Ex Parte Washington

168 S.W.3d 227, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 4808, 2005 WL 1475871
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 23, 2005
Docket2-04-408-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 168 S.W.3d 227 (Ex Parte Washington) 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 Washington, 168 S.W.3d 227, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 4808, 2005 WL 1475871 (Tex. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

DIXON W. HOLMAN, Justice.

After the trial court granted Appellant’s motion for mistrial, Appellant filed an application for writ of habeas corpus alleging further prosecution was barred by double jeopardy. The trial court granted the writ, held a hearing, and denied the relief sought by Appellant. In three issues, Appellant claims the witnesses’ testimony that triggered the granting of the mistrial was attributable to the State because the mens rea of the witnesses in violating the court’s motion in limine is imputed to the prosecution, and the improper statements of the witnesses raise a claim of double jeopardy under the Texas and United States Constitutions. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Appellant was charged with three offenses arising out of the same incident: aggravated assault causing bodily injury to a public servant while using a deadly weapon (a motor vehicle); aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury to a public servant while using a deadly weapon (a motor vehicle); and failing to stop and render aid after becoming involved in an accident that resulted in injury to a public servant. During pretrial proceedings, the trial court granted Appellant’s request that any matters involving any extraneous offense or extraneous conduct not be presented to the jury until the court had an opportunity to review the proposed testimony.

On April 19, 2004, a jury was chosen and trial on the merits began the next day. As will be discussed in detail herein, after two testifying police officers violated the motion in limine on three separate occasions by mentioning possible extraneous offenses committed by Appellant, the court granted Appellant’s motion for mistrial.

On May 26, 2004, Appellant filed an application writ of habeas corpus contending that because of the improper statements of the State’s witnesses, the case should be dismissed on double jeopardy grounds. The trial court granted the writ and on August 3, 2004 held a writ hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court denied the relief sought in Appellant’s application for writ of habeas corpus.

THE THREE INSTANCES OF ALLEGED IMPROPER TESTIMONY 1

Officer Kelley M. Caruthers from the Fort Worth Police Department testified that on February 13, 2003 he received a police broadcast concerning a possible hit- and-run driver; the broadcast named and described the suspect. The prosecutor then asked Caruthers,

Q. What name did you learn?
A. I haven’t got it handy. It’s a different name, Za’id Shakir, something.
Q. Okay. Did you write a report based on this?
A. No, ma’am.
Q. What did you do after you heard the initial broadcast?
A. I went to the address on Burton.
Q. Whose address did that turn out to be?
*231 A. Kenneth’s mother.
Q. Do you know her name?
A. No, ma’am.
Q. How did you know it was Kenneth’s mother?
A. I found out.
Q. Did she identify herself as his mother?
A. When I went up there and asked the second time.
Q. So you went there twice?
A. Three or four times.
Q. Three or four times. Initially when you went there, what type of information did you learn?
A. I went there originally with that other name, and she said she didn’t know him, and I left, and I found out that Kenneth had been to prison and changed his name. His original name was Kenneth Washington—
MR. HARDING: Your Honor, we’re going to have to object—
THE WITNESS: I’m sorry.
MR. HARDING: — to the last remark that was made by Officer Caruthers, and ask that the jury be instructed to disregard it.
THE COURT: Okay. Jury will disregard the last comment of the officer.
MR. HARDING: And also, Your Honor, we’d like to ask for a mistrial.
THE COURT: Denied.
MR. HARDING: Excuse me one moment.
(Brief pause)
MR. HARDING: Your Honor, can we approach?
(At the bench, on the record)
MR. HARDING: Your Honor, I know it was inadvertent, I’m well aware of that, and I’m sure it was inadvertent on Officer Caruthers part, but I just think it was so prejudicial of this witness, I think we need to be heard outside the presence of the jury on that. That just slipped completely out. I’m—
THE COURT: It was clearly inadvertent.
MR. HARDING: I think it was. I don’t doubt that.
THE COURT: It’s not worth a mistrial, so you’ve got your objection and your adverse ruling.
MS. NGUYEN: And I agree it was inadvertent. I can instruct my witness—
MR. HARDING: I know that. Okay. The only thing I might do, just let everybody know, if I get real ambitious, I might check a little law and see if I can find anything. But for now I guess—
THE COURT: Your request for a mistrial is denied.
MR. HARDING: Is denied, okay. The other thing I’d ask is I think Officer Caruthers knows — I think he knows it slipped out. I got that impression, so—
THE COURT: He mumbled under his breath that he was sorry or oops. It was clearly an inadvertent statement on behalf of the officer based on what he was able to observe and hear.
MR. HARDING: Yeah, I think it was. It still has a terribly prejudicial effect on our guy.
MS. NGUYEN: Okay.
MR. HARDING: And you will instruct them to disregard?
THE COURT: I already have.
MR. HARDING: You did?
THE COURT: Yes.
MR. HARDING: Oh, one more thing. I’m sorry.
MR. DICKSON: He finds our client in a crack house. We don’t want to go into that.
*232 THE COURT: You aren’t going into that, are you?
MS. NGUYEN: I was the location. I believe he can describe the address and location, but—

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Bluebook (online)
168 S.W.3d 227, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 4808, 2005 WL 1475871, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-washington-texapp-2005.