Knox v. State

31 S.W.3d 700, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6898, 2000 WL 1511717
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 12, 2000
Docket01-98-00449-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 31 S.W.3d 700 (Knox 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
Knox v. State, 31 S.W.3d 700, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6898, 2000 WL 1511717 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

[701]*701OPINION

MIRABAL, Justice.

A jury found appellant, Jermaine Earl Knox, guilty of aggravated robbery. The jury assessed punishment at 11 years confinement. We affirm.

In his sole point of error, appellant asserts the trial court erred in not allowing appellant to recall a witness for further cross-examination, in violation of appellant’s constitutional right of confrontation.

Background

At approximately 8:45 a.m. on February 8, 1997, Sergeant J. Saldivar of the Houston Police Department, Robbery Division, spotted a maroon, four-door vehicle in the parking lot of a Houston shopping center near Highway 290. In this shopping center was a Blockbuster Video Store (Blockbuster Video). The vehicle had darkly tinted windows and no license plate. Sal-divar saw the silhouette of two individuals inside the vehicle. Suspecting a robbery in progress, Saldivar requested backup. Officer D. Meza of the Houston Police Department responded to Saldivar’s request and set up surveillance in an alley behind Blockbuster Video.

As time passed, the vehicle moved closer to the front entrance of Blockbuster Video. The vehicle was positioned facing Highway 290. At the same time, a Blockbuster Video manager (complainant) and his coworker left Blockbuster Video to make a bank deposit. Appellant jumped from the front passenger’s side of the vehicle and ran toward the two Blockbuster Video employees. Appellant pointed a gun at them and demanded their money. Appellant grabbed from complainant a bag containing both cash and checks totaling $4,900. With the bag in hand, appellant ran back to the vehicle and re-entered the front passenger’s side. The vehicle, already facing Highway 290, sped off toward it. As the vehicle fled the parking lot, Officer Meza observed, through an open window, appellant in the front passenger’s seat.

A pursuit ensued. During the pursuit, appellant jumped from the vehicle and ran toward an apartment complex. Meza got out of his car and chased appellant. Despite searching throughout the apartment complex, Meza could not find appellant. Appellant’s driver’s license, however, was discovered on the ground of a nearby house.

Unrelenting, the driver of the vehicle continued to drive. Another police officer, A. Rendon of the Houston Police Department, maintained the pursuit. Eventually, the driver of the vehicle, Sean Douglas, pulled over and was arrested. After his arrest, Douglas was transported to the apartment complex where appellant had disappeared. There, Saldivar presented appellant’s driver’s license to Douglas who identified appellant as the passenger. The same day, complainant identified appellant from a videotaped lineup. Douglas gave a written statement about the robbery. Along with appellant, Douglas was charged with aggravated robbery.

Right of Confrontation

During its direct-examination of Douglas, the State used the written statement, which Douglas gave after his arrest, to refresh Douglas’s memory. During his testimony, Douglas described the vehicle and detailed the events leading to the robbery. Douglas also identified appellant as the vehicle’s passenger. Douglas, however, denied participating in the robbery or having prior knowledge of it. Douglas claimed to have driven appellant to Blockbuster Video so appellant could collect money from someone who owed him. According to Douglas, appellant got out of the vehicle, approached a “white guy,” and “jerked something out of his hand.” Douglas reported he saw a gun and “bank bag” for the first time after appellant returned to the vehicle. At this point, testified Douglas, he realized appellant had committed robbery. Scared, Douglas “took off.” During the pursuit and not wanting to go to jail, appellant “jumped [702]*702out of the car.”. Douglas continued to drive, but later pulled over for police who arrested him. Despite the protest of innocence, Douglas was charged with aggravated robbery. Appellant cross-examined and recross-examined Douglas.

The next day, the State introduced testimony from Officer Saldivar about the procedures involved in his obtaining Douglas’s written statement. Appellant then cross-examined Saldivar about the statement. After his cross-examination of Saldivar, appellant asked to recall Douglas, whom appellant had already cross-examined and recross-examined the previous day, for further cross-examination. According to appellant, the State had offered Saldivar’s testimony, showing the written statement was timely and voluntary, to bolster Douglas’s credibility. In response, appellant wanted to further cross-examine Douglas about the statement to impeach Douglas’s credibility, which appellant believed the State had just bolstered. Specifically, appellant wanted to show that, had the State believed Douglas was not involved in the robbery, as Douglas expressed in the statement, the State would not have charged Douglas as an accomplice. Objecting, the State argued evidence of the statement was already before the jury. Further, contended the State, appellant had the opportunity during prior testimony to use the statement for impeachment purposes.

The record shows that Douglas had testified the day before, and then he left the courthouse. He was not under subpoena as a witness in the case. The clerk attempted to locate Douglas or his attorney, but was not able to reach either one. The trial court ruled that the trial would continue, and appellant could make his bill of exceptions, which he did.

In a single point of error, appellant claims the trial court erred in not allowing appellant to recall Douglas for further cross-examination, in violation of appellant’s constitutional right of confrontation.

The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right of an accused in a criminal prosecution to be confronted with the witnesses against him. U.S. Const, amend. VI; Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 316, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1110, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974). Similarly, the Texas Constitution provides that, in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall be confronted with the witnesses against him. Tex. Const, art. I, § 10.

Implicit in the right of confrontation is the right of cross-examination. Davis, 415 U.S. at 315, 94 S.Ct. at 1110. The accused is accorded great latitude in showing witness bias or motive to falsify testimony. Carroll v. State, 916 S.W.2d 494, 497 (Tex.Crim.App.1996); Hodge v. State, 631 S.W.2d 754, 758 (Tex.Crim.App.1982). The extent of cross-examination, however, is limited. Lopez v. State, 18 S.W.3d 220, 222 (Tex.Crim.App.2000); Hoyos v. State, 951 S.W.2d 503, 510 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1997), aff'd, 982 S.W.2d 419 (Tex.Crim.App.1998). In imposing reasonable limits on cross-examination, the trial court must carefully consider, on a case-by-case basis, the probative value of the evidence and weigh it against the risks of admission. Id. The potential risks include undue prejudice, embarrassment or harassment of a witness, misleading of the jury or confusion of the issues, presentation of cumulative evidence, or undue delay or waste of time. Id.

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Knox v. State
31 S.W.3d 700 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 S.W.3d 700, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6898, 2000 WL 1511717, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/knox-v-state-texapp-2000.