Gant v. State

116 S.W.3d 124, 2003 WL 252133
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 3, 2003
Docket12-01-00172-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 116 S.W.3d 124 (Gant 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
Gant v. State, 116 S.W.3d 124, 2003 WL 252133 (Tex. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

SAM GRIFFITH, Justice.

Gregory James Gant (“Appellant”) appeals his conviction for possession of marijuana, for which he was sentenced to imprisonment for thirty years. Appellant raises four issues on appeal. We affirm.

Background

On June 11, 2000, Appellant was driving eastward on Interstate 20 with two passengers in the car. Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Wayne Hellen (“Hellen”), while stopped on the interstate that night, 1 observed Appellant’s car as it passed, but was unable to see if Appellant had properly displayed a license plate. *129 Hellen pursued Appellant and noticed that Appellant was driving very erratically, weaving and almost hitting a car in the next lane, then driving past the painted shoulder line onto the shoulder of the road before returning the car to a more normal lane position. Hellen turned on his rotating lights and continued to pursue Appellant. When Appellant failed to pull his car over, Hellen activated his siren and Appellant pulled over and stopped his car. Hel-len testified that while pursuing Appellant, he noticed what appeared to be a temporary tag in Appellant’s car’s rear window, but could not observe the tag in any detail because it was not illuminated.

Once stopped, Appellant immediately exited his vehicle and quickly met Hellen on the side of the highway at the rear of the vehicle. Hellen testified that at the time Appellant approached him, he had not yet been able to determine if the license tag was in compliance. Hellen testified that as Appellant approached him, he smelled marijuana on Appellant’s clothing. Hellen then spoke to the passenger, a man identified by Appellant as Rambo.

Hellen testified that as he spoke to Rambo, he observed that Rambo was trying to hide something under his feet, in front of his seat on the floorboard. Hellen further testified that while he was talking to Rambo he was able to smell the strong odor of marijuana in the car. Hellen then asked Rambo to exit the car and reached for the door to open it. As the door opened, Rambo forcefully knocked Hellen aside and fled the scene. As Rambo fled, Hellen struggled with him, causing Rambo to leave two items behind — a shoe and a bag containing eight pounds of marijuana. Hellen held the bag of marijuana close to Appellant and asked if he knew what it was. Appellant answered that he did not know what the substance was.

Appellant was charged with possession of between five and fifty pounds of marijuana and pleaded “not guilty.” Appellant subsequently filed a motion to suppress arguing that the marijuana was seized as a result of an unconstitutional detention. The trial court overruled Appellant’s motion to suppress and the matter proceeded to trial.

Following the close of evidence, the parties made their jury arguments. During the State’s initial closing argument, the prosecuting attorney argued that considering the amount of marijuana in the car and considering the fact that Appellant’s clothes smelled of marijuana, Appellant truly knew what the substance was. During Appellant’s jury argument, Appellant’s counsel attempted to generally discuss the topic of a person’s familiarity with the smell of marijuana. The State objected arguing that the trial court had not permitted the State to introduce such evidence. The trial court instructed the jury to disregard the statement. Appellant’s counsel subsequently discussed the video evidence of Appellant’s traffic stop noting that when Hellen asked Appellant if he knew what the substance was, Appellant said he did not know. The State again objected on the same grounds it had raised previously. However, the trial court overruled the State’s objection. Subsequently, the State made its rebuttal to Appellant’s jury argument. In rebuttal, the prosecuting attorney, directing the jury’s attention to the video evidence, stated as follows:

You know what you saw. You know the demeanor of the defendant. We don’t expect you to believe what he said. Do you really think when the officer took him the bag of marijuana and said, “Hey, do you know what this is,” and he goes, “No,” that he didn’t really know what marijuana was; that he never seen it before; never smelled it? You got to *130 watch Ms demeanor; you got to watch the way he....

Appellant objected that such argument was not supported by the evidence. The trial court overruled Appellant’s objection and instructed the jury that while inferences are permitted in argument, if such inferences disagree with what they recalled the evidence to be, then they should disregard them. Ultimately, the jury found Appellant guilty as charged and the trial court, finding enhancements based on prior felony convictions to be true, sentenced Appellant to imprisonment for thirty years.

Evidentiary Sufficiency

In Ms first issue, Appellant contends that the evidence is both legally and factually insufficient to support the jury’s verdict. Legal sufficiency is the constitutional minimum required by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to sustain a criminal conviction. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 315-16, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2786-787, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); see also Escobedo v. State, 6 S.W.3d 1, 6 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1999, no pet.). The standard for reviewing a legal sufficiency challenge is whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson, 443 U.S. at 320, 99 S.Ct. at 2789; see also Johnson v. State, 871 S.W.2d 183, 186 (Tex.Crim.App.1993). The evidence is examined in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict. See Jackson, 443 U.S. at 320, 99 S.Ct. at 2789; Johnson, 871 S.W.2d at 186. A successful legal sufficiency challenge will result in rendition of an acquittal by the reviewing court. See Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 81, 41-42, 102 S.Ct. 2211, 2217-218, 72 L.Ed.2d 652 (1982).

In considering factual sufficiency, we must first assume that the evidence is legally sufficient under the Jackson standard. See Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 134 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). We then consider all of the evidence in the record related to Appellant’s sufficiency challenge, not just the evidence wMch supports the verdict. We review the evidence weighed by the jury wMch tends to prove the existence of the elemental fact in dispute and compare it to the evidence wMch tends to disprove that fact. Santellan v. State, 939 S.W.2d 155, 164 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). We are authorized to disagree with the jury’s determination, even if probative evidence exists which supports the verdict. Clewis, 922 S.W.2d at 133. However, factual sufficiency review must be appropriately deferential so as to avoid the appellate court’s substituting its own judgment for that of the fact finder. Our evaluation should not substantially intrude upon the jury’s role as the sole judge of the weight and credibility of witness testimony. Santellan, 939 S.W.2d at 164.

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Bluebook (online)
116 S.W.3d 124, 2003 WL 252133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gant-v-state-texapp-2003.