Byers v. State

641 S.W.2d 629, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 5117
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 26, 1982
Docket12-81-0187-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 641 S.W.2d 629 (Byers 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
Byers v. State, 641 S.W.2d 629, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 5117 (Tex. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

McKAY, Justice.

Appellant was convicted of burglary of a habitation. Punishment was assessed at fifteen years confinement and a $500 fine.

In his first ground of error appellant contends that the trial court erred in not allowing his father, John D. Byers, to represent him at the trial thereby denying him a fundamental and constitutional right to be represented by counsel of his choice.

The record indicates that the State had John D. Byers subpoenaed as a fact witness in the trial of appellant, and he was placed under the rule and excluded from the courtroom. John D. Byers is an attorney and the father of appellant. He had engaged other counsel to assist him in representing appellant in the trial, and attorney James T. Flynt did serve as counsel for appellant in the trial court. John D. Byers did testify as a fact witness to the effect that he recovered some of the property taken from the house during the burglary and turned it over to the officers.

In our search of the record we have been unable to find where John D. Byers requested that trial court excuse him from the rule on witnesses so that he could be present in the courtroom and represent his son, nor do we find any ruling by the trial court denying any such request. There is in the record “Defendant’s Motion Invoking the Rule of Witnesses” in which John D. Byers as attorney for appellant “moves the court pursuant to Article 36.03 C.C.P. to invoke the rule of witnesses and to direct that all witnesses for the prosecution and defense be sworn and placed in the custody of an officer of the court and removed out of the courtroom .... ” The trial court granted the motion.

In his testimony out of the presence of the jury as a witness for the State, John D. Byers, in answer to a question by the State’s attorney, said, “I paid Mr. Flynt to assist me. As you recall I requested to be allowed to sit at counsel table this morning to which you objected.” The State Attorney replied, “That’s right.” However, we find nothing in the record, in the statement of facts or the transcript, which evidences a request by John D. Byers to the Court to be excused from the rule so that he could remain in the courtroom or participate in the trial. From the quoted testimony above, it is not shown whether any request by Byers was made to the court or only to the State’s counsel, and in the absence of any record of a request to the court we are not at liberty to supply that omission.

If it could be said that there was error in putting Byers under the rule, he waived such error by not requesting the *632 court to be excused from the rule. King v. State, 511 S.W.2d 32, 34 (Tex.Cr.App.1974); Tijerina v. State, 460 S.W.2d 123, 124 (Tex.Cr.App.1970). The trial court is allowed discretion in the enforcement of the rule. Article 36.04, C.C.P.; King v. State, supra (fact note 4); Tijerina v. State, supra. Appellant does not contend he received ineffective assistance of counsel. After Byers had testified for the second time he requested the court to excuse him from the rule. The State objected and his request was denied. Appellant has not demonstrated that the trial court abused its discretion in this matter, and appellant’s first ground of error is overruled.

In his second ground of error appellant maintains there was no corroboration of the accomplice testimony given by Harold Thomas Crist and Tracy Clark (Clark).

Harold Thomas Crist and Clark were accomplice witnesses who testified that they, together with appellant, burglarized the residence of Larry Crist and took from his house eight rifles and shotguns, one pistol, a red tool box, and two stereo speakers. Harold Crist testified that he knew appellant prior to the burglary, that he met appellant at the residence of Claude Holland, and that he and appellant discussed how they could make some easy money. He said he told appellant that his uncle had a bunch of rifles and there would be easy money to make because his uncle would be at work. He and appellant then called Clark because Clark had a car, and they asked him if he wanted to make some money. Clark came and picked up Harold Crist and appellant.

Harold Crist stated that the three of them then drove from Sulphur Springs to Commerce and bought a six pack of beer, and went from there to Wood County to Larry Crist’s house. They broke into the house and took the guns, the tool box, a set of speakers, some hunting vests, and $102 in change. They folded the stolen items in a blanket and put them in Clark’s car. They made an inventory of the items, took them to John D. Byers’ residence in Sulphur Springs when he was not at home, and put them in a closet in a shed at the back of the house. Harold Crist testified it was appellant’s idea to put the stolen items behind his father’s house, and that appellant showed them how to get to that location. They left all the stolen property in the shed except the two speakers which Clark took to his house. They then drove to a junk yard where appellant went in. Appellant came back and reported that he was offered $50 for each rifle but that amount was not enough.

According to Harold Crist, the next day appellant returned all the rifles to him so he could return them, and appellant was driving a Z28 car. Harold Crist and Randy Holland moved the rifles out to a country road and left them beside or near the road. The next morning Harold Crist called his uncle, Larry Crist, and told him he knew what happened to his guns. Larry picked up Harold, and Harold told him what had happened. They then went to the home of Deputy Sheriff Billie George, who followed them to pick up the guns. The pistol and the tool box were not there because appellant had not returned them. Harold Crist’s explanation of why appellant had failed to return the pistols and the tool box was “that they — he (appellant) had given it to somebody else because — for letting him put the rifles at the residence.” Harold Crist testified that he, Larry Crist, and Deputy Sheriff George then proceeded to Clark’s house and got the speakers.

Prior to appellant’s trial, Harold Crist and Clark pleaded guilty to the offense of burglary and received probated sentences.

According to the record, the only witnesses who might give testimony tending to connect appellant with the burglary were Randy Holland and John D. Byers.

Randy Holland testified that Harold Crist came to his house and told him about the guns. Holland said Crist arrived in a silver Z28 car with orange stripes, and that appellant drove a car like that one. He said appellant had visited his house numerous times in his Z28. He did not see appellant, and acknowledged that there is more than one Z28 in Hopkins County.

*633 John D. Byers, appellant’s father and an attorney, testified that he was first told of the charge against appellant by appellant; that he went to the Wood County Sheriff’s office about December 8, 1979, “to make a bond.” John Byers testified he had a conversation with G.W. Taylor, the Chief Deputy of the Wood County Sheriff’s office on or after December 9, 1979, and stated:

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Bluebook (online)
641 S.W.2d 629, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 5117, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/byers-v-state-texapp-1982.