Hill v. State

403 S.W.2d 421, 1966 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1153
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas·Decided March 9, 1966·No. 39400·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinions

OPINION

BELCHER, Commissioner.

The conviction is for burglary with a prior conviction for burglary alleged for enhancement; the punishment of twelve years was assessed by the court in accordance with the law.

The testimony reveals that the building of the R. C. Foster Mercantile Company was on May 5, 1965, forcibly entered through a door without the consent of R. C. Foster who then had possession of the building; that about $48 in money was taken from said building without the consent of R. C. Foster; and that the appellant at the time was and had been an outside salesman of the company.

Officer Kosser testified that after observing two men using a telephone in a booth in front of a store with their car parked in a dark place by the store he [423]*423stopped. These men were the appellant and William Thorp. While talking with them Kosser noticed that the rear seat of appellant’s car was full of various clothing. The appellant explained that he was a salesman for Foster, and the appellant opened the door and showed Kosser his consignment records. From the outside of the car Kosser saw an axe on the floorboard between the rear and front seat. As they left, Kosser made note of the license number.

On passing Fosters about 4 a. mu, May S, Officer Vandermast saw a light through a door, and on investigating found that the door had been forcibly entered. The door facing and door were badly damaged which appeared to have been done with an axe. There were tire marks in front of the door and it appeared that a vehicle had been used to push the door open. When Foster arrived he stated that merchandise was missing and also about $45 in money.

During the investigation of the Foster burglary, Officer Wisian, upon getting Kosser’s report, went to the appellant. The appellant voluntarily agreed to go to Fosters for an inventory check of the merchandise he had in the car with that consigned to him. During the inventory at Fosters, Wisian saw an axe in appellant’s car, asked to see it and appellant handed it to him. Officer Wisian testified that the front door was badly damaged and it appeared to have been done with an axe; that he took the door, pieces of wood and the axe to the laboratory of the Department of Public Safety; that he compared the tread design on the tires on appellant’s car with the tire marks on the concrete apron in front of Foster’s store, and expressed the opinion that they were the same. The evidence further revealed that the paint on the wood and the paint on the axe were of the same color and type and could have come from the same source.

Officer Wisian testified that he gave the appellant the warning in accordance with the statute in effect on May 5, 1965, and also informed him of his right to consult counsel and offered him the right to do so, and the appellant made to him the following written statement which reads in part as follows:.

“My name is Billy Hill. * * * I met William Thorp at approximately 4:00 PM on 5-4-65 and we * * * rode around in my 1957 Mercury until sometime around 2:00 AM on 5-5-65, at which time we went to the R. C. Foster Mercantile Co. at 1802 E. 6th St. We went to this business place for the purpose of burglarizing it. As I drove up in front of the Foster Co. I tried to stop the car but the breaks did not hold and I ran into the front door. I backed away from the door and William Thorp took a ax from the back seat of the car and went to the front door of this building and started hitting it until he got it to open. Then we both went inside. I then went to the office in the front and took a blue plastic bag (the type used for bank deposits) from a filing cabinet. We then got into my Mercury and left. As we were driving around we divided the money that was in this plastic bag. My part of this money was between $13 and $15.”

After a hearing in the absence of the jury on the issue of the voluntary nature of appellant’s written statement, the trial court found that it was freely and voluntarily made.

The appellant, his attorney and the state’s attorney in the absence of the jury stipulated that he was the same person previously convicted of burglary in the prior conviction alleged. Only the issue of appellant’s guilt of the primary offense was submitted to the jury.

The appellant did not testify before the jury, but offered proof that the complaint charging him with burglary was filed in justice court May 6, 1965, which was Thursday, and that said court and two other jus[424]*424tice courts in the city were usually open from 8 a. m., to 5 p. m., on weekdays.

The evidence is sufficient to support the conviction.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred in requiring him to state under oath whether his confession was true while he was testifying in the absence of the jury for the limited purpose of showing the facts surrounding the voluntariness of the confession.

This matter arose as follows:

State’s Attorney:
“Q Billy (appellant), is that your signature?
“A Yes, sir.
“Q This is the confession that you made?
“A It is.
“Q And it is correct?
Appellant’s Attorney: We object to that. I think it is not proper inquiry under the Lopez case.
The Court: I will overrule the objection.
Appellant’s Attorney: Note our exception.
“Q Is that statement correct?
“A Yes, sir.”

The objection is too general and indefinite and fails to specify any ground which the trial court could intelligently consider in passing upon the admissibility of the evidence and brings nothing forward for review.

Error is urged because of the refusal of the trial court to submit to the jury the issue of whether the appellant’s illegal detention was the cause of or resulted in him making the confession.

The appellant did not testify before the jury.

Upon the request of Officer Wisian about 8 or 8:30 a. m., the appellant voluntarily went to Fosters to check his inventory of the clothing consigned to him. After about forty minutes at Fosters, the appellant consented to go to the police station. After examining the paint on the axe which appellant had voluntarily handed to Wisian along with the comparison of the tire marks, the appellant was arrested about 10:30 or 11 a. m. At this time appellant consented to take a lie detector test, and a date was made for the test at 1:30 p. m. Following the test the appellant was returned to the police station where he was given the statutory warning pertaining to the making of a written statement and also told of his right to consult counsel which is included in the written warning and offered time to do so, and at 4:41 p. m., he made a written statement as herein shown to Officer Wisian.

There is no evidence of any causal connection between the detention of the appellant and the making of the written statement. The detention bears only upon the fact question of the voluntariness of the written statement.

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Hill v. State, 403 S.W.2d 421, 1966 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1153 (Tex. 1966).

403 S.W.2d 421 (Hill v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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Hill v. State
403 S.W.2d 421 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1966)