Krystle Rosie Tanner v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 31, 2014
Docket12-13-00108-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Krystle Rosie Tanner v. State (Krystle Rosie Tanner 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
Krystle Rosie Tanner v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

NOS. 12-13-00108-CR 12-13-00109-CR

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

TWELFTH COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT

TYLER, TEXAS

KRYSTLE ROSIE TANNER, § APPEAL FROM THE 273RD APPELLANT

V. § JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT

THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE § SAN AUGUSTINE COUNTY, TEXAS

MEMORANDUM OPINION Krystle Rosie Tanner appeals her convictions for reckless injury to a child (cause number 12-13-00108-CR) and kidnapping (cause number 12-13-00109-CR). She raises three issues on appeal. We affirm.

BACKGROUND A San Augustine County grand jury returned two indictments against Appellant for the offenses of injury to a child and kidnapping. Appellant‘s mother, Gloria Walker, was charged with the same offenses. The initial events giving rise to Appellant‘s prosecution occurred in Houston, Texas. Appellant and Walker lived in an apartment complex where the child (M.M.) resided with his mother and father. Appellant and Walker had a close relationship with M.M.‘s mother and often babysat M.M. In November 2004, M.M.‘s mother went to Walker‘s apartment to bring M.M. home from babysitting, but he and Appellant were not there. M.M.‘s mother called the Houston Police Department. The investigating officers collected written statements from M.M.‘s parents and other witnesses, and documentation from Appellant‘s mother purportedly authorizing Appellant‘s possession of M.M. The case was investigated for more than one year, but M.M. was not found, and the case was closed. In 2012, Appellant and her husband were being investigated by CPS in San Augustine County. CPS received allegations that there was an unknown child living in Appellant‘s house who was ―being hid.‖ Ultimately, that child was identified as M.M.—the child reported missing in Houston in 2004. Appellant and Walker pleaded ―not guilty‖ to the indictments, and a joint jury trial was held. The jury found Appellant guilty of reckless injury to a child (cause number 12-13-00108- CR) and kidnapping (cause number 12-13-00109-CR).1 The jury assessed punishment for Appellant at eight years of imprisonment and no fine in each case. This appeal followed.

LOST EVIDENCE In her first issue, Appellant contends that the State violated her right to due process by failing to preserve evidence that ―rendered it impossible for counsel to mount an effective defense.‖ She contends that the State‘s failure to preserve evidence (i.e., the Houston Police Department‘s inability to find its original case file) violated due process under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963), and Pena v. State, 226 S.W.3d 634, 651 (Tex. App.—Waco 2007), rev’d on other grounds, 285 S.W.3d 459, 465 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009). Applicable Law The state has a constitutional duty under both the United States and Texas constitutions to disclose evidence favorable to the defendant. See Brady, 373 U.S. at 87, 83 S. Ct. at 1196-97; Wyatt v. State, 23 S.W.3d 18, 27 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000); Thomas v. State, 841 S.W.2d 399, 402 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) (en banc). To find reversible error on a Brady claim, a defendant must show that (1) the state failed to disclose evidence, (2) the withheld evidence is favorable to her, and (3) the evidence is material. See Pena v. State, 353 S.W.3d 797, 809 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011). But when the issue involves the state‘s failure to preserve evidence that may have been useful to the appellant, we apply a different test from that used in a typical Brady analysis. See

1 In that trial, Gloria Walker was found guilty of injury to a child and kidnapping. Walker appealed her convictions, and this court affirmed. See Walker v. State, Nos. 12-13-00076-CR, 12-13-00077-CR, 2014 WL 357193 (Tex. App.—Tyler Jan. 31, 2014, pet. struck).

