Long v. State

681 S.W.2d 840, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 6663
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 1, 1984
DocketB14-83-725CR
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 681 S.W.2d 840 (Long 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
Long v. State, 681 S.W.2d 840, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 6663 (Tex. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

ELLIS, Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction for the offense of injury to a child. Appellant, Johnny Long, entered a plea of not guilty. The jury found him guilty and assessed his punishment at 99 years in the Texas Department of Corrections. We affirm.

Appellant raises four grounds of error on appeal. In ground of error one appellant claims that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence the second written statement made by appellant to an Alvin policeman when such statement, a result of custodial interrogation, did not show on its face the warnings required by Tex.Code Crim.Pro.Ann. art. 38.22, § 2 (Vernon 1979) and because the record did not show that the required warnings were in fact given to appellant. Appellant in his second ground of error complains that the trial court committed reversible error by admitting gruesome photographs of the body of the child because the photographs were offered by the State solely to and did inflame the minds of the jury against appellant. Ground of error three asserts that the jury verdict is contrary to the law and the evidence because there is no admissible evidence or, in the alternative, there is insufficient admissible evidence in the record to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant caused serious bodily injury to the child in the manner alleged in the indictment. In his fourth ground of error appellant argues that the trial court misdirected the jury as to the law on punishment by failing to instruct the jury that the court may require, as a condition of probation, that appellant serve a term in a penal insti *842 tution not to exceed thirty days or one-third of his sentence, whichever is lesser.

The events leading to appellant’s arrest began on October 31, 1982, when Alvin policeman James Hoops responded to an ambulance request at the Jephson Street Apartments, in the city of Alvin, Texas. Officer Hoops arrived at the apartment before the ambulance arrived and saw appellant carrying Jeffery Wayne Stafford, his three year old stepson, down the stairs. Appellant’s wife, Theresa Long, followed the two down the stairs. After appellant put the child down on the ground, the officer examined the child and noted that the child appeared to be three or four years old, that there was a handprint on the child’s stomach, that his eyes were dilated, and that the child was unconscious but breathing. Appellant told Officer Hoops that the child had taken a drink from his beer, and then the toilet which had been cleaned with a cleaning fluid. Appellant claimed that the child later appeared to be drunk and, after weaving around the room, fell over a chair and hit the wall. The officer found the child’s injuries required immediate medical attention and decided to bring the child, his mother, and appellant to the hospital. While at the hospital Officer Hoops talked to Theresa Long, who told essentially the same facts as those given by appellant.

The child was transferred from Alvin Community Hospital to Hermann Hospital. Appellant and his wife told the doctors at Hermann Hospital essentially the same story as that told to Officer Hoops. Alvin Police Officers Mike Clawson and Geraldine Goudeau arrived at Hermann Hospital and asked appellant and his wife to come to the Alvin Police Department to give a statement. The Longs voluntarily went to the police station. Their statements of November 1, 1982, are consistent with their prior recitations of the facts.

On November 3, 1982, Jeffery Wayne Stafford’s life support systems were disconnected and the child was declared dead.

Just after Jeffery’s death, his younger brother was taken into protective custody by the Brazoria County Child Protective Services in Angleton. On November 4, 1982, in response to a request from Protective Services, Mrs. Long took winter clothing to her surviving child and during her visit expressed a desire to tell the truth about Jeffery’s death. The Alvin police were called; Chief Mike Jez and Officer Goudeau responded. Mrs. Long told the police officers that her prior statement was false, that she wished to tell the truth, and that she wanted protection from her husband. Chief Jez asked appellant to stop by the Alvin station in order to clarify some facts. Appellant and Mrs. Long went to the police station in their own car with a relative.

At the station both Longs were told they did not have to speak with the officers and that they were not under arrest. Mrs. Long told Officer Goudeau that appellant had thrown her son across the room into a rocking chair. The child hit the chair with such force that he bounced out of the chair and hit the wall. According to Mrs. Long’s statement, appellant, in shock, attempted to revive the child and then threatened to kill Mrs. Long if she should ever tell anyone what happened.

Appellant in his statement of November 4, 1982, described all his activities on October 31, 1982, including how he threw the child across the room, into a rocking chair and the child bounced off the chair, hitting his head on the wall. When the child attempted to crawl away, appellant recalled that he pushed the child down with his foot. Appellant left the station after he had finished his statement.

An arrest warrant for appellant was not issued until November 15, 1982, when the police received information that appellant was going to Louisiana to visit his father. On that day, appellant was arrested and charged with injury to a child.

On January 11, 1983, the Brazoria County Grand Jury returned a three count indictment: two counts for the murder of Jeffery Wayne Stafford and one count of injury to a child. Appellant was convicted by the jury, only of injury to a child.

*843 In ground of error one, appellant argues that the trial court erred when it admitted the second written statement made by appellant to an Alvin police officer because the statement, a result of custodial interrogation, does not show on its face the required warnings of Tex.Code Crim.Pro. art. 38.22, § 2 (Vernon 1979). Appellant also alleges that the record does not show that the required warnings were given to appellant. Prior to trial, appellant filed a motion to suppress his confession because the confession was involuntary and coerced and the defendant was not given a warning of his constitutional rights. The judge waited until trial to rule on the motion and then held a Jackson v. Denno hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court denied the motion to suppress appellant’s confession of November 4, 1982. The trial court found that appellant made the statement to the police knowingly, intelligently, freely, and voluntarily while he was not under arrest and without undue persuasion or coercion by any Alvin police officer.

There are four factors which have been deemed relevant in an inquiry by the court in determining whether appellant was in custody when the statement was made. Those significant factors are: probable cause to arrest, subjective intent of the police, focus of the investigation, subjective belief of the defendant. McCrory v. State, 643 S.W.2d 725 (Tex.Crim.App.1982). A review of the record shows that the court was justified in concluding that appellant was. not in custody when he gave his second statement.

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Bluebook (online)
681 S.W.2d 840, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 6663, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/long-v-state-texapp-1984.