Lloyd O'Neal Robinson v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 23, 2006
Docket08-04-00217-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Lloyd O'Neal Robinson v. State (Lloyd O'Neal Robinson 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
Lloyd O'Neal Robinson v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Becker v. State

COURT OF APPEALS

EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

EL PASO, TEXAS


)

LLOYD O’NEAL ROBINSON,                      )                  No. 08-04-00217-CR

                                    Appellant,                        )                             Appeal from

v.                                                                          )      County Criminal Court at Law No. 8

THE STATE OF TEXAS,                                   )                  of Harris County, Texas

                                    Appellee.                          )                  (TC# 1213189)


O P I N I O N


            Lloyd O’Neal Robinson appeals his conviction of perjury. A jury found Appellant guilty and the court assessed punishment at a fine of $500 and confinement in the Harris County Jail for one year, probated for two years. We affirm.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

            In September 1999, Appellant leased an apartment from the Bay Meadows Apartments in Friendswood, Texas. He informed the apartment manager, Evelyn Baity, that he was a member of the United States Coast Guard and was moving with his family to Texas from California. He signed a one-year lease running from September 10, 1999 to September 30, 2000. The lease reflected that Appellant, his wife Wonda, his daughter, and another person would be living in the apartment.

            On November 17, 1999, Baity issued a “notice to vacate” based on Appellant’s failure to pay the November rent in full. Appellant subsequently paid the arrearage. Over the next few months, Appellant failed to timely pay his rent of $570 even though he was receiving a housing allotment from the Coast Guard in the amount of $616 per month. When Baity or the assistant manager saw Appellant around the complex, they reminded him about the delinquent rent. Each time, Appellant assured them that he would take care of it.

            On December 31, 1999, Appellant and his wife were arrested at the complex for fighting. On January 3, 2000, Wonda told Baity that Appellant was being transferred by the Coast Guard. Because Appellant would be relieved of his rental obligations if he were transferred, Baity asked for a copy of the transfer order. She didn’t receive one and the following day, she issued a notice to vacate based on non-payment of the January rent. The notice requested that Appellant be out of the apartment within three days. On January 7, someone identified only as “Cynthia” left a message on the office answering machine stating that the Coast Guard would pay the arrearage. When Baity called the Coast Guard to confirm payment, she learned that Appellant was not being transferred and the Coast Guard was not going to pay the rent. Two officers from the Coast Guard subsequently interviewed Baity at length about Appellant’s fights with his wife and his failure to pay rent.

            Appellant did not vacate the apartment and on January 10, Baity sought a forcible detainer. On January 20, she informed Appellant that a judge had ordered them to vacate by midnight January 25. Appellant and the other occupants moved out by that date. On February 1, Baity issued a “vacate report” reflecting that Appellant had been evicted for non-payment of rent and for “constantly fighting.” The report, admitted as State’s Exhibit 3, also detailed the charges against Appellant’s $200 deposit and showed a total arrearage of $1,984.50. The report was sent to Appellant on February 3.

            Appellant and his wife then moved into The Lakes Apartments in Houston. Wonda, using the name Wonda Steele, signed a one-year lease. The Lakes sent the occupants notices to vacate on January 28, February 7, and March 6 for non-payment. The complex filed a complaint for forcible detainer in November. At the time of trial, Appellant and Wonda owed more than $2,000 to The Lakes.

            In June 2001, Appellant applied for employment with the Houston Fire Department. In the application, Appellant listed the addresses of the apartments where he had lived. The Department conducted a background check and obtained a credit history. The Lakes reported that Appellant had arrearages of $2,036.91 and the Department rejected Appellant’s application. Appellant submitted a letter of appeal and, although his application was rejected because of the debt to The Lakes, Appellant referenced Bay Meadows Apartments instead:

I am making an appeal in regards of a non-payment to Bay Meadows apartments, for four insufficient checks totalling in the amount of $2036.91. The situation with Bay Meadows was rectified when I was in the Coast Guard on June 12, 2001. I have a copy of the vacate report from the main office stating that I don’t owe them any money.


Appellant included a copy of a report from Bay Meadows. This report, admitted as State’s Exhibit 4, was purportedly issued by Baity on February 1, 2000. It is identical to State’s Exhibit 3 in some respects, but a side-by-side comparison reveals significant alterations. Exhibit 3 states that Appellant had been evicted for non-payment of rent and fighting; Exhibit 4 states that Appellant had been evicted for non-payment of rent, omits the information about fighting, and adds that there had been a “loss in court.” While Exhibit 3 contains the actual term of the one-year lease, the altered report reflects a four-month lease running from September 10, 1999 to January 10, 2000. Exhibit 3 itemizes an arrearage of $1,984.50. Exhibit 4 indicates that Appellant did not owe any money. Finally, where Exhibit 3 had a section at the bottom titled “Advise [sic] to Former Tenant on Disposition of Security Deposit,” Exhibit 4 contained a handwritten note instead:

Mr. Robinson is was found in record. I really don’t see you still owe anything so I don’t see the problem. I thought the problem was solved w/ Mr. Mike Moore from US Coast Guard on 6-12-2001. Also Mrs. Baity has passed away and they don’t has a manager at this present time sorry.


            The report bears the fax numbers of Bay Meadows’ property management company and a healthcare facility where Wonda briefly worked in November-December 2001 as assistant director of nursing. The Department took the altered report at face value and approved Appellant’s appeal on July 25, 2002.

            In September 2003, the Fire Department asked the Houston Police Department to assist with an investigation concerning the Fire Department’s failure to discover during the screening process that many of its recruits had criminal histories. During this investigation, Officer Miguel Calix of the Police Department reviewed Appellant’s file. On October 16, Appellant met with Officer Calix and Investigator Ponciano Cinco of the Fire Department. Appellant gave a sworn written statement to Cinco:

On June 1, 2001, I filled out an application with the city of Houston for the position of a firefighter. I also signed this application on June 1, 2001.

On September 24, 2001, I picked up an HFD applicant questionnaire from Station 70 while HFD Recruiting Division was conducting a recruiting drive and filled it out at my residence. I returned the document on September 26, 2001, according to the notes I made on it. I also signed this applicant questionnaire on September 26, 2001.

On January 30, 2002, I was informed by HFD Recruiting the reason why I failed my background investigation.

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Lloyd O'Neal Robinson v. State, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lloyd-oneal-robinson-v-state-texapp-2006.