Dennis Antoine Andrus v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 17, 2009
Docket01-08-00738-CR
StatusPublished

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Bluebook
Dennis Antoine Andrus v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Opinion issued December 17, 2009





In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas





NO. 01-08-00738-CR

____________


DENNIS ANTOINE ANDRUS, Appellant


V.


THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee


On Appeal from the 339th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 1096647


MEMORANDUM OPINION

          A jury found appellant, Dennis Antoine Andrus, guilty of the offense of capital murder of a child under the age of six years old and assessed his punishment at confinement for life. In three issues, appellant contends that the evidence is factually insufficient to support his conviction and his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel.

          We affirm.

Background

          Ashley Burnett, appellant’s wife, testified that on December 4, 2006, she and appellant, a hemophiliac, lived in a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment with their two children, Aja, who was two and one-half years old, and the complainant, who was sixteen months old. That morning, Ashley, who worked as a certified nurse’s aide on the 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift at an assisted living facility, fed the children breakfast and spent about two hours playing with them in the living room. The complainant was playing with her sister as she normally would. At noon, as was her routine, Ashley put the children down for their nap on the living room floor in front of the television, which was turned on. Ashley then began getting ready for work. Appellant, who was in the bed in the master bedroom, got out of bed just before Ashley left for work at around 1:40 p.m. When Ashley left, she noted that the children were still asleep on the living room floor and appellant began vacuuming the apartment. Although the facts are somewhat unclear as to the series of events that occurred after Ashley left for work, it is undisputed that appellant was alone with Aja and the complainant during that time.

          Appellant testified that shortly after he began vacuuming, the children awoke. The complainant stood up from the floor, and appellant noticed that her diaper was sagging. Appellant brought her to the couch, removed her diaper, and saw that the complainant had both urinated and defecated in her diaper. Appellant used the outside of her diaper to wipe the complainant but could not find another diaper in the living room. He left her on the couch and told her to stay there. While he was out of the living room, appellant heard no sound but that from the television. Appellant went to the master bedroom in search of a fresh diaper. Not finding one there, he went to the children’s room. After about three or four minutes, appellant returned with the fresh diaper, whereupon he saw the complainant lying face down on the floor. Appellant walked passed the complainant to the couch and called her to him. After the complainant did not respond, he then walked over to her and picked her up. Appellant noted that the complainant was limp and unresponsive and one of her eyes was looking askew. Appellant immediately made a telephone call to Ashley and told her that the complainant was unresponsive, but he communicated no reason for the complainant’s condition. Ashley immediately returned home.

          In the meantime, appellant tried to revive the complainant by kissing her, touching her, and putting a wet washcloth on her face. Ashley returned about twenty minutes after appellant had called her on the telephone. Ashley did not notice any obvious injuries on the complainant. She also tried to revive the complainant by kissing her. When the complainant did not respond, appellant, Ashley, Aja, and the complainant proceeded to the LBJ Hospital Emergency Room. Appellant drove and let Ashley, who was carrying the complainant, out at the front door of the hospital. Before parking the car, appellant went to get his cousin, who lived about five minutes away, to help watch Aja.

          LBJ Security Officer Michael Living testified that at LBJ Hospital, Security Officer Damien Dickerson assisted Ashley in bringing the complainant into the emergency room. After the complainant was taken to emergency room personnel, Dickerson and Living went to see their supervisor, Sergeant Althea Covington, to notify her to contact law enforcement authorities because the child had been injured. Living then went to his post at the parking lot booth. Subsequently another security officer, dispatched by Sergeant Covington, came and told Living to be on the lookout for a white car with a male driver and a child passenger and to bring them to the emergency room. After appellant, his cousin, and Aja arrived in the car, they followed Living into the hospital. Living noted that appellant did not have “as much concern as [Living] would have [had]” and that appellant was not crying as he walked into the hospital.

          Sergeant Covington testified that she contacted an on site Child Protective Services representative to interview appellant and Ashley. Covington noted that appellant’s demeanor was not emotional while he was being interviewed, until the representative’s questions became accusatory, and that Ashley’s demeanor was “pretty calm,” which, in her opinion, was inappropriate. Shortly thereafter, Houston Police Department (“HPD”) Patrol Officer C. Gallian arrived to investigate the incident.

          Officer Gallian testified that he was dispatched to the LBJ Hospital Emergency Room in response to a call about a child suffering from “swelling in her brain for an unknown reason.” Once there, Covington immediately directed him to Ashley and appellant. Appellant told Gallian that he “thought [the complainant’s symptoms were due to] a diaper rash,” that “[the complainant] didn’t have balance,” that “appellant changed her diaper,” and that then “[the complainant] fell to her back and . . . her eyes rolled back . . . one eye rolled back and . . . the other one was still open.” Gallian noted that appellant did not tell him that the complainant’s diaper had been soiled or that appellant had placed her on a couch. Gallian explained that appellant told him that the complainant had acted unusually from “the second she awoke from her nap” and that appellant “was with her when she basically just fell out on him.”

          HPD Sergeant R.

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