Eric Dewayne White v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 17, 2004
Docket07-02-00423-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Eric Dewayne White v. State (Eric Dewayne White 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
Eric Dewayne White v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

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-

2 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

3 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

4 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

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Anders v. California
386 U.S. 738 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Castaneda v. Partida
430 U.S. 482 (Supreme Court, 1977)
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Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Malik v. State
953 S.W.2d 234 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Pondexter v. State
942 S.W.2d 577 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Boyd v. State
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Barley v. State
906 S.W.2d 27 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Hampton v. State
109 S.W.3d 437 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Fisher v. State
887 S.W.2d 49 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1994)
High v. State
573 S.W.2d 807 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1978)
Johnson v. State
23 S.W.3d 1 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Brown v. State
866 S.W.2d 675 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
James v. State
997 S.W.2d 898 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Hernandez v. State
988 S.W.2d 770 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)
American Plant Food Corporation v. State
508 S.W.2d 598 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1974)
King v. State
895 S.W.2d 701 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Stelbacky v. State
22 S.W.3d 583 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)

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