’s objection, saying, “I don’t see any need for all of this. To me it’s repetitious. I’m not going to permit any more questions along that line.” 3

Outside the presence of the jury defense counsel made an offer of proof by questioning appellant as follows:

“Q: Mr. Brooks, at the time that you testified yesterday that it was heroin that you possessed were you testifying from your own personal knowledge or were you testifying based upon what you heard the chemist say?
A: What I heard the chemist say.
Q: Do you know in fact that was heroin?
A: No, I don’t.
Q: What?
A: They took it out of my arm and said it was.
Q: You had not used it or you had no way of knowing what it was?
*795 A: No, I didn’t.
Q: Are you able to look at [a] powdered substance and know whether it’s heroin or not?
A: No, I’m not.
Q: When you testified yesterday that it was heroin were you basing your testimony solely on what you understood the chemist said?
A: He just said it had been tested.
Q: Did you intend to make a judicial confession in court that it was in fact heroin?
A: I had no way of knowing.”

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Bluebook (online)
642 S.W.2d 791, 1982 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brooks-v-state-texcrimapp-1982.