Cesar Perez v. State

437 S.W.3d 610, 2014 WL 2957449, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 7131
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 2, 2014·No. 04-13-00758-CR·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by:

SANDEE BRYAN MARION, Justice.

A jury found appellant, Cesar Perez, guilty of aggregated theft of property valued between $1,500 and $20,000 by a public servant pursuant to one scheme or continuing course of conduct, and the trial court assessed punishment at eight years’ confinement, probated. In two issues on appeal, appellant asserts the evidence is insufficient to (1) corroborate the accom *612 plice witness testimony, and (2) sustain the conviction. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

The State indicted appellant, Martha Za-marripa, and Elisa Martinez of aggregated theft of property valued between $1,500 and $20,000 while acting as public servants pursuant to one scheme and continuing course of conduct. During the relevant time period, appellant served as Justice of the Peace for Precinct 2, Maverick County (hereinafter, “the JP court”). Zamarripa and Martinez worked as secretaries for the JP court and were named as co-defendants; however, prior to appellant’s trial, they pled no contest to the charges against them and received deferred adjudication in exchange for their testimony at appellant’s trial. The duties of the JP court included collecting payments from individuals who received traffic citations within Maverick County. The State alleged appellant, with the assistance of Zamarripa and Martinez, unlawfully appropriated money from seven individuals who made payments at the JP court. The relevant portion of the indictment reads:

Theft by a Public Servant
And it is further presented to the Court that the said, Cesar Perez and Martha Zamarripa and Elisa Martinez, hereafter styled the Defendants, and before the presentment of this indictment, in the County of Maverick and State of Texas, did then and there, pursuant to one scheme or continuing course of conduct that began on or about August 20, 2007, and continued until on or about October 3, 2008, unlawfully appropriate, by acquiring or otherwise exercising control over property, to-wit: United States currency or its equivalent, and the aggregate value of the property obtained was $1500 or more but less than $20000, from Ruben Montemayor, on behalf of Maverick County, Texas, the owner thereof, with intent to deprive the owner of the property, and the defendants were then and there a public servant, namely, Cesar Perez was Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 of Maverick County, Texas, and Martha Zamarripa was a secretary for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 of Maverick County, Texas, and Elisa Martinez was a secretary for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 of Maverick County, Texas and such property appropriated by the defendants had therefore come into their custody, possession or control by virtue of their status as such public servant, ...

Non-Accomplice Testimony

The first witness to testify was Andres Rodriguez, who testified he received “a lot” of traffic citations from various agencies. Rodriguez testified that he received a letter on August 9, 2007, from a law firm that had been retained by Maverick County to collect an outstanding balance of $2,163.85. On August 17, he responded to the letter by contacting Ruben Montema-yor of the Maverick County Collections Department about starting a payment plan. Montemayor told Rodriguez he needed to speak to the JP court. According to Rodriguez, appellant told him a payment of $600 would take care of the entire amount. On August 20, Rodriguez paid $100 to a woman at the JP court, later identified as Martinez, and received a handwritten receipt (State’s Exhibit 2) from her. Rodriguez further testified that, later the same day, appellant called him to tell him he “owed more.” On August 21, Rodriguez went back to the JP court, paid another $100 to the JP court and received a second handwritten receipt (State’s Exhibit 3) from a different woman, later identified as Zamarripa. Later that day, Rodriguez went to the Collections Department to make payments on other *613 outstanding citations. While there, he was told the payments he made to the JP court did not appear in the department’s records. Instead, the records showed his citations out of the JP court had been dismissed that day. After Rodriguez showed his handwritten receipts to the Collections Department, he was referred to Eloy Garcia, an investigator with the Maverick County District Attorney’s Office. Investigator Garcia asked Rodriguez if he would be willing to make an additional $200 payment to the JP court if Investigator Garcia provided him with the money. Rodriguez agreed, and, on August 24, he went to the JP court, gave the money to appellant, and received a third handwritten receipt (State’s Exhibit 4) from appellant. Rodriguez then went home and reported what happened to Investigator Garcia.

Next, Carlos Pereda, an auditor for Maverick County, testified. He said Montemayor contacted him and stated there was “a problem ... in the JP office because ... somebody had walked in with a receipt that wasn’t recorded in the books.” Pereda stated his office could not find a payment corresponding to the handwritten receipts. Pereda testified that when people make payments at the JP court, a computerized receipt (referred to as a “Pro-Com” receipt) should be generated; therefore, he was troubled by the fact that Rodriguez’s receipts were handwritten, which meant the payments were taken outside the system. Pereda next attempted to discover whether the money Rodriguez paid had been deposited with Maverick County. He could find no deposit with the county. Pereda then contacted the district attorney’s office and spoke to Investigator Garcia and Robert Little, an assistant district attorney. During their discussion, they decided to ask Rodriguez to take additional money to the JP court. Rodriguez agreed and after he paid the money to appellant, Pereda’s office waited for a month or two to see if the money would be deposited; however, it never was. Pereda stated their suspicions about the JP court were also raised by the fact that the previous Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace collected approximately $484,000 over a fifteen-month period before she left office; but when appellant took office, the collections for his first nine months amounted to only $85,519 and for his next full fiscal year, he collected only $172,-714 — approximately $260,000 over a twenty-one-month period, significantly less than the prior Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace.

Investigator Garcia testified that Pereda initially informed the district attorney’s office about money missing from the JP court and referred Investigator Garcia to Rodriguez. Investigator Garcia stated Rodriguez informed him of the $200 he had already paid to the JP court and provided him the two handwritten receipts he had received. Investigator Garcia testified he received approval to provide Rodriguez with $200 in order to find out where the money being paid to the JP court was “winding up.” According to Investigator Garcia, Rodriguez agreed to take the $200 provided to him to the JP court. After Rodriguez gave the $200 to appellant, Rodriguez gave Investigator Garcia the third handwritten receipt he received from appellant. Investigator Garcia further testified that approximately one week later, the Texas Rangers took over the investigation and executed a search of the JP court office and seized evidence related to the investigation.

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Cesar Perez v. State, 437 S.W.3d 610, 2014 WL 2957449, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 7131 (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

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