Kannady v. State

753 S.W.2d 785, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 1938, 1988 WL 82216
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 22, 1988
DocketNo. 3-87-171-CR
StatusPublished

This text of 753 S.W.2d 785 (Kannady 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
Kannady v. State, 753 S.W.2d 785, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 1938, 1988 WL 82216 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

GAMMAGE, Justice.

Ronald Wayne Kannady appeals from a judgment of conviction for the offense of delivery of marihuana. Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat. Ann. art. 4476-15 § 4.05(a) (Supp.1988) (the “Controlled Substances Act”). The jury determined guilt and the court assessed punishment at five years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections and $5,000 fine. We will affirm the judgment.

Kannady contends in his first point of error that the district court erred in overruling his Motion to Quash the Indictment. The indictment states that Kannady “intentionally and knowingly deliver[ed] ... marihuana of more than ounce but less than 5 pounds.” Under the Controlled Substances Act, the delivery of more than ¼ ounce but less than 4 ounces of marihuana is punishable as a third-degree felony, while the delivery of more than 4 ounces but less than 5 pounds is punishable as a second-degree felony. Id. at § 4.05(b)(3) and (4). Kannady contends the indictment fails to sufficiently allege an offense because it encompasses two penalty ranges.

In support of his contention, Kannady cites a series of cases in which the indictments failed to allege the quantity of marihuana delivered.1 The Court of Criminal Appeals held those indictments fundamentally defective and dismissed the prosecutions because the indictments failed to allege a felony offense, depriving the district court of jurisdiction. E.g., Finley v. State, 528 S.W.2d 854 (Tex.Cr.App.1975). Later, in Suarez v. State, 532 S.W.2d 602, 603 (Tex.Cr.App.1976), however, the court held that indictments failing to allege a specific amount of controlled substance effectively allege the minimum, an offense punishable as a Class B misdemeanor.2 The proper disposition of such a case is to reverse the felony conviction and remand the case for transfer to a court with misdemeanor jurisdiction. Id.

Because the indictment before us alleges an amount sufficient to charge a third degree felony, jurisdiction was proper in the district court. The problem with this indictment is not jurisdiction, but notice.

Neither party has cited the landmark decision of Adams v. State, 707 S.W.2d 900 (Tex.Cr.App.1986), wherein the Court of Criminal Appeals developed a harm analysis for indictment-notice errors:

“The important question is whether a defendant had notice adequate to prepare his defense. The first step in answering this question is to decide whether the charging instrument failed to convey some requisite item of notice. If sufficient notice is given, this ends our inquiry. If not, the next step is to decide whether, in the context of the case, this had an impact on the defendant’s ability to prepare a defense, and finally, how great an impact.” Id. 707 S.W.2d at 903 (emphasis added).

We conclude that an indictment must give notice of the penalty range for the offense charged, and that an indictment alleging two penalty ranges fails to convey such notice. The record reveals, however, that Kannady was informed before trial that he would be tried for delivering 1.85 ounces of marihuana, a third-degree felony. The jury was charged on a third-degree felony and the court assessed punishment for conviction of a third-degree felony. [787]*787The amount of marihuana delivered was not disputed by Kannady. While the method of charging in this indictment was error, we do not find it to be reversible. We conclude, in the context of this case, that the indictment’s failure to allege a quantity encompassing a single penalty range had no impact on Kannady’s ability to prepare a defense at the guilt/innocence or punishment phases of the trial. Kannady’s first point is overruled.

Kannady contends in his second point that the district court erred in overruling his objections to the court’s charge. Specifically, Kannady complains the charge was defective because it deviated from the indictment. The charge permitted the jury to convict if they found Kannady knowingly delivered more than ¼ ounce but less than 4 ounces; the indictment alleged more than ¼ ounce but less than 5 pounds.

“The trial court’s charge generally should correspond to the allegations in the indictment.” Jackson v. State, 633 S.W.2d 897, 899 (Tex.Cr.App.1982). But the trial court must fully instruct the jury on the law applicable to the case and apply that law to the facts presented, provided all the elements of the crime have been charged. Id.

The charge in this appeal generally corresponds to the indictment because the quantity range charged is included in the range contained in the indictment. The deviation from the indictment was caused by an application of the law to the facts of this case. All the essential elements of the crime were charged. The trial court’s charge contained no error.

Moreover, if the trial court’s charge is erroneous, Kannady is required to show some harm from such error to obtain a reversal of his conviction. Almanza v. State, 686 S.W.2d 157, 171 (Tex.Cr.App.1984). The quantity of marihuana delivered was essentially undisputed at trial and it fell within the range contained in the indictment and the range contained in the court’s charge. We fail to see how the court’s charge to the jury, containing the lower quantity range, harmed Kannady. See Arline v. State, 721 S.W.2d 348, 353 (Tex.Cr.App.1986). Kannady’s second point is overruled.

Kannady contends in his third and fourth points that the district court erred in admitting the in-court identification of him by Officers Owens and Jones because the identification was tainted by a photograph shown to the officers before Kannady’s arrest.

Temple Police Officers Donald Owens and Linda Maureen Jones are undercover narcotics investigators. On October 15, 1986, the officers met Nelson Barnes in Milam County, Texas. Barnes offered to take the officers to a man he knew as Ron, to buy narcotics. When Barnes and the officers were unable to find Ron, Barnes took the officers to his cousin, Lucky Moore. Moore offered to sell the officers a small amount of marihuana, but the officers said they wanted a larger quantity. Moore said he could get a larger quantity and a meeting was arranged for later that night.

Officers Owens and Jones, along with Barnes, drove their rented car to the “car pool parking lot” in Gause, Texas, at approximately 9:00 p.m. on October 15, 1986. According to the officers, Moore and a man they later identified as Kannady arrived in another car and parked directly in front of and facing the officers’ car. Officer Owens and Barnes got out of their car and got in the back seat of the other car. Moore was in the driver’s seat, Kannady in the front passenger seat, Officer Owens in the rear behind the driver’s seat, and Barnes in the rear passenger’s seat. Officer Jones remained in the front passenger’s seat of the rental car.

According to Officer Owens, Barnes introduced him as the person interested in buying marihuana and Kannady handed him two one-ounce bags of marihuana stating the price was one hundred dollars each.

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Related

Ragan v. State
649 S.W.2d 662 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Wirges v. State
521 S.W.2d 251 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1975)
Jackson v. State
633 S.W.2d 897 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1982)
Few v. State
588 S.W.2d 578 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1979)
Saunders v. State
528 S.W.2d 843 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1975)
Finley v. State
528 S.W.2d 854 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1975)
Suarez v. State
532 S.W.2d 602 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1976)
White v. State
496 S.W.2d 642 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Limuel v. State
568 S.W.2d 309 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1978)
Almanza v. State
686 S.W.2d 157 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Arline v. State
721 S.W.2d 348 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1986)
Mears v. State
520 S.W.2d 380 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1975)
Adams v. State
707 S.W.2d 900 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1986)
Manson v. State
635 S.W.2d 547 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1982)

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Bluebook (online)
753 S.W.2d 785, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 1938, 1988 WL 82216, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kannady-v-state-texapp-1988.