Enriquez v. State

988 S.W.2d 899, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 1702, 1999 WL 130157
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 11, 1999
DocketNo. 14-97-00177-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 988 S.W.2d 899 (Enriquez 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
Enriquez v. State, 988 S.W.2d 899, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 1702, 1999 WL 130157 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

MAJORITY OPINION

DON WITTIG, Justice.

Appellant, Blas A. Enriquez, pled not guilty in a trial before a jury to the offense of delivery of marijuana in an amount of over five hundred pounds. See Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 481.120(a), (b)(5) (Vernon Supp.1999). He was convicted, and after appellant pled “true” to two enhancement paragraphs, the trial court assessed punishment at forty years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division. Appellant asserts three points of error. Two points challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, and in his final point of error, he contends the trial committed reversible error by failing to instruct the jury on a lesser included offense. We reverse and remand for a new trial consistent with this opinion.

Background

Narcotics officers discovered a large box alleged to contain approximately five hundred pounds of marijuana. The officers maintained surveillance on the box and orchestrated a controlled delivery. On November 18, 1994, two males arrived at Central Freight with a U-Haul trailer and signed for the box as “Jose Sanchez.” However, the two men left Central Freight without the box, and as they left, they performed defensive driving maneuvers apparently designed to detect any possible pursuers.

On December 2, two men arrived to receive the box, but were unsuccessful because the box was too large for their trunk. A short while later, appellant arrived at Central Freight as the driver of a pickup truck with [901]*901the other two men. Central Freight employees used a forklift to load the box onto the bed of the truck. Leaving the Central Freight parking lot, the box fell out of the truck. Appellant stopped, and all three men lifted the box back into the truck.

Officers, involved in the surveillance of the box, followed the truck for approximately fifteen minutes while appellant continuously drove in a defensive manner. The three finally stopped and went into a bar. A short while later, appellant and his two companions appeared with two more men. Appellant and his companions left in the truck followed by the two additional men in another vehicle. Both vehicles proceeded to another bar using defensive driving techniques. They parked both vehicles in the alley and went into the bar. A short while later, they exited the bar. A van from the parking lot backed into the alley next to the bed of the truck. While appellant and the other individuals started loading the box into the van, the officers approached and arrested appellant and the other individuals.

Analysis

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In his first and second points of error, appellant contends the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to support his conviction because the evidence fails to affirmatively link him to the marijuana. Specifically, appellant argues that he did not knowingly possess the marijuana.

We address appellant’s legal sufficiency point first. When reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, we look at the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Mason v. State, 905 S.W.2d 570, 574 (Tex.Crim.App.1995). The trier of fact is the exclusive judge of the credibility of witnesses and of the weight to be given their testimony. See Jones v. State, 944 S.W.2d 642, 647 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). Likewise, reconciliation of conflicts in the evidence is within the exclusive province of the fact finder. Id. This standard of review is the same for both direct and circumstantial evidence cases. See Chambers v. State, 711 S.W.2d 240, 245 (Tex.Crim.App.1986).

In the present case, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant (1) knowingly or intentionally (2) delivered (3) marijuana (4) in an amount of fifty pounds or more but less than two thousand pounds. See Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.120(a), (b)(5) (Vernon Supp. 1999). The only element appellant contends is not proven beyond a reasonable doubt is his intent or knowledge. To establish appellant’s intent or knowledge, the evidence must show an affirmative link between appellant and the drugs he possessed, but this link need not exclude all other reasonable hypothesis except the appellant’s guilt. See Brown v. State, 911 S.W.2d 744, 748 (Tex.Crim.App.1995). In other words, the evidence, direct or circumstantial, must demonstrate appellant exercised control, care, or management over the marijuana and knowingly possessed it. See Martin v. State, 753 S.W.2d 384, 387 (Tex.Crim.App.1988); Hurtado v. State, 881 S.W.2d 738, 743 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1994, pet. ref'd).

The evidence presented to the jury established that: (1) appellant was the driver of the pickup truck; (2) appellant and two other men received the box from Central Freight; (3) they placed the box in the truck; (4) appellant drove in a defensive manner to detect unwelcome pursuers; (5) appellant met additional individuals who followed his track to an alley; (6) another individual positioned a van near the back of his truck to facilitate a transfer of the box; (7) appellant helped in the transfer of the box from the track to the van; (8) the box allegedly contained as many as 105 separate packages of marijuana. This type of evidence has been recognized as sufficient to establish an affirmative link between an accused and his contraband. See Washington v. State, 902 S.W.2d 649, 652 (Tex.App.—Houston [14 th Dist.] 1995, pet. ref'd); see also Gilbert v. State, 874 S.W.2d 290, 297 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1994, pet. ref'd) (recognizing thirteen illustrative factors to establish an [902]*902affirmative link). We are not free to reevaluate the weight and credibility of the evidence but only ensure that the trier of fact reached a rational decision. See Muniz v. State, 851 S.W.2d 238, 246 (Tex.Crim.App.1993). Reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, we hold that a rational trier of fact could find that appellant had knowledge of or the intent to possess the marijuana. Accordingly, we overrule appellant’s first point of error.

Next, we consider whether the evidence was factually sufficient to support the verdict. When reviewing the factual sufficiency of the evidence, we view all the evidence without the prism of “in the light most favorable to the prosecution” and set aside the verdict only if it is so “contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence as to be clearly wrong and unjust.” Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 129 (Tex.Crim.App.1996).

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Related

Enriquez v. State
21 S.W.3d 277 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
988 S.W.2d 899, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 1702, 1999 WL 130157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/enriquez-v-state-texapp-1999.