Gonzales v. State

673 S.W.2d 627, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 5847
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Gonzales v. State. Read the opinion of the Court — 638 S.W.2d 41
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided May 16, 1984·No. No. 09-83-083 CR·Published

Opinion

OPINION

BROOKSHIRE, Justice.

Appellant was charged by indictment with possession of cocaine under TEX. REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. Art. M76-15, Sec. [628]*628(Vernon 1976); the offense was said to have occurred on February 9, 1980. After pleading not guilty, a jury found Appellant guilty. Thereafter, the punishment was set by the Court at four years confinement.

On September 1, 1982, by the Court of Criminal Appeals, pursuant to the provisions of Senate Bill 265, 67th Legislature, Regular Sess., 1981, this appeal was transferred to the Court of Appeals, Third Supreme Judicial District in Austin. By order of May 4, 1983, this appeal was retrans-ferred to this Court by the Supreme Court of Texas. This case was set for argument on February 27, 1984, in Austin.

The trial in this case was a consolidated proceeding wherein two appellants, Amado Gonzales and Eugene Galindo, Jr., had been charged with the same offense, possession of cocaine.

The State, through a chemist, offered evidence that a dinner plate and a razor blade that had been obtained from the New Braunfels Police Department were chemically analyzed. A “very small amount of cocaine” residue was found on the plate. The small amount of cocaine was, by analysis, shown to be approximately 114 micrograms or about 10% of a milligram. A witness proffered by the State said he had received information from a reliable and credible informant to the effect that the informant had been in the residence of Amado Gonzales within the previous 48 hours and the informant had stated that the Appellant, Gonzales, possessed a quantity of marihuana. Apparently this informant had given information on about 10 prior occasions which information had previously been proved to be accurate and correct. Later that evening a search warrant was obtained from a justice of the peace for the search of the Gonzales’ home. The witness then related that he and some other officers went to the Gonzales’ home at 1731 Lee Street in New Braunfels, during the evening hours, and executed the search warrant. They announced that they were the police and then broke down the front door to enter the premises. Eugene Galindo, Jr., was in the living room along with two women and several small children. At about this time, a bathroom commode was heard flushing and an Officer Murphy proceeded to the bathroom, finding it locked. He stated that he heard the commode flush again. Thereafter, the bathroom door was forced open. Appellant, Gonzales, was found in the bathroom with the witnesses noticing marihuana seeds and marihuana floating on top of the commode water — “still swirling”. An officer testified that marihuana seeds and residue were retrieved and Gonzales placed under arrest. Then apparently the authorities moved all the adults and children into the living room and began a search of the premises. A Texas Ranger, Martinez, said he found some suspicious items in the kitchen, having found therein a plate and a razor blade. A white powdery residue was on State’s Exhibit No. 5, being the kitchen plate. It was said that the pattern of the plate found in the kitchen did not match any other pottery or dishes in the house. Martinez said he found no one in the house to be under the influence of any intoxicating substance and that he never saw anyone in the actual kitchen where State’s Exhibits Nos. 5 and 6 (plate and razor blade) were found.

A police officer, James W. Buntyn, testified that he took into custody the various State’s exhibits, placed them in a paper sack or container and hand-delivered all these exhibits to the Bexar County Laboratory. Police Officer Buntyn further testified that, during his presence in the home, Galindo was in the living room when the officers entered the premises and that the only person who made any outcry or created any problem or trouble or failed to cooperate was one female witness known as Rosa; that neither Galindo nor Gonzales was intoxicated or appeared to be intoxicated but that the said Rosa appeared to be under the influence of something. Eugene Galindo stated that he was merely temporarily staying with his common-law wife, Rosa Bennett and her brother, at 1731 Lee Street, in New Braunfels. He testified that he was in the living room of the premises when the officers broke in and was [629]*629immediately placed under arrest. Galindo said further that the entire family had just returned from an outing when the officers broke in. Galindo said he did not know to whom the crucial plate belonged. Rosa Bennett, the alleged common-law wife, testified that she did not see State’s Exhibit No. 5 — the critical and damning plate — earlier in the day at the house and had no knowledge of there being any drugs in the house. Our Appellant, Gonzales, testified that when the officers broke into his home, he was actually in the bathroom smoking a marihuana cigarette and when he heard the officers break in he tried to flush the cigarette down the commode. He vehemently denied either possession or knowledge of any cocaine and further testified that he had never seen State’s Exhibit No. 5, the incriminating plate, prior to the time of the search.

In the able brief filed by the State of Texas, there is a paragraph that the facts as set forth in the Appellant’s brief are essentially correct but needed to be augmented in the following particulars:

1. That Appellant, Gonzales, admitted that where the officers found the plate with the small amount of cocaine would have been in plain view from the living room and Gonzales further admitted being in possession of the premises and also being in possession of marihuana.
2. That Ramiro Martinez testified that the plate with the cocaine residue and the razor blade found thereon can be utilized to “cut” cocaine.

The first ground of error, ably argued and presented, is that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s verdict that Appellant, Gonzales, was guilty of the knowing and intentional possession of cocaine.

The appellant vigorously urges and emphasizes that there is no affirmative link in this record connecting Gonzales with the knowing and intentional possession of the contraband cocaine.

Appellant forcefully discusses several factual points, such as Gonzales made no incriminating admissions nor made any confession. He testified and denied knowledge or possession which denial Appellant says was not impeached; further, that no accomplice, witness, or accomplice’s testimony was brought forward; that no testimony or evidence of direct possession is in the record and that Gonzales was in the bathroom of the house and was not in close proximity to the kitchen or in the kitchen area where the contraband was located; that Gonzales was not under the influence of any intoxicants; that there were no needle marks or other incriminating marks or evidences on the body of Gonzales; that there was no fingerprint evidence rebutting forcibly, according to Appellant’s contentions, the State’s case. On State’s Exhibits Nos. 5 and 6 (the plate and razor blade, respectively) there was no fingerprint analysis done. Hence, the State failed to show that Gonzales had ever touched, handled or grasped these exhibits; that the amount of the contraband cocaine was approximately l,000ths of an average aspirin tablet (actually .000004 of an ounce); that the State failed to show exclusive possession of the premises by Gonzales — but this is not necessary under the substantive law — and, lastly, the failure to show any “furtive gestures” by Gonzales.

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Gonzales v. State, 673 S.W.2d 627, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 5847 (Tex. Ct. App. 1984).

673 S.W.2d 627 (Gonzales v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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