Hupp v. State

774 S.W.2d 56, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2061, 1989 WL 89893
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 20, 1989
DocketNos. 05-86-00531-CR, 05-86-00532-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 774 S.W.2d 56 (Hupp 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
Hupp v. State, 774 S.W.2d 56, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2061, 1989 WL 89893 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinions

ON REMAND FROM THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

LAGARDE, Justice.

On this remand, the sole issue to be determined is whether the trial court’s submission of the unconstitutional good time and parole instruction to the jury contributed to the punishment the jury assessed the appellant Robert Arthur Hupp. We hold that the submission of the instruction was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and affirm the trial court’s judgments.

Hupp was originally convicted in two cases of aggravated sexual assault of a child under fourteen. The cases were tried together before the same jury, who assessed punishment in each case at life imprisonment. The sentences were allowed [57]*57by tiie trial court to run concurrently. On his appeal to this Court, Hupp contended that he was denied effective assistance of counsel at trial and that the trial court erred in submitting good time and parole instructions to the jury on the grounds that the charge was predicated on an unconstitutional statute. In a published opinion, we rejected his challenge to the constitutionality of article 37.07, section 4, of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Hupp v. State, 729 S.W.2d 355 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1987), vacated, 761 S.W.2d 10 and 761 S.W.2d 11 (Tex.Crim.App.1988).1

In his petition for discretionary review, Hupp asserted that he was denied effective assistance of counsel and that article 37.07, section 4, of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure was unconstitutional. The Court of Criminal Appeals granted his petition on the constitutional issue only and agreed with his contention that the statute in question is unconstitutional based on its prior decision in Rose v. State, 752 S.W.2d 529, 552 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). The Court of Criminal Appeals remanded the cause to this Court to conduct a harm analysis under rule 81(b)(2) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure.2

Rule 81(b)(2) provides the general test for harm to be applied by appellate courts in criminal cases. It states:

If the appellate record in a criminal case reveals error in the proceedings below, the appellate court shall reverse the judgment under review, unless the appellate court determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the error made no contribution to the conviction or to the punishment.

This standard requires a review of the entire record.

The record in this case shows that the two victims, J_ (eight years old) and D_(six years old), Hupp’s nephew and niece, approached their mother, Hupp’s sister, in November 1985 and told her that Hupp had been sexually abusing them. J_told her that Hupp made him get up in the middle of the night and “put [his] P-thing in [Hupp’s] mouth and [Hupp] would [put] his P-thing in [J_’s] mouth.” D— told her that Hupp would “put his P-thing in her mouth and that he would stick his fingers up her P-thing.” She questioned them both individually; their stories never changed. They also told her that this type of conduct occurred “quite a few times.” In fact, the children told her that this had been happening since they moved into the house in February 1985 — a period of ten months. D_ suffered from nightmares and was jittery and scared, presumably as a result of Hupp’s abuse.

The children’s mother stated that she, too, was scared and had been planning to leave town without testifying; however, she had been subpoenaed by the State to testify. Additionally, Child Welfare told her that if she did not “follow through with everything, that they would have to look at [her] fitness of being a mother.” She further stated that she dreaded testifying against her brother and that it hurt to do so. After the children told their mother of the abuse, school officials were notified and, ultimately, the police were contacted. Hupp was later arrested.

While in custody, Hupp was given his “Miranda warnings”3 and made a voluntary statement. In pertinent part, the statement reads:

I would just be laying in my room at my house at 1602 Park Place in Irving and would feel like something would take over, I mean take me over. I didn’t have no control over my body and I would just get up and walk out of my room into the kids room, by the kids I mean J_and D_, and usually one of the kids would be awake and they would both wake up and just follow me back into my room. The kids would take their clothes off and I would take my clothes off and I would [58]*58lay down in my bed and they would just go down there and start licking my penis. I couple of times I did take J__’s penis and put it in my mouth. Sometimes I would touch D_on her vagina. D_ also went down on me and licked my penis. The kids, when they were down there licking on me, both of them would put their mouth over my penis. It was like they knew what to do already. I can’t remember how long this has been going on. That’s basically it. I would like to attempt to get some psychiatric care if I can.

Officer Charles Cheek of the Irving Police Department testified that while Hupp was making this voluntary statement he was responsive to questions and did not appear to be in a daze or fog. Cheek also stated that Hupp had no difficulty in forming sentences or “carrying through with a thought.” Cheek further testified that the words contained in the statement were Hupp’s words and that Hupp never stated that he was depressed.

Beth Hall, the children’s elementary school counselor, testified that J_asked permission to write a letter to Becky Fann, one of the arresting officers. In the letter, J_ thanked Officer Fann for arresting Hupp and stated that he loved her and wanted to see her again. The children’s counselor admitted that she wrote the words out for J_to copy, but both she and J_stated that she had merely written down the words that J_requested.

D_testified that the “baddest” things happened in Hupp’s room when he would take them in there at night. She also testified that she was scared and claimed that she was unable to remember anything else. J_’s memory, on the other hand, was clearer. On direct examination by the prosecutor, J_testified:

Q. J_, just relax and just tell the jury in your own words exactly what Robert did.
A. He was putting his mouth on my private part and he was making me put my mouth on his private part.
Q. Now, the private part you are talking about, what do you call that normally?
A. Wiener.
Q. The wiener? Is that his P-thing?
A. Yes.
Q. How many times did Robert put his mouth on your wiener?
A. A bunch.
Q. And how many times did you put your mouth over Robert’s wiener?
A. A bunch.
♦ * * * * *
Q. And Robert actually put his wiener inside your mouth?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that what you are saying?
A. Yes.
Q.

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Related

Grigsby v. State
833 S.W.2d 573 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Hupp v. State
801 S.W.2d 920 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
774 S.W.2d 56, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2061, 1989 WL 89893, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hupp-v-state-texapp-1989.