Brown v. State

807 S.W.2d 615, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 561, 1991 WL 31293
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 7, 1991
DocketB14-89-00935-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 807 S.W.2d 615 (Brown 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
Brown v. State, 807 S.W.2d 615, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 561, 1991 WL 31293 (Tex. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

SEARS, Justice.

We grant the State’s motion for rehearing, withdraw the opinion of January 17, 1991, withdraw the prior judgment, and substitute the following opinion. This is an appeal from a conviction of the felony offense of possession of a controlled substance, namely methamphetamine. Appellant pleaded not guilty to the charge and true to the enhancement paragraphs in the indictment. The trial court found appellant guilty as charged and assessed punishment at ten years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In three points of error, appellant contends the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the opinion of a chemist who testified at trial. We affirm.

In our prior opinion, we noted that we were constrained to follow Cole v. State, No. 1179-87, — S.W.2d — (Tex.Crim.App., Nov. 14, 1990) (not yet reported). In Cole, the court of criminal appeals held that when the DPS chemist who actually performed the chemical analyses is absent, the testimony of a supervising chemist (or others) as to the tests conducted and the results of the tests is inadmissible at trial as an exception to the hearsay rule under Tex.R.CRIM.Evid. 803(8)(B). In so holding, the court of criminal appeals relied heavily on United States v. Oates, 560 F.2d 45 (2nd Cir.1977). The Oates case has been criticized by other U.S. Courts of Appeal and in later decisions by the second circuit. Moreover, because Cole is pending on motion for rehearing, it is not final and not part of the jurisprudence of this State. See Yeager v. State, 727 S.W.2d 280, 281 n. 1 (Tex.Crim.App.1987). Therefore, we are not constrained to follow Cole and will address appellant’s three points of error.

In his first point of error, appellant contends the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction because there are insufficient affirmative links between the alleged controlled substance and appellant to establish his possession. When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence in a criminal case, the appellate court must determine whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, a rational trier of fact could have found all the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Butler v. State, 769 S.W.2d 234, 239 (Tex.Crim.App.1989). This standard applies to both direct and circumstantial evidence cases. Alexander v. State, 740 S.W.2d 749, 757 (Tex.Crim.App.1987). The trial judge, when sitting as the trier of fact, is the exclusive judge of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. See Mattias v. State, 731 S.W.2d 936, 940 (Tex.Crim.App.1987); Powell v. State, 479 S.W.2d 685, 687 (Tex.Crim.App.1972). The trial judge is entitled to accept or reject any or all of a witness’ testimony. Mattias, 731 S.W.2d at 940; Powell, 479 S.W.2d at 687.

To establish unlawful possession of a controlled substance, the State must prove that the accused exercised care, control, and management over the contraband. Cude v. State, 716 S.W.2d 46, 47 (Tex.Crim.App.1986); Hall v. State, 783 S.W.2d 14, 15 (Tex.App. — Houston [14th Dist.] 1989, pet. ref’d). The accused’s control over the controlled substance need not be exclusive, but *617 can be jointly exercised with one or more persons. Cude, 716 S.W.2d at 47. However, when the accused is not in exclusive control of the place where the contraband is found, the State must show additional affirmative links between the accused and the contraband. Id. The affirmative links can be established by showing additional facts and circumstances which indicate the accused’s knowledge and control of the contraband. Pollan v. State, 612 S.W.2d 594, 596 (Tex.Crim.App.1981). Facts which can affirmatively link an accused with the premises, thereby proving that he jointly possessed and controlled the contraband, are: (1) envelopes addressed to the accused at the address where the search warrant was executed; (2) photographs of the accused seized during the search, See Herrera v. State, 561 S.W.2d 175, 179 (Tex.Crim.App.1978); and (3) that the accused is closely related to other persons in joint possession of the contraband. See Hernandez v. State, 538 S.W.2d 127, 130-31 (Tex.Crim.App.1976).

In the present case, a combined force of law enforcement officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Houston Police Department, Katy Police Department and the Village Police Department executed a search warrant of a mobile home located at 2503 Katy, Hockley Cut-Off, No. 307, appellant’s alleged residence. Michael Tandy, an investigator with the Texas Department of Public Safety Narcotics Division, testified that appellant was not present when the search warrant was executed but Teresa Brown, appellant’s wife, was present. Mrs. Brown gave him the key to unlock the padlocked bedroom door. Tandy, Officer Glenn Chance of the Houston Police Department, and Officer C.F. Hooker of the Village Police Department searched the bedroom. Officer Hooker found an envelope addressed to appellant at that residence address and turned it over to Officer Tandy. Officer Hooker also found some photographs of appellant in the bedroom.

Further, Joseph Coats testified that he and his wife live at the Garden Villa Mobile Home Park located at the “Cut Off road north of Katy” and that his wife manages the mobile home rental units. Mr. Coats testified that appellant and his wife lived at the trailer park on the date the search warrant was executed on their trailer. Mr. Coats also testified that appellant paid the rent on the mobile home and that appellant “brought a couple of checks” to Mrs. Coats at their trailer on one occasion. We hold that these facts sufficiently link appellant to the mobile home and the contraband. We overrule appellant’s first point of error.

In his second and third points of error, appellant contends the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction because there was no evidence that the substances recovered were illegal controlled substances and that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the testimony of Lou Haby, a DPS chemist, that the substances were illegal controlled substances. Appellant complains that the State failed to show the qualifications of the chemist who actually performed the tests or that the tests conducted at the DPS lab were done under Mr.

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807 S.W.2d 615, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 561, 1991 WL 31293, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-state-texapp-1991.