2 Ex parte Napper, 322 S.W.3d 202, 229 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (citations omitted). When ―potentially exculpatory evidence is permanently lost, courts face the treacherous task of divining the import of materials whose contents are unknown and, very often, disputed.‖ Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 57-58, 109 S. Ct. 333, 337, 102 L. Ed. 2d 281 (1988); Swearingen v. State, 303 S.W.3d 728, 734 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010). Absent a showing of bad faith, the state‘s failure to preserve potentially useful evidence does not violate due process. Id.; Ex parte Brandley, 781 S.W.2d 886, 894 (Tex. Crim. App. 1989) (en banc). Bad faith is more than simply being aware that one‘s action or inaction could result in the loss of something that is recognized to be evidence. Ex parte Napper, 322 S.W.3d at 238. Bad faith cannot be established by showing that evidence was destroyed without thought, or destroyed due to common practice, or because there was an unreasonable belief that proper procedure was being followed. See id. There must be some sort of improper motive, i.e., personal animus against the defendant or desire to prevent the defendant from obtaining useful evidence. Id. Discussion The prosecution provided Appellant a copy of the offense report prepared by the Houston Police Department (HPD) memorializing the investigation of M.M.‘s disappearance. The offense report was archived in a computerized system, but the physical case file could not be found. The file ―should have remained in the juvenile division‖ of the HPD, but no explanation could be given as to its whereabouts. Ursula Williams, an HPD staff attorney, testified that an investigative file likely exists for this case, ―everything that can reasonably be done to find this file has been done,‖ and the file is ―lost.‖ The archived offense report indicates that documents obtained by investigators were placed in the file and included two photographs of Krystle; a written statement by Katherine Morris (transcribed in the offense report); M.M.‘s birth certificate; one VHC-C tape (possibly containing a picture of M.M.); Krystle‘s attendance record at Wheatley High School (transcribed in the offense report); copies of letters alleged to be from a notebook in which M.M.‘s mother had started to write a power of attorney giving M.M. to Appellant; a letter from ―A.S. Shields;‖ a letter from ―her daughter‖ (a letter either from Walker or Tanner); a notarized statement by M.M.‘s mother that ―she took the baby to [Appellant] on 11/16/0[4] and went to get the baby on 11/17/04, to find them gone‖; and a medical examiner‘s report relating to the death of one of

3 M.M.‘s siblings from natural causes. Also included in the file were voicemail messages by M.M.‘s parents that had been transcribed into the offense report. The record does not establish that the HPD acted in bad faith when it failed to preserve the physical case file. Appellant argues that no showing of bad faith is required because the written statement, the notebook paper with the power of attorney, and voicemail recordings were all useful ―impeachment evidence‖ and not ―merely potentially useful.‖ Appellant nevertheless argues that bad faith is shown by the HPD‘s failure to list M.M. on the missing persons database and by a notation contained in the offense report stating, ―[T]his case does not appear to be an abduction, but some kind of problem between acquaintances over this child‘s custody.‖ Although this statement may serve as the basis for failing to place M.M. on the missing person‘s database, it does not show bad faith in the case file‘s destruction or misplacement.

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Related

Brady v. Maryland
373 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Batson v. Kentucky
476 U.S. 79 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Arizona v. Youngblood
488 U.S. 51 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Perez v. State
310 S.W.3d 890 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
King v. State
649 S.W.2d 42 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Batiste v. State
888 S.W.2d 9 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Webb v. State
766 S.W.2d 236 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Hernandez v. State
726 S.W.2d 53 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1986)
Swearingen v. State
303 S.W.3d 728 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Routier v. State
112 S.W.3d 554 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Ex Parte Duffy
607 S.W.2d 507 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1980)
Pena v. State
285 S.W.3d 459 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2009)
Wyatt v. State
23 S.W.3d 18 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Bone v. State
77 S.W.3d 828 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Pena v. State
226 S.W.3d 634 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Tong v. State
25 S.W.3d 707 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Ex Parte Napper
322 S.W.3d 202 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Garza v. State
213 S.W.3d 338 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Thompson v. State
9 S.W.3d 808 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)

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Krystle Rosie Tanner v. State, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/krystle-rosie-tanner-v-state-texapp-2014.