Eric Dewayne White v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 17, 2004·No. 07-02-00423-CR·Published

Opinion

NO. 07-02-0423-CR

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS AT AMARILLO

PANEL E

JUNE 17, 2004

ERIC DEWAYNE WHITE, APPELLANT v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE

FROM THE 9TH DISTRICT COURT OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY;

NO. 02-08-05354-CR; HON. FRED EDWARDS, PRESIDING

Before REAVIS and CAMPBELL, JJ., and BOYD, S.J.1

Appellant Eric Dewayne White brings this appeal from his convictions for the felony grade offenses of two counts of aggravated assault, attempted aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated kidnapping. His punishment was assessed by the jury at 20 years, 7 years, 20 years, and 60 years, respectively. With the assessment of punishment for the attempted

1 John T. Boyd, Chief Justice (Ret.), Seventh Court of Appeals, sitting by assignment.

Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. §75.002(a)(1) (Vernon Supp. 2004).

aggravated sexual assault conviction, the jury made an affirmative use of a deadly weapon finding.

Appellant’s appellate counsel has now filed an Anders brief in which he states he has thoroughly examined the trial record and concluded that the appeal is without merit. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 744-45, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967); High v. State, 573 S.W.2d 807, 809-11 (Tex. Crim. App. 1978). In the brief, counsel has certified that he has mailed a copy to appellant and explained appellant’s right to file a pro se brief. Counsel has also filed a motion seeking withdrawal from the case. Appellant has exercised his right to file a pro se brief. Because the brief is a response to the Anders brief filed by his counsel, it is not a brief within the contemplation of the Rules of Appellate Procedure, and the requirements of those rules are not applicable. Thus, if we can discern any arguable issues presented by appellant, it is our duty to examine the record and determine if reversible error is presented. See Stelbacky v. State, 22 S.W.3d 583, 586-87 (Tex. App.–Amarillo 2000, no pet.).

In his brief, there are 11 discernible issues. Those issues are: 1) there is fundamental error in the indictment; 2) the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support a conviction for aggravated assault; 3) the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support a conviction for attempted aggravated sexual assault; 4) the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support a conviction for aggravated kidnapping; 5) the trial court erred in denying appellant’s request for instructions on lesser-included offenses; 6) appellant’s Sixth Amendment right to a petit jury drawn from a representative cross-

section of the community was denied and the trial court erred in failing to quash the jury panel; 7) the “[f]ailor [sic] of lawyer to file a sworn writing to challenge the array of jury’s [sic]” is ineffective assistance of counsel; 8) the trial court erred in admitting the eyewitness identification from the photographic line-up because the photographs were not all black males; 9) the trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion to suppress the in-court identification of appellant and the “photographic identification” because of the suggestive show-up identification by one of the victims; 10) the trial court erred in admitting appellant’s juvenile adjudication during the punishment hearing; and 11) the officers illegally entered appellant’s mother’s home and illegally arrested him without a warrant.

Proper discussion requires us to review the pertinent facts in the record. The State’s evidence showed that on June 6, 2001, Jacqueline Vasquez was in the kitchen of her parent’s home making sandwiches for herself and her brother Abraham. It was night, the lights were on inside the house, and the window blinds were open. Abraham was in the living room watching television. Jacqueline noticed that the garbage needed to be taken out, so she took the bag and went through the garage to a door that opened into the back yard. As she arrived at the trash can and started to deposit the bag, “all of a sudden,” she heard something behind her, felt something in the back of her head, turned around, and “saw a guy and he had his gun pointed right at [her] face.”

The “guy,” later identified as appellant, told her to go into the garage. Because, she averred, she was frightened that the man would use the gun, she complied. She said that he told her to sit down on a bed in the garage. She then told the man that she was not alone and called Abraham, who heard her and went into the garage. The man had a grip

on her with the gun pointed at her. The assailant made Abraham sit on the bed next to Jacqueline and started looking for something. As he did so, Abraham, who spoke no English, testified through an interpreter that appellant “would turn his back on us momentarily, but when he would turn back around and face us, he would point the gun at her and I.” The man then sought to tie Abraham’s hands behind his back as tightly as possible but, because Abraham kept his hands apart, he was able to untie himself.

Because he did not speak English, Abraham told his sister to ask the man what he wanted. Jacqueline did so and, in addition told him he could go inside the house and take whatever he wanted “but leave us alone.” The man replied that “he wanted it all,” grabbed his testicles, and pointed at Jacqueline. He then told Jacqueline to “open” her legs. When she refused to do so, Jacqueline said that the intruder “grabbed his gun and he kind of pushed my knee to the side so I could open my legs.” He attempted to open her legs with his gun hand and when she moved her legs back together, she said he hit her on the side of her face with his gun, which resulted in a bleeding cut. Jacqueline also said she cried and begged him to leave her alone.

The intruder told Jacqueline to shut up and hit her again with his gun. At that point, Abraham grabbed a metal folding chair and hit the man as hard as he could. Jacqueline was able to run into the house and call 911. During the course of their struggle, the assailant scratched Abraham, pointed the gun at him, and tried to fire it, but the gun did not fire. Abraham fled into the kitchen, looked for something to defend himself with, and found nothing but returned to the garage acting as if he had a weapon. The intruder initially tried

to prevent Abraham from returning to the garage, but when he was unable to do so, he turned and fled.

When two police officers arrived at the scene, they were informed of the intruder’s description and that “the brother was chasing the black male through the street from the house.” The suspect was described as a tall “black male wearing a tee shirt and jogging pants.” About two blocks from the house, the officers saw a suspect matching the description given them. One of the officers (Officer Keleman) recognized appellant. The officers pulled up in their marked patrol car, and, as they did so, “[a]s soon as [Officer Harper] opened up the passenger’s side door, the individual took off running.” Although other patrol officers joined in the chase, the suspect outran them.

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