Gore v. State

332 S.W.3d 669, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 9726, 2010 WL 4996995
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 9, 2010
Docket11-09-00245-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 332 S.W.3d 669 (Gore 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
Gore v. State, 332 S.W.3d 669, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 9726, 2010 WL 4996995 (Tex. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

RICK STRANGE, Justice.

The jury found Roger Woodrow Gore, Jr. guilty of aggravated kidnapping and assessed his punishment at confinement for life and a fine of $10,000. We affirm.

I. Background, Facts

Immediately before voir dire began, Gore requested permission to leave the courtroom because he did not want to attend his trial unless absolutely necessary. The trial court granted his request, and the trial commenced in his absence.

K.S. testified that she was a student at McMurry University and that she worked nights at Blue Cross Blue Shield. One night, she got off work at 11:30 p.m. and drove to her apartment at the Las Brisas apartment complex in Abilene. As she pulled into the parking lot, she saw two men walking around. Not overly concerned, she parked her car in her usual spot. As she was walking away, she felt as though someone was nearby. She turned and saw one of the two men pointing a gun at her face.

K.S. screamed. The two men told her to stop screaming or they would shoot. They demanded that she hand over her car *671 keys. She did so, and the gunman told her to get in the backseat. He got in the backseat with her and put his shirt over her head so that she could not see. As the other man drove, the gunman told her to take her pants off. He attempted to have vaginal sex with her but was unsuccessful. He then held a gun to her head and forced her to give him oral sex.

They drove for a long time. Eventually, they turned off the main road and onto a dirt road. When they stopped, the gunman pulled K.S. out of the car. He took the blindfold off and warned her not to turn around or he would shoot. He then ordered her to walk away. The two men drove off. It was still dark, and K.S. had no idea where she was. She walked back to the main road, which she discovered was Interstate 10, and hitched a ride with a truck driver to a gas station near Sonora. There, she asked the clerk to call the police.

Gore was brought into court. K.S. identified him as the man who threatened her with a gun and who sexually assaulted her.

II. Issues

In his first two issues on appeal, Gore argues that the trial court denied him the right to be present at his trial as guaranteed by both the Sixth Amendment 1 and Tex.Code Cmm. Proc. Ann. art. 33.03 (Vernon 2006). In his third issue, Gore argues that the trial court erred by submitting a jury charge that expanded or enlarged upon his indictment.

III. Did the Trial Court err by Granting Gore’s Request to not Attend Trial?

The Sixth Amendment’s right of confrontation requires a defendant threatened with the loss of liberty to be physically present at all phases of the criminal proceedings against him absent a waiver of that right through the defendant’s own conduct. Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. 337, 338, 343-44, 90 S.Ct. 1057, 25 L.Ed.2d 353 (1970). For example, a defendant may waive the right to be present through his disruptive conduct during proceedings. Id. at 346, 90 S.Ct. 1057. A defendant also waives this right if he voluntarily absents himself from proceedings after trial has commenced in his presence. Taylor v. U.S., 414 U.S. 17, 18, 94 S.Ct. 194, 38 L.Ed.2d 174 (1973).

Article 33.03 requires a defendant in a felony prosecution to be personally present at trial. A defendant’s right to be present is unwaivable until after the jury has been selected. Miller v. State, 692 S.W.2d 88, 91 (Tex.Crim.App.1985). After jury selection, the trial court can continue a trial to conclusion if the defendant voluntarily absents himself. Article 33.03.

Immediately before voir dire began, Gore requested the trial court to excuse him from being present at trial. Gore’s trial counsel reported that he had advised his client about the importance of a defendant’s presence but that Gore preferred to stay in jail rather than attend. Gore stated that he had been through the process before and did not see how his presence would help. The trial court reiterated to Gore the importance of being present at trial and informed him that it would be in his best interest to attend. Gore repeated his request to return to jail. Gore’s trial counsel expressed his fear that forcing Gore to attend trial might lead his client to act out and disrupt the proceedings. Throughout this discussion, the State pointed out that Article 33.03 prohibited the trial court from granting Gore’s request. Gore’s trial counsel countered that *672 a defendant could waive this requirement. The trial court granted Gore’s request, and the trial continued in his absence.

Even assuming that the trial court erred by selecting a jury in Gore’s absence, a defendant may not invite error, whether statutory or constitutional, and then submit that error as a basis for appellate relief. See Garcia v. State, 919 S.W.2d 370, 393-94 (Tex.Crim.App.1996); see also Prystash, v. State, 3 S.W.3d 522, 531 (Tex.Crim.App.1999) (distinguishing the doctrines of invited error and waiver). Garcia was a death penalty case. The trial court notified defense counsel that it was qualifying ten prospective jurors. Counsel advised the trial court that he could not be present, and both Garcia and his counsel stated on the record that they had no objection to the proceedings occurring without their presence. Garcia, 919 S.W.2d at 393. But on appeal, Garcia maintained that the trial court deprived him of his right to be present under Article 33.03. Id. The Court of Criminal Appeals found that Garcia was not denied this right — he waived it. Id. at 394. Furthermore, because Garcia created the error, he could not raise it as a basis for reversal. Id. at 393.

Gore created any error that the trial court may have committed by granting his request to conduct the trial in his absence. He may not now use this error to secure a reversal. Gore’s first and second issues are overruled.

IV. Did the Trial Court Err by Submitting a Jury Charge that Varied from the Indictment ?

In his third issue, Gore argues that the trial court erred by submitting a jury charge that expanded upon his indictment. During the jury charge conference, the trial court noticed that the number used for the complainant’s pseudonym varied throughout the indictment. For instance, the second paragraph read:

AND THE GRAND JURORS AFORESAID, upon their oath aforesaid, in the said County and State, at said term, do further present in and to said Court that on or about the 2nd day of August, 2007 and anterior to the presentment of this indictment, in the County and State aforesaid, ROGER WOODROW GORE, JR.

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Bluebook (online)
332 S.W.3d 669, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 9726, 2010 WL 4996995, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gore-v-state-texapp-2010.