Caballero v. State

881 S.W.2d 745, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1179, 1994 WL 192164
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 19, 1994
DocketB14-93-00236-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 881 S.W.2d 745 (Caballero 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
Caballero v. State, 881 S.W.2d 745, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1179, 1994 WL 192164 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

JUNELL, Justice (Retired).

This is an appeal of a conviction for possession of cocaine. The range of punishment was enhanced by two prior felony convictions, and the jury assessed punishment at fifty years. Appellant Caballero complains of insufficient evidence, the lack of a jury charge on probable cause, and improper jury argument. We affirm.

We summarize the facts in the light most favorable to the verdict. On July 24,1992, at approximately 5:00 p.m., Officers S.W. Wiggins, George Hickey, and David 'White of the Houston Police Department arrested on a city street two persons whom police saw conducting a drug transaction. Police placed each suspect in the back of a patrol car, and a wrecker was about to tow away the car of one of the suspects.

The officers saw a truck approaching that was chasing a man on a bicycle. The truck rode over a barricade, swerved wildly, ran up onto a yard, veered back onto the street, and approached the officers at a high rate of speed. The man on the bicycle veered off and disappeared, but the truck continued travelling toward the officers. The officers’ cars were parked in such a way that the approaching truck could not drive around. Officer Wiggins put his hand out towards the truck and yelled at the man in the truck to stop, but the truck continued toward the officers.

Because a suspect was sitting in Officer Wiggins patrol ear, Wiggins got in the car to move it out of the truck’s path. The truck swerved around Wiggins’ patrol car and slammed into the car that was hooked-up to the wrecker. The truck went in the air and almost turned on its side before righting itself. The driver tried to drive away at high speed, but the truck’s driveshaft dropped off.

Caballero was alone in the truck. He jumped out and ran away, jumping several fences. Augmented by late-arriving Officer *747 Anthony Twigg and several private citizens, police pursued. When they caught Caballero, he was violent and combative. He swung his fists and kicked his legs as officers attempted to handcuff him. The officers were forced to apply leg restraints.

Police brought Caballero back to the scene of the collision. An inventory of his truck revealed a crack pipe on the driver’s-side floorboard. The substance in the pipe field-tested positive for cocaine. Subsequent analysis verified 6.9 milligrams.

In point of error one, Caballero complains that the evidence was insufficient for the jury to have found that he knowingly possessed cocaine.

In reviewing the sufficiency of evidence in a criminal trial, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and ask if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Matson v. State, 819 S.W.2d 839, 843 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). The jury is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses. Sharp v. State, 707 S.W.2d 611, 614 (Tex.Crim.App.1986), cer t. denied, 488 U.S. 872, 109 S.Ct. 190, 102 L.Ed.2d 159 (1988). We may not sit as a thirteenth juror and reweigh the evidence. Moreno v. State, 755 S.W.2d 866, 867 (Tex.Crim.App.1988).

To establish the unlawful possession of a controlled substance, the State must prove that the accused (1) exercised care, custody, control, or management over contraband, and (2) knew that the substance possessed was contraband. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.002(38) & 481.115(a) (Vernon 1992 & Supp.1994); Mayes v. State, 831 S.W.2d 5, 6 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, no pet.). With regard to prong one, the evidence must affirmatively link Caballero to a substance, in such a manner and to such an extent, that a reasonable inference may arise that he knew of the substance’s existence and whereabouts. Bass v. State, 830 S.W.2d 142, 146 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1992, pet. ref'd). With regard to prong two, the issue is whether the evidence supports a reasonable inference that Caballero knew that the substance he possessed was cocaine. Jackson v. State, 807 S.W.2d 387, 389 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1991, pet. ref'd). There is no minimum quantity of cocaine required to sustain a conviction. Id.

Caballero does not argue on appeal that the State failed to affirmatively link him to the crack pipe. Nevertheless, we note that the pipe was found on the floorboard of the driver’s side of the truck he was driving. He was the sole occupant of the truck. His mother testified:

Q: [PROSECUTOR] On the day that your son got picked up at about 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon, you weren’t using the truck were you?
A: [MRS. CABALLERO] No, ma’am.
Q: And your daughter wasn’t using the truck, was she?
A: That day he [Caballero] used the truck to work.
‡ ⅜ * ⅝: * *
Q: ... Now, when you last saw the truck, was there a crack cocaine pipe in the truck?
A: No. That’s what I wanted to say to you. I saw him before 4:00 o’clock. He stopped by to pick me up to go with him to cash a check and take me to eat. I said I would wait for him there, and he never got there. Then I heard he was arrested.
THE PROSECUTOR: Judge, that’s nonresponsive.
THE COURT: The question was: Had you seen a crack pipe?
A: No, sir, because I did look inside the truck, like I said that day, and there was nothing. I was sitting in the truck talking to my son.
Q: And then from the time that you saw the truck at that time, you didn’t see your son again until when, until after he was arrested?
A: Yes.
******

From the above evidence, the jury could have found the crack pipe was not in the truck before he had the truck, and that Caballero *748 had care, custody, control, or management of the crack pipe and its contents. See Palmer v. State, 857 S.W.2d 898, 901 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1993, no pet.) (evidence of possession sufficient when defendant was sole occupant of vehicle and crack pipe recovered from floorboard).

Caballero’s main complaint on appeal is that the State failed to provide sufficient evidence for the jury to have found beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew that the crack pipe contained cocaine.

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Bluebook (online)
881 S.W.2d 745, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1179, 1994 WL 192164, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caballero-v-state-texapp-1994.