Kennedy v. State

630 S.W.2d 509, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 4159
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 17, 1982
Docket2-81-086-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 630 S.W.2d 509 (Kennedy 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
Kennedy v. State, 630 S.W.2d 509, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 4159 (Tex. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

*510 OPINION

HUGHES, Justice.

The appellant, Glenn David Kennedy, was convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to six years in the Texas Department of Corrections. Four grounds of error are urged for reversal.

We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The appellant and a companion, William Fielder, were arrested on December 14, 1978 in connection with the aggravated robbery of a convenience store located on Forest Park Boulevard in Fort Worth. The State’s first announcement of ready, which can be verified as to the date on which it was filed, was made on April 24, 1979. This is beyond the 120-day period allowed by the Texas Speedy Trial Act in cases where the defendant is accused of a felony. V.A.C. C.P. 32A.02 (Supp.1982). Pursuant to Section 3 of the Act, the appellant by written motions requested hearings on the matter of dismissal on July 19 and July 25, 1979. These requests were founded on violation of the Texas Speedy Trial Act. Appellant orally requested dismissal based on his right to speedy trial on November 27, 1979, the day his case went to trial.

The appellant’s first ground of error is that the trial court erred in refusing to grant his motions for dismissal thereby denying him the right to a speedy trial. Except for the oral presentment made on November 27, we find no evidence that the written motions for dismissal were presented to the trial judge for his action. The trial judge’s first action was when he orally overruled the oral motion made on November 27. V.A.C.C.P. 32A.02 sec. 3 (Supp. 1982) provides that the failure of a defendant to move for discharge under the provisions of this article prior to trial constitutes a waiver of the rights afforded by this article. We hold that by not presenting the motion for dismissal until the day of trial, the appellant waived any contention that he was not timely tried within the provisions of the Texas Speedy Trial Act. See: Finch v. State, 629 S.W.2d 876 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth). We overrule the first ground of error.

The appellant’s second ground of error is that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct a verdict in his favor. The crux of the appellant’s argument is that there was insufficient corroboration of the testimony of the accomplice, William Fielder.

Fielder testified that he and appellant had decided to rob a store and, after looking for a good target, chose the convenience store located on Forest Park Boulevard. The appellant, who had shoulder length hair, was driving at the time and parked his white-on-red Monte Carlo on a street around the corner from the convenience store. While Fielder was robbing the store, the appellant waited in the car. When Fielder returned to the car, the two drove to appellant’s home where Fielder changed clothes and gave the appellant part of the money he had taken. They were on their way to a bar when appellant stopped to call his girlfriend and to get a soft drink. There they were arrested.

Taking the stand on his own behalf, the appellant did not dispute the sequence of events described by Fielder except in certain particulars. The appellant testified that Fielder owed him money and was told by Fielder that he could obtain from a friend money with which to pay appellant. They drove to a street around the corner from the convenience store and parked. Appellant testified that he thought Fielder had walked to the door of one of the residences on the street but was uncertain because he was working on a radio he had installed in the dashboard of his car. He testified that he did not know Fielder had robbed the store.

V.A.C.C.P. art. 38.14 (1979) reads as follows:

“A conviction cannot be had upon the testimony of an accomplice unless corroborated by other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the offense committed; and the corroboration is not sufficient if it merely shows the commission of the offense.”

*511 The corroborating testimony need not be sufficient in itself to establish the guilt of the accused. Rogers v. State, 461 S.W.2d 399 (Tex.Cr.App.1970). The mere presence of the accused in the company of the accomplice is not, in itself, sufficient corroboration of the testimony of an accomplice. However, the presence of the accused with the accomplice, when coupled with other circumstances, may be sufficient to corroborate the testimony of the accomplice. Ayala v. State, 511 S.W.2d 284 (Tex.Cr.App.1974). In the case of Cherb v. State, 472 S.W.2d 273, 281 (Tex.Cr.App.1971) is found this discussion:

“The law forbidding a conviction upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice does not demand that there be direct evidence pointing to the accused as the offender, but merely requires that there be ‘other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the offense committed.’ * * * Circumstances proved by credible witnesses may be as potent as direct testimony in tending to connect the accused with the commission of the offense. The state is not called upon to point to some single or isolated fact which in itself, unrelated to other proven facts, will be sufficient corroboration. It is the combined and cumulative weight of the evidence furnished by non-accomplice witnesses which supply the test. If by this rule it appears on appeal that before the jury there was proof confirming the testimony of the accomplice to material facts tending to connect the accused with the commission of the offense, the law is satisfied.”

On the date of the robbery Arterio Silva was leaving his in-laws’ house and noticed a white-on-red Monte Carlo with its parking lights on parked on the street around the corner from the convenience store. Mr. Silva testified that he saw a man run around the corner of the convenience store toward the Monte Carlo. His hand was cupped against his body. As Mr. Silva drove by, the running man got into the Monte Carlo. Mr. Silva noticed a man with shoulder length hair was stooped inside. Mr. Silva testified that the Monte Carlo drove off at a fast rate of speed at a time when the door was not completely shut. Mr. Silva memorized the Monte Carlo’s license number and went to the convenience store where he wrote it down and called the police. The license number was that of the appellant’s car.

Melinda Idell, the clerk who was robbed, testified that $250.00 had been taken in the robbery. She had just sold two money orders and testified that she had fifty one-dollar bills in the register which were taken. When appellant was arrested and searched, fifty one-dollar bills were found inside his sock.

We hold that this evidence tends to connect the appellant with the offense committed. The credibility of the appellant’s version of the events was for the jury to decide. Johnson v. State, 571 S.W.2d 170 (Tex.Cr.App.1978). We overrule the second ground of error.

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

Related

Hill v. State
730 S.W.2d 86 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Busselman v. State
713 S.W.2d 711 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1986)
De Vaughn v. State
678 S.W.2d 143 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)
DeVaughn v. State
678 S.W.2d 143 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Wilson v. State
666 S.W.2d 672 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Humphrey v. State
646 S.W.2d 949 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Maddox v. State
635 S.W.2d 456 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1982)
Jumper v. State
636 S.W.2d 502 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
630 S.W.2d 509, 1982 Tex. App. LEXIS 4159, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kennedy-v-state-texapp-1982.