Conley v. State

390 S.W.2d 276

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
• Decided: March 10, 1965
• Docket: 37809
• Status: Published

Opinions

MORRISON, Judge.

The offense is felony theft with two prior felony convictions alleged for enhancement; the punishment, life.

Hardwareman McKinnon testified that on the day charged in the indictment he observed appellant and one Hefty, who were strangers to him, in his neighborhood store, and that appellant engaged him in a long conversation about various items of merchandise. After their departure he noticed that a television set with a value of $140.26 was missing and later in the day discovered that a Waring blender was also gone. Both items which he identified in detail were returned to him a few days later by the police, and he identified both appellant and Hefty in a police lineup.

Officer Kirkpatrick testified that a few days after the theft he had occasion to arrest appellant at a tourist court, and when they opened the trunk of an automobile parked adjacent to the cabin they were occupying he discovered the Waring blender in question.

Officer Kimble testified that he had a conversation with appellant and Hefty while they were in custody, and as the result of such conversation he recovered the television in question at Rock’s Drive-In. He stated that it was not his practice to reduce confessions to writing where he recovered the stolen property.

The prior convictions were stipulated. Appellant did not testify or offer any evidence in his own behalf.

Appellant contends that the court erred in not affording him a separate hearing prior to permitting the officers to testify as to the finding of the blender and the television. It should be noted that none was requested nor was any issue raised by cross examination or otherwise as to the volun-tariness of appellant’s statement to the officers about where they might find the stolen merchandise.

Appellant’s reliance upon Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908, and Lopez v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 384 S.W.2d 345, cannot be sustained because no issue of voluntariness was raised. See Foster v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 386 S.W.2d 288, decided February 3, 1965; Miller v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 387 S.W.2d 401, decided February 3, 1965; and Garrett v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 387 S.W.2d 53, decided January 27, 1965.

Appellant was indicted under the name of Michael Daniel Conley. When he personally and by counsel stipulated that Michael Daniel Conley had been convicted in the prior cases alleged in the indictment for enhancement, he thereby stipulated that he was the same person.

Finding the evidence sufficient to support the conviction and no reversible error appearing, the judgment is affirmed.