Eloisa Medina v. State

555 S.W.3d 581
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 1, 2011
Docket01-10-01135-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 555 S.W.3d 581 (Eloisa Medina 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
Eloisa Medina v. State, 555 S.W.3d 581 (Tex. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Opinion issued December 1, 2011.

In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas

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NOS. 01-10-01134-CR

01-10-01135-CR

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Eloisa Medina, Appellant

V.

THE State of Texas, Appellee

On Appeal from the 338th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Case Nos. 1176048; 1252250

O P I N I O N

Appellant Eloise Medina was convicted, pursuant to a jury verdict, of possession of cocaine and sentenced by the trial court to 15 years’ confinement (the possession case[1]).  The same evidence giving rise to that conviction, coupled with other evidence presented to the trial court, was the basis for the trial court’s additionally adjudicating guilt on an earlier deferred charge, revoking probation on that deferred charge, and imposing a sentence of 5 years’ confinement and a $300 fine (the adjudication proceeding[2]).  Appellant appeals both her conviction in the possession case and her adjudication of guilt in the adjudication proceeding.  We reverse her conviction in the possession case, and we affirm the trial court’s adjudicating guilt on her deferred charge in the adjudication proceeding, but modify that judgment to delete the assessment of the $300 fine.

THE POSSESSION CASE

Appellant was charged with possession of cocaine that was seized from her house, where she resides with her children, her parents, and her housemate, Maritza Martinez.  Martinez was charged with possession of the same cocaine.  Appellant was not home when the police executed the search warrant that led to the discovery of the drugs, although she arrived home during the raid and was immediately arrested.  Appellant’s sole point of error on appeal of her conviction is that the “evidence was legally insufficient in that the State failed to establish by proof to a high degree of certainty (beyond a reasonable doubt) that Medina did knowingly or intentionally exercise ‘actual’ care, custody, control, or management of a controlled substance.” 

A.      Evidence Presented at Trial

In early 2010, the Houston Police Department received a citizen tip about suspected drug dealing at appellant’s address.  Surveillance was conducted on the house for an initial 2-week period, which led to a search warrant that the police allowed to expire unexecuted because they discovered that appellant was out of town.  Police then conducted additional surveillance over another 2 weeks, which led to a second search warrant that was executed on February 17, 2010 at about 7:00 p.m.  The “targets” of the investigation were appellant and Martinez. 

The two officers involved in the surveillance of appellant’s home testified that—during the period in which they watched the house “two to three days a week, if not more”—they observed many visitors to the house staying five minutes or less.  These visitors arrived either on foot or by car.  At least five people making short visits to the house were observed each time the officers conducted surveillance on the house.  One officer testified that short visits to a residence by different people are consistent with drug dealing activity.  That officer also testified that, when no one was at appellant’s house, visitors were seen leaving appellant’s door and going to another house that police believed to be a “drug house.” 

At various times during their “month-long . . . off and on” surveillance, the officers observed the door being answered by appellant, Martinez, or both.  They also observed both appellant and Martinez engage in “hand-to-hand exchange[s]” with visitors at the door. 

On February 17, 2011, officers watched the house from about 2:00 p.m. until they executed the warrant at about 7:00 p.m.  Appellant was not there during that period, and there was no testimony about the last time she had been present at the house.[3] 

Officer Ong, the first officer to enter the house, testified to finding Martinez and appellant’s minor son sitting on the couch in the living room watching television.  He verified that no one else was present in the house.  Ong and six others then searched the house.  Ong found a plastic grocery bag wrapped up with a rubber band around it placed on a Santa Muerte shrine near the entrance to the kitchen from the living room.  While he could not see drugs inside the bag, he testified that his experience and training led him to recognize this bag as containing contraband, in part because it was sitting near the shrine.[4]  Field tests on the contents of the bag confirmed that it contained crack cocaine.  No fingerprint analysis or DNA testing was done on the plastic bag.  Later laboratory testing confirmed the bag contained about 7 grams of cocaine.

While the house was being searched, appellant arrived home.  She was stopped by the officers outside, taken into custody, and then brought inside the house.  The search of the house revealed several items indicating that appellant lives at the house, including utility bills addressed to her.  No drugs, large amounts of money, or firearms were found on appellant, and she did not appear to be under the influence of any drugs when she was arrested. 

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
555 S.W.3d 581, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eloisa-medina-v-state-texapp-2011.