Flores v. State

906 S.W.2d 133, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2264, 1995 WL 483779
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 16, 1995·No. 04-93-00720-CR·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

OPINION

JOHN F. ONION, Jr., Justice

(Assigned).

This appeal is taken from a conviction for burglary of a habitation, 3 the offense having been shown to have occurred on September 15, 1992. The jury, having found appellant, Jorge Alberto Flores, guilty, assessed his punishment at thirty-two years’ imprisonment.

Appellant advances five points of error. In three of his points of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in overruling his plea of double jeopardy in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Article I, Section 14 of the Texas Constitution. The fourth point of error contends the trial court erred in overruling his double jeopardy plea based on the doctrine of collateral estoppel. The last point urges error in the admission into evidence of a photograph showing the body of the “owner’-decedent.

The record shows that appellant was in-dieted in cause number 92-CR-162 for capital murder. The indictment alleged that on or about September 15, 1992, appellant did then and there

intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual, namely, Lazaro Barrera, by shooting him with a deadly weapon, to wit: a firearm, and the defendant was then and there in the course of committing and attempting to commit the offense of Burglary of a Building of Lazaro Barrera, who was the owner of said building.

See Act of April 16,1985, 69th Leg., R.S. Ch. 44, § 1, 1985 Tex.Gen.Laws 434, TexJPenal *136 Code § 19.03(a)(2), 4 since amended. 5 Appellant was tried before a jury in Starr County, and on March 16, 1993, the jury found him “not guilty” of the capital murder alleged.

On April 1, 1993, appellant was indicted in cause no. 93-CR-60 for the offense of burglary of a habitation. The indictment in pertinent part alleged that on or about September 15,1992, appellant did then and there: “with intent to commit theft, intentionally and knowingly enter a habitation, without the effective consent of Lazaro Barrera, the owner thereof.” Appellant’s motion to dismiss the indictment (plea of jeopardy) was overruled. As earlier noted, appellant was convicted and his punishment was assessed at thirty-two years’ imprisonment.

We shall consider appellant’s first two points of error together. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides in pertinent part: “[N]or shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice placed in jeopardy of life or limb; — ” U.S. Const. amend. V. This guarantee was made applicable to the states by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 794, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 2062, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969). The Texas Constitution provides: “No person, for the same offense, shall be twice put in jeopardy of life or liberty, nor shall a person be again put upon trial for the same offense, after a verdict of not guilty in a court of competent jurisdiction.” Tex. Const. art. I, § 14. These prohibitions serve to protect against: (1) a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal; (2) a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and (3) multiple punishments for the same offense. Ex parte Herron, 790 S.W.2d 623, 624 (Tex.Crim.App.1990) (op. on reh’g); Smith v. State, 873 S.W.2d 773, 775 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1994, no pet.). Thus, both provisions protect against multiple punishments and successive prosecutions for the same offense. Ex parte Kopecky, 821 S.W.2d 957, 958 (Tex.Crim.App.1992); State v. Marshall, 814 S.W.2d 789, 791 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1991, pet. ref'd).

To determine whether a prosecution violates the protection against multiple punishments, courts apply the same-elements test set out in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). To make this determination, courts must examine the statutes that define each offense to see whether each statute requires proof of an additional fact or element the other does not. Id.; Marshall, 814 S.W.2d at 791. “Blockburger requires a straightforward comparison of the elements of each offense, without reference to the actual proof that will be introduced at trial, to determine whether there is any difference between the crimes.” Peter J. Henning, Precedents in a Vacuum: The Supreme Court Continues to Tinker with Double Jeopardy, 31 Am.CRIM.L.Rev. 1, 9 (1993) [hereinafter Henning]. Blockburger has been held to be a rule of statutory construction. Albernaz v. United States, 450 U.S. 333, 340, 101 S.Ct. 1137, 1142-43, 67 L.Ed.2d 275 (1981); Whalen v. United States, 445 U.S. 684, 691, 100 S.Ct. 1432, 1437, 63 L.Ed.2d 715 (1980).

The decisions in Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977), Harris v. Oklahoma, 433 U.S. 682, 97 S.Ct. 2912, 53 L.Ed.2d 1054 (1977), Whalen, 445 U.S. at 684, 100 S.Ct. at 1433-34, Albernaz, 450 U.S. at 333, 101 S.Ct. at 1139-40, Illinois v. Vitale, 447 U.S. 410, 100 S.Ct. 2260, 65 L.Ed.2d 228 (1980), and Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U.S. 359, 103 S.Ct. 673, 74 L.Ed.2d 535 (1983), clearly indicate that the Blockburger test was being applied to successive prosecution cases as well as in the multiple punishments context. See Henning, supra, at 9-11.

In Grady v. Corbin, 495 U.S. 508,110 S.Ct. 2084, 109 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990), overruled by United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 125 L.Ed.2d 556 (1993), the United States Supreme Court determined that the Blockburger test would not further the *137 policy interests of the double jeopardy doctrine as set forth in Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 187-88, 78 S.Ct. 221, 223-24, 2 L.Ed.2d 199 (1957). Grady, 495 U.S. at 518-19, 110 S.Ct. at 2091-92. Justice Brennan, writing for the majority, stated that Block-burger

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Flores v. State, 906 S.W.2d 133, 1995 Tex. App. LEXIS 2264, 1995 WL 483779 (Tex. Ct. App. 1995).

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