Joshua David McIntosh v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 28, 2019
Docket02-17-00378-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Joshua David McIntosh v. State (Joshua David McIntosh 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
Joshua David McIntosh v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________

No. 02-17-00378-CR ___________________________

JOSHUA DAVID MCINTOSH, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

On Appeal from the 396th District Court Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 1479308D

Before Gabriel, Kerr, and Pittman, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Gabriel MEMORANDUM OPINION

A grand jury indicted appellant Joshua David McIntosh with unlawful

possession of a firearm by a felon. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 46.04(a). While that is

generally a third-degree felony carrying a maximum prison term of ten years,

McIntosh’s indictment contained a paragraph alleging that at the time of his offense,

he had a prior felony conviction in Illinois for aggravated battery. See id. §§ 12.34(a),

46.04(e). Consequently, as an alleged habitual felony offender, McIntosh’s potential

punishment range increased to a maximum twenty-year prison term. See id.

§§ 12.33(a), 12.42(a). A jury convicted him of the charged offense, and the trial court

assessed his punishment at the maximum twenty-year term of confinement.

McIntosh appeals in three issues. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On December 5, 2016, McIntosh was involved in a single-vehicle accident: the

car he had been driving left the roadway and struck a wooden electrical pole. Latonya

Lockett, who was driving a school bus for the Fort Worth ISD, came upon the

accident scene and stopped because the road was obstructed with debris. McIntosh

ran to Lockett’s bus screaming for help. When he reached the door, Lockett cracked

the door slightly to ask him if she needed to call 911. McIntosh attempted to step on

the bus, which prompted Lockett to tell him that he was not allowed to get on the bus

but that she would call 911 for him. McIntosh boarded the bus anyway. At the time,

there was one student on the bus.

2 McIntosh was wearing a black hoodie, and Lockett noticed the butt of a gun in

the hoodie’s pocket. Lockett called 911 to report the accident, but she did not report

that McIntosh had a gun because she feared he might use it if he learned that she had

seen it. From Lockett’s perspective, McIntosh was acting “[v]ery crazy, as if someone

was after him,” yet Lockett did not see anyone who actually was after McIntosh.

When some firefighters arrived, Lockett got their attention by sounding the bus’s

horn, and she made a motion with her hand in an attempt to alert them that McIntosh

had a gun.

James Chastain, a fireman with the Fort Worth Fire Department, approached

the bus and started to board when Lockett asked him to get McIntosh off the bus.

Chastain asked McIntosh to get off the bus, and McIntosh replied that he wanted the

police to come, that he was not getting off the bus, and that nobody else was getting

off the bus, either. McIntosh told Chastain that he was being followed and chased,

though Chastain did not see anyone chasing McIntosh. Chastain attempted to place

himself between McIntosh and Lockett and the student, but McIntosh became

agitated and started putting his hands in his hoodie’s pocket. Chastain noticed that

McIntosh had a gun in the pocket and that McIntosh was pointing the muzzle toward

him. So in an effort to calm McIntosh down, Chastain backed up and stood at the

door of the bus. With the assistance of other firefighters, Chastain was able to get the

student off the bus.

3 About that time, Fort Worth police officer Matthew McCormick arrived having

been dispatched for a call that an erratic male had boarded a school bus and was being

hostile. Officer McCormick initially approached the school bus with his Taser drawn

and saw that McIntosh had his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. Officer

McCormick told McIntosh to show his hands, but McIntosh did not comply. Shortly

after this happened, Lockett was able to exit the bus. Officer McCormick then

noticed that McIntosh had a handgun in the hoodie’s pocket and that McIntosh was

pointing the gun at him, which led Officer McCormick to draw his firearm. When

backup arrived, Officer McCormick was able to disarm McIntosh, and although

McIntosh struggled and tried to resist, the police officers were eventually able to

remove him from the bus and arrest him.

After his arrest, the trial court appointed counsel to represent Mcintosh. But

before trial, McIntosh requested to represent himself, a request the trial court granted.

He was later convicted for the charged offense and sentenced to twenty years’

confinement.

II. THE TRIAL COURT DID NOT ABUSE ITS DISCRETION BY GRANTING MCINTOSH’S REQUEST TO REPRESENT HIMSELF

In his first issue, McIntosh argues the trial court reversibly erred by granting his

request to represent himself or, alternatively, by not appointing standby counsel for

him.

4 A. APPLICABLE LAW AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Constitution guarantees a defendant the right to assistance of counsel in a

criminal prosecution. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 339–45 (1963); Lopez v. State,

343 S.W.3d 137, 142 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011). It also affords a defendant who validly

waives his right to assistance of counsel the right to represent himself. Godinez v.

Moran, 509 U.S. 389, 400, 402 (1993); Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 807 (1975);

Collier v. State, 959 S.W.2d 621, 625 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997). A waiver of counsel is

valid if it was made competently, knowingly and intelligently, and voluntarily. Godinez,

509 U.S. at 400, 402; Faretta, 422 U.S. at 807; Collier, 959 S.W.2d at 625.

The competency that is required to waive the right to counsel is the

competence to waive the right, not the competence to represent oneself. Godinez,

509 U.S. at 400. The decision to waive counsel and proceed pro se is made

“knowingly and intelligently” if it is made with a full understanding of the right to

counsel being abandoned, as well as the dangers and disadvantages of self-

representation. Fletcher v. State, 474 S.W.3d 389, 395–96 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th

Dist.] 2015, pet. ref’d) (citing Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835–36; Cudjo v. State, 345 S.W.3d

177, 184 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2011, pet. ref’d)). The decision is made

“voluntarily” if it is uncoerced. Id. at 396 (citing Godinez, 509 U.S. at 401 n.12). As we

have previously said,

A trial court need follow no formulaic questioning or particular script in ascertaining the knowing and voluntary nature of a defendant’s waiver of counsel. However, if such factors are not otherwise apparent from the

5 record, a trial court’s inquiry regarding the defendant’s waiver of counsel should center on his background, age, experience, and education. The defendant should be aware that there are technical rules of evidence and procedure, and he will not be granted any special consideration solely because he asserted his pro se rights.

Cofer v. State, No. 02-16-00101-CR, 2017 WL 3821885, at *2 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth

Aug. 31, 2017, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (citations omitted).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Faretta v. California
422 U.S. 806 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Godinez v. Moran
509 U.S. 389 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Williams v. State
252 S.W.3d 353 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Taylor v. State
268 S.W.3d 571 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Juarez v. State
308 S.W.3d 398 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Burgess v. State
816 S.W.2d 424 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Love v. State
861 S.W.2d 899 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Fuller v. State
253 S.W.3d 220 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Collier v. State
959 S.W.2d 621 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Mays v. State
285 S.W.3d 884 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2009)
Chadwick v. State
309 S.W.3d 558 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Holmes v. State
323 S.W.3d 163 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Jones v. State
338 S.W.3d 725 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Fulbright v. State
41 S.W.3d 228 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)
Lopez v. State
343 S.W.3d 137 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Jones v. State
364 S.W.3d 854 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Cudjo v. State
345 S.W.3d 177 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Vega, Jose Luis Jr.
394 S.W.3d 514 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Richard Blake Ray v. State
419 S.W.3d 467 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Sherill Ann Small v. State
504 S.W.3d 330 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Joshua David McIntosh v. State, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/joshua-david-mcintosh-v-state-texapp-2019.