Kelley v. State

841 S.W.2d 917, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 2848, 1992 WL 317843
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided November 6, 1992·No. Nos. 13-91-488-CR, 13-91-489-CR, 13-91-499-CR and 13-91-500-CR·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

OPINION

FEDERICO G. HINOJOSA, Jr., Justice.

Mark Kelley was charged in two indictments with four counts of aggravated robbery. The trial court granted the State’s motion to consolidate both causes. A jury found Kelley guilty of all four counts. The jury assessed punishment in each case, Cause No. CR-629-90-F and Cause No. CR-636-90-F, at 55 years in prison. The trial court sentenced Kelley to 55 years in prison for each count with the sentences running concurrently. By six points of error, Kelley complains that the trial court erred by shackling him during the trial, by overruling his motion for new trial, and by submitting a single punishment verdict form to the jury in each cause. We affirm the trial court’s judgments.

Since appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, we will only provide a brief recitation of the facts. On March 26, 1990, appellant and an accomplice went to the home of the four victims, a married couple and the woman’s two minor children. Appellant and his accomplice threatened the victims with a shotgun the robbers brought and with another firearm they found in the house. They restrained the victims and took over $1,000 cash, a credit card, a watch, four rings, a camera, a magnifying lens, the firearm, and two hunting knives. The daughter recognized appellant and later told her parents who had robbed them.

By his first three points, appellant complains that the trial court erred by shackling him during trial over his objection. He argues that jurors saw the shackles and that the record shows he was harmed because the jury sent a note to the judge indicating they feared for their safety. He further contends that the trial court failed to demonstrate any need for the restraints.

Requiring a defendant to wear shackles or handcuffs before the jury infringes his constitutionally guaranteed presumption of innocence. Long v. State, 823 S.W.2d 259, 282 (Tex.Crim.App.1991), cert. denied, — U.S.—, 112 S.Ct. 3042, 120 L.Ed.2d 910 (1992); Lucas v. State, 791 S.W.2d 35, 54 (Tex.Crim.App.1989); Marquez v. State, 725 S.W.2d 217, 227 (Tex. Crim.App.1987); Clark v. State, 717 S.W.2d 910, 918 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). The trial court should exert all efforts to prevent the jury from seeing the defendant in shackles. Long, 823 S.W.2d at 282; Lucas, 791 S.W.2d at 54; Clark, 717 S.W.2d at 919. The trial court may order the defendant restrained if it finds a “manifest need” for or “exceptional circumstances” requiring the restraints. Long, 823 S.W.2d at 282; Clark, 717 S.W.2d at 919. A momentary, inadvertent, and fortuitous encounter between a juror and a shackled defendant away from the courtroom does not necessarily call for mistrial or reversal. Long, 823 S.W.2d at 282; Lucas, 791 S.W.2d at 54; Clark, 717 S.W.2d at 919.

We review the propriety of shackling a defendant during trial under an abuse of discretion standard. Long, 823 S.W.2d at 282; Jacobs v. State, 787 S.W.2d 397, 407 (Tex.Crim.App.1990), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 111 S.Ct. 231, 112 L.Ed.2d 185 (1991); Marquez, 725 S.W.2d at 227. The trial court must have specific reasons for shackling the defendant and must provide a record that contains facts supporting those reasons. Long, 823 S.W.2d at 282; Jacobs, 787 S.W.2d at 407; Marquez, 725 S.W.2d at 227.

The State argues that appellant failed to preserve error by failing to request an instruction to disregard the shackles, citing Swanson v. State, 722 S.W.2d 158, 163 (Tex.App. — Houston [14th Dist.] 1986, pet. ref’d); Prejean v. State, 704 S.W.2d 119, 124 (Tex.App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 1986, no pet.); Lyons v. State, 668 S.W.2d 767, 769 (Tex.App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 1984, pet. ref’d). We find those cases distinguishable, for in each case, the jury saw the defendant handcuffed or otherwise restrained only in transport to or from the courtroom or during recess; the juries in those cases did not see the defendant restrained in the courtroom during the trial. Swanson, 722 S.W.2d at 163; Preje[920]*920an, 704 S.W.2d at 124; Lyons, 668 S.W.2d at 769.

Before the hearing on appellant’s motion for new trial, appellant did not have sufficient cause to believe that any of the jurors had seen his shackles. While he was shackled, appellant never encountered the jury in such a manner that his restraints were obviously revealed, and the record does not show that the jury made any overt sign that it could see the restraints. During deliberations, the jury sent a note to the court in which they indicated concern for their safety, but the note did not explicitly refer to the shackles. Two jurors testified at appellant’s motion for new trial. Both jurors testified that the jury feared for their safety only because appellant’s relatives continually watched the jurors entering and leaving the courtroom and the courthouse. Neither juror saw appellant shackled, but both testified that, during deliberations, one or two other jurors stated that they had seen the defendant’s shackles as they walked to and from the jury box, despite the fact that the shackles were not visible from the jury box.

Appellant had no objective evidence that the jury saw his shackles until the hearing on his motion for new trial. If we were to hold that the Swanson rule applies in this case, we would place appellant in the awkward position of having to choose either to reveal his restraints to a jury which might not have seen them or to waive error if the jury did. We decline to place this burden on appellant and will address appellant’s points on the merits.

The trial court found appellant attempted to hide evidence during the trial. The record shows that after the trial court dismissed the jury for the day, appellant went to the evidence table, picked up a folder containing a photo line-up that had been admitted into evidence, and tucked the folder inside his jacket. The bailiff entered the courtroom, saw appellant hiding the folder, and took the folder away from appellant. The trial court conducted a hearing outside the presence of the jury, heard this evidence, and found appellant in contempt of court. The trial court then ordered appellant shackled during the rest of the trial. Appellant objected to the shackles at the end of the following day’s testimony. The trial court conducted a second hearing outside the jury’s presence, heard the same evidence, and found that appellant was dangerous and likely to conceal evidence if given the opportunity and that the available personnel were inadequate to protect the physical evidence.

The record contains evidence supporting the trial court’s stated, specific reasons for shackling the defendant. We cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion by shackling the defendant to protect physical evidence located in the courtroom. We overrule appellant’s first three points of error.

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Kelley v. State, 841 S.W.2d 917, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 2848, 1992 WL 317843 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

841 S.W.2d 917 (Kelley v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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