Hoyos v. State

951 S.W.2d 503, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 4135, 1997 WL 441875
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 7, 1997
Docket14-95-00916-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by61 cases

This text of 951 S.W.2d 503 (Hoyos 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
Hoyos v. State, 951 S.W.2d 503, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 4135, 1997 WL 441875 (Tex. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

YATES, Justice.

Appellant, Humberto Almazo Hoyos, appeals his aggravated robbery conviction. In seven points of error, he contends that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support the verdict and that the trial court erred by 1) prohibiting him from cross-examining the complainant as to motive, bias, or interest, 2) denying his motion for new trial, 3) entering an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon, and 4) denying appellant’s motion to require disclosure of informants. We affirm.

Background

The fifty-eight year old complainant, Man-uella Ramirez, lived in an apartment on Glen-mont Street, in Houston, Texas. On November 17,1994, during the early morning hours, the complainant and some family members were asleep when four men forced entry into the apartment.

At trial, the complainant identified the appellant as one of the men. She testified that appellant immediately approached her after the men entered the apartment and demanded to know “where is the money?” She also testified that appellant hit her with his revolver several times, threatened to kill her, and shot her once in the right thigh. Other members of the family were also assaulted by the intruders.

Based on information from an informant, the police arrested appellant and his brother and charged them with aggravated robbery. They were tried in one proceeding, and the jury found them both guilty. The jury assessed appellant’s punishment at twenty-five years confinement and a fine of $6000.00. This appeal followed.

Confrontation Clause

In his first point of error, appellant contends the trial court denied his right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution by prohibiting him from cross-examining the complaining witness regarding motive, bias, or interest. Specifically, he contends the trial court erred by preventing him from questioning the complainant about 1) her reputation as a drug dealer, 2) her deferred adjudication probation status, and 3) her retention of a lawyer to pursue a civil claim against the apartment complex where the robbery took place.

The Sixth Amendment protects the defendant’s right not only to confront the witnesses against him, but to cross-examine them as well. Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 316, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1110, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974). “[T]he exposure of a witness’ motivation in testifying is a proper and important function of the constitutionally protected right of cross-examination.” Id. at 316-17, 94 S.Ct. at 1110. The accused is entitled to great latitude to show a witness’s bias or motive to falsify his testimony. Hodge v. State, 631 S.W.2d 754, 758 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1982). As a recent decision from the Court of Criminal Appeals stated:

... Evidence to show bias or interest of a witness in a cause covers a wide range and the field of external circumstances from which probable bias or interest may be inferred is infinite. The rule encompasses all facts and circumstances, which when tested by human experience, tend to show that a witness may shade his testimony for the purpose of helping to establish one side of the cause only.

Carroll v. State, 916 S.W.2d 494, 497-98 (Tex.Crim.App.1996) (plurality opinion).

The extent of this cross-examination, however, is not unlimited. The trial court retains wide latitude to impose reasonable limits on cross-examination. Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 678, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 1434-35, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986). The trial court must carefully consider the probative value of the evidence and weigh it against the risks of admission. Hodge, 631 S.W.2d at 758. These potential risks include “the possibility of undue prejudice, embarrassment or harassment to either a witness or a party, the possibility of misleading or confusing a jury, and the possibility of undue delay or waste of time.” Id.; see also Chambers v. State, 866 S.W.2d 9, 27 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cer t. denied, 511 U.S. 1100, 114 *507 S.Ct. 1871, 128 L.Ed.2d 491 (1994); Castillo v. State, 939 S.W.2d 754, 758 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1997, pet ref'd); McKee v. State, 855 S.W.2d 89, 91 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, no pet.).

If the trial court has excluded evidence in violation of the Confrontation Clause, we must conduct a three prong harmless error analysis to determine whether the exclusion of the evidence warrants reversal of the conviction. First, we assume that the damaging potential of the cross-examination was fully realized. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 684, 106 S.Ct. at 1438; Shelby v. State, 819 S.W.2d 544, 547 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). Second, we review the error in connection with the following factors:

1) the importance of the witness’s testimony in the prosecution’s case;
2) whether the testimony was cumulative;
3) the presence or absence of evidence corroborating or contradicting the testimony of the witness on material points;
4) the extent of cross-examination otherwise permitted; and,
5) the overall strength of the prosecution’s case.

Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 684, 106 S.Ct. at 1438; Shelby, 819 S.W.2d at 547. Finally, we determine if the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 684, 106 S.Ct. at 1438; Shelby, 819 S.W.2d at 547.

Waiver

Before addressing the merits of the appeal, we first consider the State’s waiver argument. The State argues appellant failed to preserve error because appellant did not specifically object on constitutional grounds and did not establish a sufficient record. We disagree.

The trial court considered the three cross-examination issues together outside the presence of the jury in two separate hearings. In both hearings, appellant urged his objection “under the authority of’ Van Arsdall and Davis. These are key decisions by the United States Supreme Court interpreting the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause. To preserve error a party must simply “let the trial judge know what he wants, why he thinks himself entitled to it, and to do so clearly enough for the judge to understand him at a time when the trial court is in a proper position to do something about it.” Lankston v. State, 827 S.W.2d 907, 909 (Tex.Crim.App.1992). Perhaps appellant could have objected more specifically, but we do not conclude his complaint on appeal differs from his complaint below.

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Bluebook (online)
951 S.W.2d 503, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 4135, 1997 WL 441875, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoyos-v-state-texapp-1997.