Jesus Roberto Villarreal A/K/A Carlos Waldo v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 4, 2010
Docket13-08-00292-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Jesus Roberto Villarreal A/K/A Carlos Waldo v. State (Jesus Roberto Villarreal A/K/A Carlos Waldo 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
Jesus Roberto Villarreal A/K/A Carlos Waldo v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

NUMBER 13-08-00292-CR

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG

JESUS ROBERTO VILLARREAL A/K/A CARLOS WALDO, Appellant,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.

On appeal from the 107th District Court of Cameron County, Texas.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Chief Justice Valdez and Justices Rodriguez and Garza Memorandum Opinion by Justice Rodriguez Appellant Jesus Roberto Villarreal a/k/a Carlos Waldo was convicted of four counts

of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.1 See

TEX . PENAL CODE ANN . § 22.02(a)(2) (Vernon Supp. 2009), § 29.03(a)(2) (Vernon 2003).

After a jury found him guilty, the trial court assessed punishment at confinement in the

Texas Department of Criminal Justice–Institutional Division for sixty years. By five issues,

Villarreal complains that: (1) the State committed a Doyle violation, see Doyle v. Ohio, 426

U.S. 610, 611 (1976); (2) the trial court erred in admitting impeachment testimony; (3) he

was denied his right to counsel; (4) there was prosecutorial misconduct; and (5) there was

insufficient non-accomplice evidence. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In December 2005, a robbery occurred at each of the following locations in

Brownsville, Texas: Sally's Beauty Supply, Ultimo Taco, and Bed Bath & Beyond. The first

robbery was on December 5, 2005, at Sally's Beauty Supply. Heidi Rosenbaum, who was

working as a cashier at Sally's Beauty Supply, gave money to a man who was wearing a

black hoody, a hat, black pants, and something covering his nose. The man told her "to

give him the money" and showed her a gun that he had under his jacket. Rosenbaum

testified that all she could see was the man's eyes, which were unique in that they were

"slanted down." A co-worker also gave money to this man. The money taken from Sally's

Beauty Supply totaled about $540. At trial, Rosenbaum identified Villarreal as the person

who committed the robbery. She also testified that, after reviewing approximately thirty

1 Villarreal was indicted on ten counts of aggravated robbery and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. W hile Villarreal was found guilty of four counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault, he was found not guilty of two counts of robbery. The trial court also dism issed four counts of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated assault. 2 photographs, she had identified Villarreal in a photo lineup. The photo lineup was

admitted, without objection, as State's Exhibit 29.

The next robbery occurred on December 10, 2005, at Ultimo Taco. Armando Curiel,

the manager of the restaurant, testified that he saw a car pull into the parking lot and park

facing an exit. Two masked men, one taller and the other much shorter, rapidly entered

the restaurant shooting their firearms—one had a pistol, the other a rifle. Alicia Curiel,

Armando's wife, was working as a cashier at the restaurant. The men demanded money,

and when Alicia could not open the money drawer, they took the whole drawer. Armando

attempted to pursue the robbers who were driving a gold car, but he lost them. At trial,

Armando described the car as a gold Stratus. Armando testified that he was unable to

identify the men who entered the restaurant and robbed him. Alicia's testimony was

consistent with that of her husband. She, too, was unable to identify the men who entered

the restaurant that night, except that one was tall and the other short and that the short one

had black eyebrows.

The last robbery took place at Bed Bath & Beyond on December 18, 2005. Adelina

Rios was working as a cashier when two men—one larger or heavier and one

smaller—entered the store and discharged their firearms. The smaller man, whose face

was covered by a mesh cloth like pantyhose, ordered her to give them money from the

cash register. At trial, Rios described this man's eyes as follows: "Bushy eyebrows, dark

brown eyes; and on his right eye, it looked kind of like a lazy eye, droopiness." After

providing the description of his eyes, Rios testified that she saw the same set of eyes in

the courtroom and identified Villarreal as one of the persons who robbed Bed Bath &

3 Beyond that day.2 Rios also identified a piece of cloth—a mesh material that had a black

lining—that looked similar to what the robber was wearing over his nose to conceal his

identity. This item was admitted as State's Exhibit 39.

Dean Davila testified that he and Christina Villarreal were customers in Bed Bath

& Beyond when he saw two men wearing dark clothes and masks and carrying weapons

enter the store. Davila and Christina attempted to slowly walk off to the side of a counter.

As they did so, one of the men pointed a gun at them and asked where they thought they

were going. Davila told him that he and Christina were "going to the floor" because "we

don't want any trouble." Davila was unable to identify Villarreal as one of the two persons

who committed the offense. Christina's testimony was similar to Davila's testimony. She,

too, was unable to identify either of the two individuals who committed the offenses at Bed

Bath & Beyond.

Villarreal was arrested at the home of an acquaintance, Teresa Medders who

testified as follows:

! Medders knew "Jesse" or Jesus Villarreal, and she also knew Benito Gonzalez.

! Villarreal stayed with Medders "off and on" at her apartment during December 2005.

! Villarreal left his clothing at her apartment sometimes.

! Villarreal and Gonzalez were friends.

! Medders saw Villarreal at her apartment with a small handgun. She told him that she did not want the gun there.

! Medders also saw Gonzalez with a gun at her apartment.

2 In her statem ent to the police the day of the robbery, Rios described the robber's eyes as brown with bushy eyebrows and his left eye as crossed. At trial, Rios testified that she never said "left" or "crossed," but rather that "it looked like flickering."

4 ! On one occasion, Villarreal and Gonzalez came to Medders's apartment wearing dark clothes. They went into the bathroom where Medders overheard them talking about "Sally's" and "not going to the same place twice." When they came out of the bathroom, Villarreal gave her around $400 cash to help pay the rent. When she asked about the money, Villarreal told her not to worry about it.

! One week later, Villarreal and Gonzalez came to her apartment again, and while they were in the bathroom, she heard them complaining that they did not have enough money or did not get enough money.

! Gonzalez, who borrowed Medders's mother's car, was involved in an accident with the car and a school bus and was arrested.

! After Villarreal found out that Gonzalez had been arrested, he was upset and furious. Villarreal told Medders that he wanted to leave town.

! Medders identified State's Exhibit 39 as her "[t]high high, torn thigh high, or cut off, cut, ripped, and torn" pantyhose. The piece of clothing was found in her apartment.

! After being shown a portion of the Bed Bath & Beyond robbery videotape, Medders recognized the hats worn by the men. She also testified that the jacket with a stripe on it looked familiar. The hat with a gray stripe had been a Christmas gift to her from her father. The hats were found in her apartment.

! Medders had no criminal charges lodged against her.

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