Lenzi v. State

456 S.W.2d 99, 1970 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1515
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 20, 1970
Docket42805
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 456 S.W.2d 99 (Lenzi v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lenzi v. State, 456 S.W.2d 99, 1970 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1515 (Tex. 1970).

Opinions

OPINION

DOUGLAS, Judge.

The conviction is for robbery by assault with a firearm; the punishment, thirty-five years.

The appellant, Michael J. Lenzi, was tried with Carmelo D’Angelo.

The record reflects that appellant, D’Angelo and another, who had not been apprehended and whose identity was not known by the officers, entered the Alden Hotel in San Antonio at approximately one-thirty o’clock in the morning and robbed the night clerk, Elbert Elliott, while exhibiting a pistol and a banana knife with a six-inch blade.

The sufficiency of the evidence is not challenged.

In the first and second grounds of error, complaint is made that the court erred in admitting testimony that appellant possessed a pistol when he was arrested. It is not contended that the arrest was illegal.

James Urquhart, a military policeman, testified that at approximately eleven o’clock at night he arrested appellant and D’Angelo some eleven days after the robbery at Fort Sam Houston and found a .32 caliber pistol in the automobile that they occupied. The pistol was not admitted into evidence but was identified before the jury as State’s Exhibit No. 3. Outside the presence of the jury, Urquhart testified that the arrest was made after the appellants had pulled a gun on a soldier.

In Cox v. State, 170 Tex.Cr. 128, 338 S.W.2d 711, the conviction was for robbery. Cox was apprehended some seven days after the robbery after he had robbed a store and shot the officer who arrested him. This Court held that evidence about the circumstances of the arrest was admissible even though an extraneous offense was proved.

In Lott v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 379 S.W.2d 896, a robbery was committed with a pistol. Testimony of the arresting officer that a pistol was found the morning after the robbery in the purse of a girl in the back seat of Lott’s car where the two were asleep was held to be admissible.

The State may prove the circumstances surrounding the subsequent arrest of an accused. Wortham v. State, 134 Tex.Cr.R. 626, 115 S.W.2d 650.

No error is shown; the first and second grounds of error are overruled.

In the third ground of error complaint is made of the argument of Mr. Hill, one of the prosecuting attorneys, when he stated: “There is no coincidence in this world that would put those same two people (D’Angelo and appellant) in the car together out at Fort Sam Houston, with the .32 — .”

Mr. Brown, counsel for D’Angelo, stated: “At this point, your Honor, we will renew our objection to this argument, [101]*101based on our objection to the admissibility of this testimony.”

The objection was overruled. Mr. Hill later argued that the defendants were found together at Fort Sam Houston with the .32 automatic in the car.

The prosecutor may discuss the ev-. idence admitted at the trial. Officer Urquhart had testified that he found the gun in the car. No error is shown.

It is contended in the fourth ground of error that reversible error was committed during the argument of Mr. Hill at the guilt stage of the trial when the following transpired:

“Here are two guys, two defendants —a Private and a PFC — stationed out at Fort Sam in the army, who will stay State-side enjoying the luxuries of American democracy, decide to go around and rob and hold up hotels while their comrades are overseas in Vietnam dying by the thousands.”

It appears that Mr. Brown (counsel for D’Angelo) asked to approach the bench, and thereafter, a hearing was had in chambers. No objection by either attorney is set out in the record. After returning to the courtroom, the court stated:

“I will overrule your motion, Counsel. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in having the record read back to the Court, it appears that Counsel for the State used the plural of the word ‘hotel’. And I instruct you that there is no evidence in this case of anything but one hotel being involved. And I am satisfied that Counsel made a mistake. You will not regard it or draw any conclusions or assumptions from that but be controlled and guided solely by the evidence.”

Mr. Hill then apologized to the jury and stated that “[I]t was a slip of the lip”, and the court had told them they were bound by the evidence heard from the witness stand. He further argued that the point he was trying to make was that here two people were living in Texas and were not in Vietnam with their other comrades and “they go around robbing a hotel.”

After the court instructed the jury not to consider the plural of hotel, no further action was requested by either appellant or D’Angelo. In Williams v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 427 S.W.2d 868, an insufficient objection was made to the argument; the court instructed the jury to disregard the argument. No motion for mistrial was made and there was no request for further action. There it was stated:

“ * * * It appears that at the time appellant was satisfied with the action of the Court, and he is in no position now to complain. Hughes v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 409 S.W.2d 416. We do note that appellant’s counsel filed a written motion for mistrial following the conclusion of the arguments. Such motion clearly came too late. * * * ”

No reversible error has been shown; the fourth ground of error is overruled.

No reversible error has been shown at the guilt or innocence stage of the trial. The remaining grounds of error all relating to the argument at the penalty stage of the trial will be discussed.

It is noted that appellant made no objection or requested any action of the trial court at the second or penalty stage of the trial. Assuming that the objections made by D’Angelo can be relied upon by appellant his contentions will be discussed.

Appellant contends in the fifth ground of error that the court erred in overruling an objection and a motion for mistrial when one of the prosecutors argued “[t]hat there was a reason for the State asking for thirty-five years but he could not tell the jury such reason.”

No objection or motion for mistrial appears in the record. Nothing is presented for review. Yaffar v. State, 171 Tex.Cr.R. 341, 349 S.W.2d 730. See Williams v. State, supra.

[102]*102Complaint is made in the sixth ground of error that reversible error was committed when one of the prosecutors argued: “Keep in mind that the number of years that you assess them is the number of years sentenced, not necessarily — by a long shot — the number of years served.”

An objection for D’Angelo that such was improper was sustained and the motion for mistrial was overruled. The court instructed the jury “not to consider, deliberate or speculate on that * * * ”

After a very short statement by the prosecutor, appellant's counsel opened his argument by saying:

“True, the defendant Lenzi and the defendant D’Angelo have been found guilty.

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

Related

Smith v. State
646 S.W.2d 452 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Adams v. State
630 S.W.2d 744 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1982)
Thomas v. State
578 S.W.2d 691 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1979)
Moore v. State
542 S.W.2d 664 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1976)
Botany v. State
529 S.W.2d 149 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1975)
Jones v. State
522 S.W.2d 225 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1975)
Horner v. State
508 S.W.2d 371 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1974)
Hughes v. State
493 S.W.2d 166 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Bradley v. State
489 S.W.2d 896 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Joshlin v. State
488 S.W.2d 773 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1972)
Gray v. State
477 S.W.2d 635 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1972)
Boatright v. State
472 S.W.2d 765 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1971)
Lenzi v. State
456 S.W.2d 99 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
456 S.W.2d 99, 1970 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1515, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lenzi-v-state-texcrimapp-1970.