Ex parte Cardenas

557 S.W.3d 722
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 8, 2018
DocketNUMBER 13–17–00424–CR
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 557 S.W.3d 722 (Ex parte Cardenas) 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
Ex parte Cardenas, 557 S.W.3d 722 (Tex. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Opinion by Justice Rodriguez

In prosecutions for capital murder, first-degree felony aggravated sexual assault, and first-degree felony burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a robbery, appellant Isaiah Cardenas, who was younger than eighteen years old at the time of the offenses, appeals from an order setting his pretrial bond. By two issues, Cardenas contends: (1) the trial court abused its discretion in setting his pretrial bond at $750,000; and (2) the trial court improperly considered hearsay evidence. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Arrest Warrant

On June 13, 2017, an arrest warrant issued for Cardenas on charges of capital murder, aggravated sexual assault, and burglary of a habitation with intent to commit assault or other felony, all arising out of the same incident alleged to have been committed on or about June 11, 2017.1 The warrant set Cardenas's bond at "No Bond" for all offenses.

On July 11, 2017, Cardenas filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus, asserting there was no probable cause for his detention. Cardenas requested that he be released pending trial on "reasonable bond."

B. July 26, 2017 Bond Hearing

1. Cardenas Requested a $75,000 Bond; the State Requested No Bond or, Alternatively, a $750,000 Bond for Each Case

On July 26, 2017, the trial court heard Cardenas's bond application.2 Cardenas requested his bond be set at $75,000. He did not request or recommend that any special conditions be placed on his bond.

The State requested that bond be continued at no bond, but in the alternative, if the trial court determined that Cardenas was to receive bail, the State requested that the trial court set a $750,000 bond for each of Cardenas's cases. Like Cardenas, the State did not request that any conditions be set on Cardenas's bond.

2. Evidence at the Hearing *726a. Rita Martinez, Cardenas's Mother

Cardenas's mother, Rita Martinez, testified for the defense. She confirmed that Cardenas was a United States citizen and a lifelong resident of Victoria, Texas, the jurisdiction in which he is charged. She also established that Cardenas was seventeen years old at the time of the offense. Martinez and Cardenas's father had divorced more than four years earlier. Cardenas's father, siblings, and extended family lived in Victoria. Martinez explained that although Cardenas had a previous arrest for the misdemeanor offense of failure to identify, he had no criminal conviction and no history of violent acts. She testified that Cardenas "had a mari[j]uana problem" and recently "started drinking alcohol." Martinez further testified that none of Cardenas's immediate family had a history of criminal activity.

According to Martinez, Cardenas had no connections outside of the United States except for her recent marriage to a man who lives in New Delhi, India; she travels there every two months. Martinez stated that she, her husband, and a close friend believe that they could pool resources and post a $75,000 surety bond. She testified that Cardenas's family offered to support him upon release and to help provide supervision in addition to any court-ordered supervision. Martinez also testified that she was unable to force Cardenas to do something he did not want to do, although she had sent him to rehabilitation for marijuana use because she "had the authority to do so."

On cross-examination, Martinez agreed that she was aware that Cardenas had provided the police with a fake identification and that he had run from the police. Martinez also acknowledged that Cardenas was using "harder narcotics" than just marijuana and alcohol.3 Martinez testified that her family intended to control Cardenas if he was out on bond by making "arrangements to be with him at all times" and by agreeing to house arrest, if that was possible. She also testified that "he wanders off a lot." Martinez agreed that she was aware that, during jail phone calls, Cardenas had indicated he was not interested in house arrest. According to Martinez, "it just has to be an option, he can be in jail or be restrained to the house ...."

b. Jose Luis Tejeda, Cardenas's Friend

Jose Luis Tejeda, a sixty-three-year-old friend of Cardenas, testified for the defense. He explained that Cardenas was one of his grandson's best friends, and for a while, Cardenas had lived with him, his wife, and three of his grandsons. According to Tejeda, during that time, Cardenas was very respectful to the whole family. Tejeda testified that he did not observe Cardenas committing any violent acts during that time, and he was not aware of any such behavior. Tejeda agreed that he offered to support Cardenas's family in supervising him and in assuring his court appearances. Tejeda explained that he could do so by taking Cardenas to his home located in the country where "it's a lot easier to control him."

c. Amy Groethe, Investigator for the Victoria Police Department

For the State, the record reveals that on June 13, 2017, Investigator Amy Groethe of the Victoria Police Department submitted a sworn affidavit seeking an arrest *727warrant for Cardenas on charges of capital murder, aggravated sexual assault, burglary of a habitation with intent to commit other felony, and felony theft/unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. That affidavit, of which the court took judicial notice, stated that on June 12, 2017, the Victoria Police Department received a 911 call that a female was unconscious and not breathing and that "there was blood everywhere." The affidavit continued:

• Investigator Groethe responded to the location for this call where she found the body of Rachael Mussett, a sixty-one-year-old woman who appeared to have been severely beaten, naked from the waist down, with her legs spread apart, and severe bruising on the inside of her thighs.
• The furniture in the apartment appeared to be broken and damaged, and there was blood on the apartment's walls, floor, and doors.
• Mussett's rental vehicle was missing from the location and several of Mussett's personal possessions were missing from her residence.
• Rexsanna Tracy informed the Victoria County Sheriff's Office that Cardenas told her son, Michael Tracy, that he had "broken into an old white lady's house and punched her in the face." She relayed that Michael had helped Cardenas clean blood from his shoes and clothing.
• Detective Rendon interviewed Michael, who told him that Cardenas had admitted to punching and kicking the woman he had robbed.4
• Detective Rendon received several items of physical evidence from the Tracy residence, including a guitar taken from Mussett's residence.

The State confirmed this affidavit evidence through the bond-hearing testimony of Investigator Groethe.

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Bluebook (online)
557 S.W.3d 722, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-cardenas-texapp-2018.