Hanks v. State

137 S.W.3d 668, 2004 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1019, 2004 WL 1393888
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 23, 2004
Docket769-03
StatusPublished
Cited by96 cases

This text of 137 S.W.3d 668 (Hanks v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hanks v. State, 137 S.W.3d 668, 2004 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1019, 2004 WL 1393888 (Tex. 2004).

Opinions

OPINION

JOHNSON, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court,

in which MEYERS, KEASLER, HERVEY and COCHRAN, JJ, joined.

Appellant was accused of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, enhanced by a prior felony conviction. After a jury found him guilty as charged, appellant plead true to the enhancement paragraph, and the trial court assessed punishment at imprisonment for a term of 20 years. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment of conviction and sentence. Hanks v. State, 104 S.W.3d 695 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2003).

Appellant was arrested during the course of a drug investigation that involved a confidential informant. Police observed appellant and the informant visit a known drug dealer and make what appeared to be a drug purchase. As police were preparing to stop appellant’s car for a traffic violation, appellant pulled over of his own accord before police could stop the car. Officers quickly approached the car and arrested appellant. One officer testified that when he approached the car he saw appellant holding a clear bag that contained a white substance, later determined to be cocaine. Several blue baggies containing cocaine were retrieved from the driver’s seat. A rock of cocaine and some drug paraphernalia were recovered from the car’s trunk. Appellant testified at trial, denied possessing any cocaine, and suggested that the cocaine that was recovered from the car belonged to his passenger, the confidential informant.

Pursuant to Tex.Code CRIm. PROC., art. 38.23(a), the jury charge instructed the jury that: 1) no evidence obtained in violation of the constitutional laws shall be admitted into evidence against the accused; 2) and if jurors believe or have a reasonable doubt that evidence was obtained in violation of such laws, then they shall disregard any such evidence.

After conviction and sentence, appellant asserted on appeal that the evidence was factually insufficient “to show that the cocaine and narcotics paraphernalia were lawfully seized” because the police officer “could not truly have seen Appellant in possession of cocaine” when he approached the car that appellant was driving. The court of appeals held that appellant is not entitled to a legal-sufficiency review because such an implied finding is not an element of the offense. The court went on to find that, for the same reason, appellant is not entitled to a factual-sufficiency review. Hanks v. State, 104 S.W.3d at 703. We granted review of a single ground for review, which challenges the court of appeals’ conclusion that “a defendant is not entitled to a factual sufficiency review of a jury’s implied rejection of his Article 38.23(a) issue.”

Appellant asserts that the court of appeals’ refusal to conduct the factual-sufficiency review of his Article 38.23(a) issue conflicts with the constitutional authority granted to the courts of appeals. He argues that the Tex. Const., art. V, § 6, grant of conclusive jurisdiction on all questions of fact to the courts of appeals and [670]*670the legislative authorization of the courts of appeals to reverse a conviction “as well upon the law as upon the facts” authorize a factual-sufficiency review of the evidence of the Article 38.23(a) issue. He also cites our opinion in Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 129-31 (Tex.Crim.App.1996), for the principle that, in criminal cases, intermediate appellate courts are authorized to review disputed fact questions. He acknowledges that the question of whether the evidence was properly seized is not an element of the offense, but insists that it is a disputed fact issue that the jury was required to, and did, resolve.

We agree that Tex. Const., art. V, § 6, provides that the decision of the courts of appeals “shall be conclusive on all questions of fact brought before them on appeal or error,” and that Tex.Code CRiM. PROC., art. 44.25, states that courts of appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals may reverse judgment in a criminal action “as well upon the law as upon the facts.” Nevertheless, appellant does not specify or delineate how our constitution’s provision for courts of appeals’ decisions to be factually conclusive and our legislature’s authorization to reverse a conviction “as well upon the law as upon the facts” require appellate review of the factual sufficiency of every disputed fact issue.

We also agree that in Clewis, supra, 922 S.W.2d at 129, we stated that “courts of appeals are vested with the authority to review fact questions in criminal eases[.]” It is now well settled that courts of appeals are empowered to conduct a factual-sufficiency review of the evidence of the elements of the offense. Clewis, supra; Zuniga v. State, — S.W.3d -, 2004 WL 840786 (Tex.Crim.App. No. 539-02, delivered April 21, 2004) (discussing the standard for factual-sufficiency review). The Clewis court also reiterated the proper standard for a factual-sufficiency review when a defendant has asserted an affirmative defense or has the burden of proof on an issue and established the proper standard of such review of the elements of the offense. Id. at 132, 134-36. However, nothing in Clewis mandates appellate review of the factual sufficiency of the evidence of all disputed fact issues.

The court of appeals cited Malik v. State, 953 S.W.2d 234, 240 (Tex.Crim.App.1997), for the principle that a defendant is not entitled to a legal sufficiency review of the jury’s implied finding on the Art. 38.23(a) issue. Hanks, 104 S.W.3d at 703. In Malik, the jury charge included an instruction that explicitly told the jury to acquit if it did not believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer had probable cause to stop Malik. It thus instructed the jury to base its judgment of the legal and factual sufficiency of the state’s case on a single fact. The state objected to that portion of the charge.

We held that the legality of the defendant’s detention is not an element of the offense charged, but relates merely to evidence admissibility. Any jury instruction concerning the legality of the defendant’s detention should have been limited to the admissibility of the contested evidence; the legality of the defendant’s detention should not have been used to decide whether the state’s evidence was sufficient to prove the elements of the offense. Malik, 953 S.W.2d at 240. We did not speak to measuring the sufficiency of the evidence to prove the propriety of Malik’s detention, nor did we express an opinion on the propriety of conducting a legal-sufficiency review of the evidence to support the implied finding on the Article. 38.23(a) issue; we said merely that the admissibility of a particular piece of evidence cannot be used to determine sufficiency of the evidence introduced to prove the elements of the offense. Id.

[671]*671Appellant urges that there must be a factual sufficiency review of the evidence to support the resolution of any disputed fact issue, including issues of the admissibility of evidence pursuant to Article 38.23(a). We are not, however, persuaded by appellant’s arguments.

Appellant points out that the Waco Court of Appeals, in Davy v. State, 67 S.W.3d 382

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Bluebook (online)
137 S.W.3d 668, 2004 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1019, 2004 WL 1393888, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hanks-v-state-texcrimapp-2004.