Howard v. State

505 S.W.2d 306, 1974 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1387
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 13, 1974
Docket47204
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 505 S.W.2d 306 (Howard 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
Howard v. State, 505 S.W.2d 306, 1974 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1387 (Tex. 1974).

Opinion

*308 OPINION

ONION, Presiding Judge.

This is an appeal from a murder with malice conviction where the punishment was assessed by the jury at life imprisonment.

The sufficiency of the evidence is not challenged. The evidence is undisputed that the appellant shot and killed Elijah Pickard in the F & L Lounge in Lubbock on April 20, 1971. Appellant acknowledged his action, but'testified he acted in self-defense. The State’s evidence reflects that a number of people were in the lounge on the night in question when the appellant and the deceased began an “angry discussion” and were “arguing real bad” near the pool table. Winnie Fay Hebron, the manager, asked them to cease, and the deceased went to sit on a stool behind or near the counter. Shortly thereafter, the appellant approached the deceased and fired several shots at him. The deceased was shown to have died, from bullet wounds to the head.

Appellant testified he had never seen the deceased before the night in question and that he and a friend were playing pool when the deceased approached and began “messing with pool balls” during the game, moving them from the positions occupied on the table. Appellant asked him to stop and an argument ensued in which appellant related the deceased threatened to kill him. After the argument ceased, the deceased went to the counter where the appellant knew guns had been kept in the past and he heard someone say, “Don’t do that.” Appellant then related he borrowed a pistol and shot the deceased, who he feared was about to shoot him. He offered other witnesses to the fact that guns in the past had been kept behind or under the counter of the lounge.

In his first ground of error appellant contends the court erred in refusing to allow him to inspect and use a police offense report in cross-examination of'Officer H. D. Clanton, which he contends the prosecutor had used during cross-examination. He contends that both the “use before the jury” rule and the Gaskin Rule 1 were violated.

On direct examination Officer Clanton testified that he and Officer Nevarez responded to a call and went to the F & L Lounge on the date in question and found blood on the floor, discovered the deceased had been taken to the hospital, whereupon the two went to the hospital where Clanton related he observed the wounds on the body of the deceased which he described. Such testimony was cumulative of other evidence in the case.

On cross-examination the appellant inquired if Clanton had prepared an offense report and he answered, “Yes, sir, we did. .” Upon request the court ordered Assistant District Attorney Hurley to produce his copy and deliver it to the appellant. The prosecutor then took the witness on voir dire and established that the report had been made by Officer Nevarez. The court then withdrew its earlier order in light of such evidence. No objection or exception was taken to such action.

At the hearing on the motion for new trial the appellant offered the affidavit of juror Donald Signor. See Article 40.06, Vernon’s Ann.C.C.P. Said affidavit reflected the juror’s recollection of the above described discussion concerning the offense report and stated that “it was apparent the prosecuting attorney had a copy of this report and that he was utilizing it while questioning the officer.” The affidavit continued, “There was a thought in my mind, and I think in the minds of the other jurors, that the offense report contained something that was detrimental to the state’s case; and that is why the state wanted to keep it out. We wondered what it was that was being kept from us.”

*309 Mrs. Ward Bartle, another juror, testified she recalled the discussion, but did not see the prosecutor exhibiting or reading from any such report at any time.

Troy Hurley, assistant district attorney, testified he questioned Officer Clanton from notes he had prepared for the purpose of trial (in part from the offense report), but that a copy of the offense report was in his file and he did not remove the same until the court had instructed him to do so, and that when Officer Clanton testified he had not made the report, it was immediately returned to the file.

Motion for new trial was overruled, but the ever-careful trial judge ordered the offense report sealed and made a part of the appellate record.

Under the “use before the jury rule” a defendant is entitled to inspect, upon his timely request, any document, instrument or statement which has been used by the State before the jury in such a way that its contents become an issue. Sewell v. State, 367 S.W.2d 349, 351 (Tex.Cr.App.1963). The rule was discussed at some length recently in White v. State, 478 S.W.2d 506 (Tex.Cr.App.1972).

In the instant case the witness did not have his attention directed to the instrument itself, nor was it exhibited or read aloud to the witness, nor do we find any reference in the record to indicate to the jury that such instrument was being used as the basis for the interrogation. While juror Signor’s affidavit said the report was so utilized, the transcription of the court reporter’s notes does not support his assertion, and the prosecutor’s testimony that he was using his own notes was not disputed. While the offense report was taken from the file in the jury’s presence, it was not done in such a manner so that the contents of the instrument became an issue.

We cannot conclude the “use before the jury rule” was violated. White v. State, supra; Lewis v. State, 481 S.W.2d 804, 806 (Tex.Cr.App.1972) (concurring opinion).

Under the “Gaskin Rule” where a witness for the State has made a report or has given a statement prior to testifying, the defendant, after a timely motion or request, is entitled to inspect and use such prior and available report or statement for cross-examination and impeachment purposes, and this right obtains even though the witness has not used the instrument to refresh his memory. See Gaskin v. State, supra; Zanders v. State, 480 S.W.2d 708 (Tex.Cr.App.1972).

If the “Gaskin Rule” comes into play, it is error for the trial judge to fail to require production of a prior and available statement or report of the witness, though the error may be harmless error. The harmfulness of the error is dependent upon whether an examination of the statement by the appellate court demonstrates that the defendant should have been allowed the statement for the purpose of cross-examination and possible impeachment. Error, of course, will result if the defendant is denied the opportunity to have made available the statement or report for the appellate record in order that injury, if any, may be shown. Lewis v. State, supra; Rose v. State, 427 S.W.2d 609, 612 (Tex.Cr.App.1968) (concurring opinion).

The “Gaskin Rule” has been held limited to a previous report or statement personally made by the witness testifying for the State. Artell v.

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Bluebook (online)
505 S.W.2d 306, 1974 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1387, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/howard-v-state-texcrimapp-1974.