Grisso v. State

264 S.W.3d 351, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 5760, 2008 WL 2930568
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 30, 2008
Docket10-06-00393-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 264 S.W.3d 351 (Grisso 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
Grisso v. State, 264 S.W.3d 351, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 5760, 2008 WL 2930568 (Tex. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

BILL VANCE, Justice.

In a bench trial, Patricia Grisso was convicted of possession of methamphetamine and sentenced to five years’ probation with a fine. In three issues, Grisso argues that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress because she was illegally detained and that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to show that she knowingly possessed the methamphetamine. We will affirm.

Background

Evidence at the suppression hearing showed that on March 12, 2005, Hico Police Officer Brian Dirickson received a call regarding a disturbance at Jersey Lily Restaurant. The call related to a male suspect being intoxicated and disturbing customers. Upon his arrival, Dirickson saw the suspect, Jamie Grisso, walking out of the restaurant, accompanied by his wife. Dirickson approached and asked both the Grissos for identification. While Patricia went to the couple’s pickup truck to retrieve her driver’s license, Dirickson placed Jamie under arrest for public intoxication.

When Patricia Grisso got into the pickup truck, Dirickson asked her if she had any weapons in the vehicle, and she told him that she had a handgun in her purse. Dirickson took the gun and then placed it in his trunk for safety reasons. Grisso then gave Dirickson her license, and he asked if she had anything illegal in the *353 vehicle. Grisso began to cry and told Dir-ickson that he could search the vehicle if he liked.

During the search, Dirickson located a marijuana cigarette in the ashtray and methamphetamine in a makeup bag located behind the driver’s seat. He testified that the methamphetamine was located in a front zipper pocket along with several other items. Dirickson also found a spoon, a straw, and a vinyl repair kit in the main compartment of the bag along with several cosmetic items. When questioned by Dir-ickson, Grisso admitted that she knew the marijuana cigarette was in the ashtray of the vehicle. Nevertheless, she denied knowledge of the methamphetamine and told Dirickson that a friend put it in the bag. She also claimed that she had borrowed the makeup bag from a friend. Dir-ickson then confiscated the drugs and placed Grisso under arrest for possession of a controlled substance. At the conclusion of the suppression hearing, the trial judge denied the motion to suppress.

Trial

At trial, Thomas Addy testified as a defense witness. His mother is Brenda McGill, and she and Grisso are “best friends.” Addy had periodically stayed at his mother’s home since 2001. He identified the makeup bag at issue as his mother’s makeup bag that she kept in a closet in a room in which he stayed when he was at his mother’s house. He also identified the makeup bag as a place where he would hide drugs while staying with his mother and admitted to putting methamphetamine in the zipper pocket of the bag. Addy was arrested for possession of methamphetamine a few days after he had placed the methamphetamine in the makeup bag.

Addy explained that, when he was in jail on the possession charge, his mother informed him about Grisso’s arrest, and he eventually admitted to her that he had placed the methamphetamine in the bag for which Grisso was arrested. He testified that to his knowledge, Grisso did not know the methamphetamine was in the makeup bag, and that in the nine years he knew Grisso, he never knew her to use methamphetamine.

State’s exhibit one, admitted at trial, established that the seized methamphetamine weighed 1.24 grams. The trial judge found Grisso guilty stating, “You don’t pack a bag like that, — like that one is packed and not know what’s in it.”

Suppression

In her first issue, Grisso contends that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress. Specifically, she argues that she was illegally detained and that the methamphetamine found in the makeup bag was the unlawful fruit of her illegal detention, in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The State asserts that Grisso subsequently waived any complaint regarding suppression. We agree. Grisso filed a motion to suppress the methamphetamine found in the makeup bag, and the trial court denied the motion. These actions alone would have preserved the suppression issue for review without further objection by Grisso during the trial. At trial, however, when the State offered the methamphetamine from the makeup bag, Grisso affirmatively stated, ‘Your Honor, we will not object to these.” The methamphetamine was admitted into evidence.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has held in similar situations that the suppression issue was not preserved for review. See Moody v. State, 827 S.W.2d 875, 889 (Tex.Crim.App.1992); Dean v. State, 749 S.W.2d 80, 82-83 (Tex.Crim.App.1988); Harris v. State, 656 S.W.2d 481, 484 (Tex. *354 Crim.App.1983); McGrew v. State, 523 S.W.2d 679 (Tex.Crim.App.1975). When evidence is offered during trial and defense counsel affirmatively represents that the defendant has “no objection” to the evidence, any error in the admission of the evidence is waived even if the error had been previously preserved by a suppression motion and adverse ruling. Moody, 827 S.W.2d at 889; Dean, 749 S.W.2d at 82-83; Harris, 656 S.W.2d at 484; McGrew, 523 S.W.2d at 680-81. Because Grisso affirmatively stated that she had no objection to the introduction of the evidence seized from the makeup bag, we hold that Grisso did not preserve her complaint with respect to the admission of that evidence. Grisso’s first issue is overruled.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In her next two issues, Grisso challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence concerning her knowing possession of the methamphetamine. She argues that the State failed to establish sufficient affirmative links between her and the methamphetamine. Additionally, Grisso argues that, because Addy admitted at trial that he placed the methamphetamine in the bag without her knowledge, the evidence is factually insufficient to prove her knowing possession.

When reviewing a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence to establish the elements of a penal offense, we must determine whether, after viewing all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Our duty is to determine if the finding of the trier of fact is rational by viewing all of the evidence admitted at trial in the light most favorable to the verdict. Adelman v. State, 828 S.W.2d 418, 422 (Tex.Crim.App.1992).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
264 S.W.3d 351, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 5760, 2008 WL 2930568, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grisso-v-state-texapp-2008.