Gerard Jay Tollett v. State

422 S.W.3d 886, 2014 WL 462275, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 1216
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided February 4, 2014·No. 14-12-01037-CR·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

OPINION

JOHN DONOVAN, Justice.

In five issues, appellant challenges his conviction of driving while intoxicated. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

During the late evening of March 4, 2012, Gabriel Hernandez, a police officer with the Nassau Bay Police Department, was off-duty and driving his personal vehicle in Webster, a city adjacent to Nassau Bay. At the same time, Glen Sharp, also a police officer with the Nassau Bay Police Department, was driving his patrol car at a different location and speaking with Officer Hernandez via cellular phone. Officer Hernandez planned to meet Officer Sharp at a restaurant parking lot in order to hand him some paperwork.

While the men spoke on the phone, Officer Hernandez observed someone later identified as appellant drive a truck out of a parking lot onto a curb and then nearly run into another vehicle. Officer Hernandez advised Officer Sharp that the driver of the truck might be intoxicated. Officer *890 Hernandez continued following appellant and observed him briefly drive on the wrong side of the road. Additionally, Officer Hernandez saw appellant enter another parking lot, appear to intend to stop his truck, but then exit the parking lot, again striking a curb as he entered the roadway.

Eventually, Officer Sharp arrived at Officer Hernandez’s and appellant’s location. Officer Sharp pulled behind appellant’s truck and activated his patrol car’s emergency lights. At this point, Officer Hernandez stopped following the truck and was not further involved in the incident. On cross-examination, Officer Hernandez initially testified that he filed a report regarding the incident four days after it occurred, but when shown his actual report, admitted he filed it seven days after the incident.

Officer Sharp testified that, after he pulled behind appellant’s truck and activated his emergency lights, appellant continued to drive for approximately forty seconds before pulling into the driveway of his house. Officer Sharp testified he did not observe appellant violate any traffic rules during this period. Once appellant parked in his driveway, he remotely opened his garage door and exited the truck. Officer Sharp testified that it is unusual for a person who has been pulled over to exit his vehicle. Officer Sharp asked appellant several times if he would perform field sobriety tests, but appellant refused. Officer Sharp testified appellant staggered, repeatedly asked to call his daughter, had a strong odor of alcohol, and slurred his speech. Officer Sharp also noticed an open wound on appellant’s arm, which was bleeding though his shirt; appellant indicated that he had a “staph infection.” Officer Sharp determined appellant was intoxicated and transferred him to the police station.

Officer Sharp’s patrol car had a video camera which recorded him stopping and questioning appellant. The video is strong evidence of appellant’s intoxication because it shows the following events:

• Appellant exited his vehicle in his driveway and immediately asked about calling his daughter, a request he repeated several times. Officers had to twice order appellant to refrain from making a phone call.
• Appellant’s interaction with the officers, particularly his manner of speech, indicated that he was intoxicated. Appellant appears to have had difficulty standing and moving normally, and eventually sat on his truck bumper without being asked to do so. He moved very close to Officer Sharp on two occasions, necessitating Officer Sharp to order appellant to “back up.” Appellant also childishly accused Officer Sharp of being “mean” and “not nice.”
• Appellant refused to participate in field sobriety tests and repeatedly stated that he was at his house, apparently implying that he should not be subject to police interference because he was at his own house.
• Appellant denied having consumed any alcohol but abrasively stated at one point, “I’ve been drinking, so what?”
• When Officer Sharp handcuffed appellant, he had to forcibly remove the phone from appellant’s hand. Appellant also grabbed and held onto Officer Sharp’s hand.
• Appellant made several threatening statements, saying he knows police chiefs and works for the mayor.
• While officers adjusted appellant’s handcuffs and his face was pointed toward the camera, he made several bizarre facial expressions and seemed to talk to himself.

*891 At the police station, appellant refused to give a breath or blood sample. An EMT treated appellant’s staph infection by covering the wound with gauze. Officer Sharp testified that appellant removed the gauze. The EMT testified appellant denied having used drugs or alcohol and was cooperative except for refusing to sign a form. The EMT also gave appellant a “15” on the “Glasgow coma scale,” which is the highest score a person may receive relative to being alert and oriented.

The State charged appellant with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated for operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated, meaning he did not have the normal use of his mental or physical faculties by reason of introduction of alcohol into his body. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. §§ 49.01(2) (West 2011), 49.04(a) (West Supp.2013). A jury convicted appellant and assessed punishment at 180 days in county jail and a $4,000 fine. 1

II. Evidentiary Issues

In his first through fourth issues, appellant contends the trial court made several erroneous evidentiary rulings.

A. Standard of Review

We review a trial court’s evidentiary ruling for an abuse of discretion. See Powell v. State, 63 S.W.3d 435, 438 (Tex.Crim.App.2001). We will not disturb the ruling if it is within the zone of reasonable disagreement. See Winegarner v. State, 235 S.W.3d 787, 790 (Tex.Crim.App.2007). Instead, we will uphold the ruling if it is reasonably supported by the record and correct on any theory of law applicable to the case. Willover v. State, 70 S.W.3d 841, 845 (Tex.Crim.App.2002).

If we determine the trial court’s eviden-tiary ruling was nonconstitutional error, we review the ruling for harm under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 44.2(b), disregarding error that does not affect a criminal defendant’s “substantial rights.” Tex. R.App. P. 44.2(b). We may not reverse if, after examining the record as a whole, we have a fair assurance that the error did not have a substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict or had but a slight effect. Casey v. State, 215 S.W.3d 870, 885 (Tex.Crim.App.2007); Johnson v. State, 967 S.W.2d 410, 417 (Tex.Crim.App.1998).

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Gerard Jay Tollett v. State, 422 S.W.3d 886, 2014 WL 462275, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 1216 (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

422 S.W.3d 886 (Gerard Jay Tollett v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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