Goodson v. State

840 S.W.2d 469, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 2702, 1991 WL 227963
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 4, 1991
DocketNo. 12-88-00205-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 840 S.W.2d 469 (Goodson 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
Goodson v. State, 840 S.W.2d 469, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 2702, 1991 WL 227963 (Tex. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

BILL BASS, Justice.

Fred Goodson was convicted by a jury of engaging in organized crime. The jury assessed his punishment at fifteen years confinement and a $10,000 fine. We reverse and remand.

Goodson was indicted with thirty-two others. The indictment alleged that Good-son with intent to establish, maintain and participate in a combination, did knowingly and intentionally conspire to commit the offense of delivery of cocaine. The indictment grew out of an extensive investigation of cocaine trafficking in Gregg County. The investigation focused on the activities of John and Judy Lindley who were among the thirty-two people indicted. The investigating authorities kept the Lindley’s apartment under surveillance and tapped the apartment telephone. A search of the Lindley’s apartment was executed pursuant to a warrant. A car leased by the Lindleys but not described in the warrant was also searched. Three pounds of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and weapons were recovered in the search. A notebook detailing numerous drug transactions was recovered in the search of the automobile. Entries in the notebook showed that “Fred” purchased cocaine from the Lind-leys. The State also introduced tape recordings of telephone conversations from Goodson to the Lindleys apparently relating to the cocaine sales recorded in the seized notebook.

In his first nine points of error, Goodson contends that the evidence was insufficient for any rational trier of fact to have found beyond a reasonable doubt that he (1) conspired with any indicted person to commit [471]*471the offense of unlawful delivery of cocaine, (2) intended to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination, or in the profits of a combination, and (3) committed any of the overt acts charged in pursuance of an agreement to unlawfully deliver cocaine. Goodson’s central contention is that the State’s case depends upon circumstantial evidence which also reasonably supports the hypothesis that he was buying the cocaine solely for his personal consumption and not for resale.

Appellant was charged with violating Tex.Penal Code § 71.02(a)(5), which reads as follows:

(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination, he commits or conspires to commit one or more of the following:
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(5) unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation, or distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug....

The pertinent definitions are contained in Tex.Penal Code § 71.01,1 which at the time the indictment was returned, read as follows:

(a) [A] “[e]ombination” means five or more persons who collaborate in carrying on criminal activities, although:
(1) participants may not know each other’s identity;
(2) membership in the combination may change from time to time; and
(3) participants may stand in a wholesaler-retailer or other arm’s-length relationship in illicit distribution operations.
(b) “Conspires to commit” means that a person agrees with one or more persons that they or one or more of them engage in conduct that would constitute the offense and that person and one or more of them perform an overt act in pursuance of the agreement. An agreement constituting conspiring to commit may be inferred from the acts of the parties.

The indictment of appellant alleged that on or about September 3, 1986, and continuing until on or about September 12, 1986, appellant and thirty-two others did then and there with the intent to establish, maintain, and participate in a combination and in the profits of a combination, knowingly and intentionally conspire to commit the offense of unlawful delivery of cocaine and agreed among themselves and with each other to engage in this offense and in pursuance of such agreement and in furtherance of it the said defendants performed overt acts. The overt acts alleged against appellant are as follows:

(1) communicated with John Lindley by telephone on or about September 8th, 1986;
(2) met together with John Lindley on or about September 8th, 1986;
(3) made a payment to John Lindley for controlled substance on or about September 8th, 1986.

The standard of review for both direct and circumstantial evidence is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, any rational trier of fact could have found all of the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Marroquin v. State, 746 S.W.2d 747, 750 (Tex.Cr.App.1988). Where, as in the instant case, the conviction is based upon circumstantial evidence, the conviction cannot be sustained if the circumstances do not exclude every other reasonable hypothesis except that of the guilt of the appellant; in other words, if the evidence supports a reasonable inference other than the appellant’s guilt, a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is not rational. Goff v. State, 777 S.W.2d 418, 420 (Tex.Cr.App.1989).

Direct evidence is seldom available to prove a conspiracy necessarily [472]*472hatched in secrecy. However, the existence of the conspiratorial agreement like other fact may be proven circumstantially. It may be shown by evidence of the conspirators’ conduct, including the circumstance surrounding that conduct. Farrington v. State, 489 S.W.2d 607 (Tex.Cr.App.1972). Similar methods of operation, together with joint activities and relationships support the finding of a single conspiracy. United States v. Ochoa, 609 F.2d 198, 202 (5th Cir.1980); Kennard v. State, 649 S.W.2d 752, 764 (Tex.App. — Fort Worth 1983, writ ref'd).

Viewed in the light most favorable to the State, the evidence shows that John and Judy Lindley were the hub of an extensive cocaine distribution system in Long-view. They served as suppliers of cocaine to a network of smaller dealers including the appellant. Often, the cocaine was advanced or “fronted” to the retail dealer on credit, the Lindleys often receiving payment within a matter of hours when the cocaine was resold. The detailed business records of the enterprise, the surveillance, and wiretaps demonstrate that far more than five persons were included within the combination. At least several of the confederates were on familiar terms and shared their plans and mutual concerns, not only with the Lindleys, but with one another.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
840 S.W.2d 469, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 2702, 1991 WL 227963, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goodson-v-state-texapp-1991.