Leonard Pierson, Jr. v. State

398 S.W.3d 406, 2013 WL 1694604, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 4868
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 19, 2013
Docket06-11-00065-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 398 S.W.3d 406 (Leonard Pierson, Jr. 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
Leonard Pierson, Jr. v. State, 398 S.W.3d 406, 2013 WL 1694604, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 4868 (Tex. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

OPINION

Opinion by

Chief Justice MORRISS.

Before the mistrial was declared during the presentation of evidence in Leonard [411]*411Pierson, Jr.’s, first jury trial on charges of indecency with a child and aggravated sexual assault of a child,1 the purported victim, Bianca, had testified on direct examination regarding multiple instances in which she said Pierson sexually assaulted her or at least had sexual contact with her. Defense counsel’s first question on cross-examination caused the trial court to declare a mistrial. The question was, “Did you also make an allegation that [Pierson] did these same things to his own daughter?” 2

Pierson’s second jury trial resulted in Pierson’s conviction for one count of indecency with a child, enhanced by a prior felony conviction, and seven counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and in Pierson being sentenced to life imprisonment. A central question before us is whether Pierson’s second trial violated his right to be free from double jeopardy. We affirm the judgment of the trial court because — although (1) Pierson did not consent to the mistrial — (2) the evidentiary ruling was not shown to be incorrect, (3) the finding of manifest necessity was not an abuse of discretion, (4) overruling Pier-son’s relevancy objection was not an abuse of discretion, and (5) the evidence is legally sufficient.

(1) Pierson Did Not Consent to the Mistrial

A bedrock principle of constitutional law is that a State may not put a defendant in jeopardy twice for the same offense. Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 502, 98 S.Ct. 824, 54 L.Ed.2d 717 (1978); see also United States v. Newton, 327 F.3d 17, 21 (1st Cir.2003). “[A]s a general rule, the prosecutor is entitled to one, and only one, opportunity to require an accused to stand trial.” Washington, 434 U.S. at 505, 98 S.Ct. 824. “Because jeopardy attaches before the judgment becomes final, the constitutional protection also embraces the defendant’s ‘valued right to have his trial completed by a particular tribunal.’ ”3 Id. at 503, 98 S.Ct. 824.

[412]*412Even if the first trial is not completed, a second prosecution may be grossly unfair. It increases the financial and emotional burden on the accused, prolongs the period in which he is stigmatized by an unreasonable accusation of wrongdoing, and may even enhance the risk that an innocent defendant may be convicted.

Id. at 503-04, 98 S.Ct. 824; see Ex parte Lewis, 219 S.W.3d 335, 353 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007).

Although a retrial is absolutely prohibited when a trial ends in an acquittal or a conviction, a retrial may not be “automatically barred when a criminal proceeding is terminated without finally resolving the merits of the charges against the accused.” Washington, 434 U.S. at 505, 98 S.Ct. 824. Under such circumstances, a retrial over the objection of a defendant is permitted only when the prosecutor demonstrates “manifest necessity.” Id. “Neither party has a right to have his case decided by a jury which may be tainted by bias.” Id. at 516, 98 S.Ct. 824. A trial court’s decision to declare a mistrial is reviewed for an abuse of discretion, but “the trial court’s discretion to declare a mistrial based on manifest necessity is limited to, and must be justified by, extraordinary circumstances.” See Ex parte Garza, 337 S.W.3d 903, 909 (Tex.Crim.App.2011).

Once a defendant establishes that he or she is being tried for the same offense after a mistrial, the State has the burden to prove that there was manifest necessity for the mistrial. Hill v. State, 90 S.W.3d 308, 313 (Tex.Crim.App.2002). Manifest necessity exists in three situations: (1) “when the particular circumstances giving rise to the declaration render it impossible to arrive at a fair verdict before the initial tribunal,” (2) “when it is simply impossible to continue with trial,” or (3) “when any verdict that the original tribunal might return would automatically be subject to reversal on appeal because of trial error.” Garza, 337 S.W.3d at 909. The State confines its arguments to the first situation — whether a fair trial was impossible. The State argues that, in simply posing the initial question it did, even without an answer to it, the defense committed an egregious error that biased the jury against the State’s case, preventing a fair trial.

Different standards apply to our review if Pierson consented to the mistrial. See Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 670, 102 S.Ct. 2083, 72 L.Ed.2d 416 (1982); United States v. Dinitz, 424 U.S. 600, 606, 96 S.Ct. 1075, 47 L.Ed.2d 267 (1976); Ex parte Masonheimer, 220 S.W.3d 494 (Tex.Crim.App.2007); Lewis, 219 S.W.3d at 371. If there was consent by Pierson, the State is not required to demonstrate manifest necessity. Harrison v. State, 767 S.W.2d 803, 806 (Tex.Crim.App.1989). The State concedes that Pierson opposed the State’s request for a mistrial, and the record supports that position.4 Pierson did not consent to the mistrial.

[413]*413 (2) The Evidentiary Ruling Was Not Shown to Be Incorrect

Pierson argues that the trial court erred in finding the question improper and that such error requires a finding that manifest necessity did not exist. In Washington, the United States Supreme Court started with the assumption that the statements by defense counsel were error. Washington, 484 U.S. at 505, 98 S.Ct. 824. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, however, has permitted questions similar to the question in this case.

The record does not contain the substance of the allegedly false allegation Pierson’s counsel sought to get before the jury with his question. The parties could not agree, at the first trial, concerning what collateral claim had been alleged. The following excerpts contain the entirety of the details presented to the trial court before it declared a mistrial:

[Defense Counsel 1]: The other daughter was questioned by the CAC based on the allegation.
[The State]: That’s not admissible here.
THE COURT: Okay, what’s the nature of the — ?
[Defense Counsel 2]: (Inaudible, whispering)
[The State]: Under 412, no way.
THE COURT: Hold on. We’ve got to have a hearing on the — is the nature of the question that she has made a false outcry against somebody else or that she’s made a true outcry against some other person?
[The State]: He can’t prove that it’s false, but she — in the end of her CAC interview she said that he did it to his daughter too. That’s it. She didn’t say what he did, how he did — I mean, there was nothing. That was the extent of it.
[Defense Counsel 1]: And there was an investigation in that CAC interview and — a full investigation, and nothing came of it.

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Bluebook (online)
398 S.W.3d 406, 2013 WL 1694604, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 4868, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leonard-pierson-jr-v-state-texapp-2013.