Hernandez v. State

562 S.W.3d 500
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 10, 2017·No. NO. 01-16-00755-CR·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinions

Russell Lloyd, Justice *503Appellant Nelson Alberto Hernandez was charged by information with assault-family member. After a jury found appellant guilty of the charged offense, the trial court assessed his punishment at 180 days in county jail. In three points of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in (1) admitting the 911 call in violation of the Confrontation Clause; (2) labeling the offense for which appellant was convicted as "assault-family member" rather than "assault"; and (3) assessing a $25 "district attorney" fee in the bill of cost. We modify the trial court's judgment and affirm as modified.

Background

The information charged that appellant, "on or about JUNE 8, 2016, did then and there unlawfully[,] intentionally[,] and knowingly cause bodily injury to EBONY JONES, a MEMBER OF THE DEFENDANT'S FAMILY, A MEMBER OF THE DEFENDANT'S HOUSEHOLD, AND A PERSON WITH WHOM THE DEFENDANT HAD A DATING RELATIONSHIP, hereafter styled the Complainant by STRIKING THE COMPLAINANT WITH HIS HAND." Appellant pleaded not guilty.

At trial, the State called Deputy Bryan Maly with the Harris County Sheriff's Office as a witness. The complainant, Jones, did not testify at trial. The State also introduced six exhibits, among them, three photographs of Jones's injury and a tape recording of her 911 call.

Before testimony began, the State requested that the trial court rule on the admissibility of Jones's 911 call. After listening to the recording and to the arguments of counsel, the trial court stated:

And I am going to find that I hear in the voice a stressed voice of somebody that's trying to get some police help. It is not calm. I believe that it does rise to the level of an emergency situation, although I don't think there is any bright line rule of what is an emergency situation. It is based upon the circumstances and the facts of a particular case.

The trial court admitted the recording of the 911 call, and the tape was played for the jury. In the call, Jones requested police assistance and stated that appellant, her husband, had attacked her. Shortly after he was notified of the call, Deputy Maly arrived on the scene.

Upon his arrival, Deputy Maly observed that Jones had "rather pronounced swelling on the side of her face, just near the eye." Deputy Maly described Jones as "very shaken, unsteady" and "traumatized," and stated that she was out of breath, her voice was quivering, and she appeared to have been crying. When Deputy Maly asked Jones if she needed EMS, Jones responded "no."

After meeting with Jones, Deputy Maly and two other deputies went to appellant's location at his friend's apartment in the complex. Appellant told Deputy Maly that he and Jones had gotten into an argument because he wanted to take his daughter back to Honduras and that he had gone to his friend's apartment to get away from the argument. Appellant had his marriage license and daughter's birth certificate with him. When Deputy Maly asked appellant if he had hit Jones, he replied that he had hit her in the past but had not hit her "this time." Deputy Maly testified that appellant *504displayed signs of intoxication, including red, bloodshot eyes, and that his breath smelled of alcohol. Deputy Maly subsequently detained appellant.

At the conclusion of trial, the jury found appellant guilty of the charged offense, and the trial court assessed his punishment at 180 days' confinement in county jail. This appeal followed.

Discussion

A. Admissibility of 911 Tape Recording

In his first point of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in admitting Jones's out-of-court statements made in the 911 call because the statements were testimonial and their admission violated the Confrontation Clause.

1. Applicable Law

The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to be confronted with the witnesses against him." Crawford v. Washington , 541 U.S. 36, 42, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 1357, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004) ; Langham v. State , 305 S.W.3d 568, 575 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (citing U.S. CONST. AMEND . VI ). Once a defendant raises a Confrontation Clause objection, the burden shifts to the State to prove either (1) that the proposed statement does not contain testimonial hearsay and thus does not implicate the Confrontation Clause or (2) that the statement does contain testimonial hearsay but is nevertheless admissible. See De la Paz v. State , 273 S.W.3d 671, 680-81 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) (citing Crawford , 541 U.S. at 68, 124 S.Ct. at 1374 ).

2. Standard of Review

We review alleged violations of the Confrontation Clause, including whether a statement is testimonial or nontestimonial, de novo. See Wall v. State , 184 S.W.3d 730, 742 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006). The admission of a testimonial statement in violation of the Confrontation Clause is subject to a constitutional harm analysis under Rule of Appellate Procedure 44.2(a). See TEX. R. APP. P . 44.2(a) ("If the appellate record in a criminal case reveals constitutional error that is subject to harmless error review, the court of appeals must reverse a judgment of conviction or punishment unless the court determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the conviction or punishment."); see Wall , 184 S.W.3d at 746 (noting that if there is reasonable likelihood that error materially affected jury's deliberations, then error is not harmless beyond reasonable doubt).

3. Analysis

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Hernandez v. State, 562 S.W.3d 500 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

562 S.W.3d 500 (Hernandez v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Sergio Alejandro Aguilar v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Hernandez, Nelson Alberto
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2020
Jordan Lee Arnett v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
John Howard Mason v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Daniel Bartolo Hernandez v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Leland Kremplewski v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Derrick Davenport v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Jason Arthur Duchesneau v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Jose Guzman v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Hernandez v. State
562 S.W.3d 500 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2017)