Marcos Gallegosmartinez v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 28, 2021
Docket05-19-00944-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Marcos Gallegosmartinez v. the State of Texas (Marcos Gallegosmartinez v. the State of Texas) 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
Marcos Gallegosmartinez v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Affirmed and Opinion Filed June 28, 2021

In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-19-00942-CR No. 05-19-00943-CR No. 05-19-00944-CR

MARCOS GALLEGOS-MARTINEZ, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 204th Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause Nos. Nos. F18-57057-Q; F18-57058-Q; F18-57059-Q

MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Myers, Partida-Kipness, and Garcia Opinion by Justice Myers A jury convicted appellant Marcos Gallegos-Martinez of two aggravated

robberies1 and evading arrest or detention with a vehicle.2 The jury found the

enhancement allegations true and assessed punishment in all three cases at life

imprisonment. In two issues, appellant argues the trial court erred in admitting

inadequately authenticated evidence and that he received ineffective assistance of

1 Cause numbers 05-19-00942-CR and 00943-CR. 2 Cause number 05-19-00944-CR. counsel. The State brings a cross-point asking that the judgment be reformed to

correct clerical errors. As modified, we affirm.

DISCUSSION

1. Authentication

In his first point of error, appellant argues the trial court erred in admitting

State’s exhibits 17 and 18, video briefly showing appellant approaching an F-150

pickup truck belonging to Uvaldo Salinas—the complainant in 05-20-00943-CR, the

second aggravated robbery case—prior to taking it. Appellant argues the trial court

erred in overruling his objections that the State did not lay the proper foundation or

predicate for the exhibits.

Texas rule of evidence 901 governs the authentication requirement for the

admissibility of evidence:

(a) In General. To satisfy the requirement of authenticating or identifying an item of evidence, the proponent must produce evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims it is.

TEX. R. EVID. 901(a). Authenticity may be established with evidence of

“[t]estimony of a witness with knowledge,” which includes “[t]estimony that an item

is what it is claimed to be.” Id. at (b)(1). “Conclusive proof of authenticity before

allowing admission of disputed evidence is not required.” Fowler v. State, 544

S.W.3d 844, 848 (Tex. Crim. App. 2018). “Rule 901 ‘merely requires some

evidence sufficient to support a finding that evidence in question is what the

proponent claims.’” Id. (quoting Reed v. State, 811 S.W.2d 582, 587 (Tex. Crim. –2– App. 1991)). “‘[T]he trial court need only make the preliminary determination that

the proponent of the item has supplied facts sufficient to support a reasonable jury

determination that the proffered evidence is authentic.’” Id. at 849 (quoting Butler

v. State, 459 S.W.3d 595, 600 (Tex. Crim. App. 2015)). Once this prima facie

showing has been made, the exhibit is admissible. Tienda v. State, 358 S.W.3d 633,

639–40 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012). Courts have referred to this initial determination

“as a ‘liberal standard of admissibility.’” Fowler, 544 S.W.3d at 849 (quoting

Butler, 459 S.W.3d at 600).

“Video recordings without audio are treated as photographs and are properly

authenticated when it can be proved that the images accurately represent the scene

in question and are relevant to a disputed issue.” Id.; Rice v. State, No. 05-15-01427–

28-CR, 2017 WL 359755, at *3 (Tex. App.—Dallas Jan. 19, 2017, pet. ref’d) (mem.

op., not designated for publication). “The most common way to authenticate a

photograph or video is through testimony from a witness who observed the scene

that it is an accurate representation of the scene.” Rice, 2017 WL 359755, at *3. But

even when a sponsoring witness’s testimony fails to properly authenticate an exhibit,

“‘[e]vidence prematurely admitted in error may become admissible or be rendered

harmless by subsequent evidence.’” Id. (quoting James v. State, 102 S.W.3d 162,

175 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth, pet. ref’d)).

We review a trial court’s ruling on authentication issues under an abuse of

discretion standard. Fowler, 544 S.W.3d at 848. “If the trial court’s ruling that a

–3– jury could reasonably find proffered evidence authentic is at least ‘within the zone

of reasonable disagreement,’ a reviewing court should not interfere.’” Id. at 849

(quoting Tienda, 358 S.W.3d at 638).

In these cases, appellant was indicted for two aggravated robberies (05-20-

00942-CR and 05-20-00943-CR) and for evading arrest and detention with a vehicle

(05-20-00944-CR). Evidence showed that on August 23, 2018, at approximately

4:40 p.m., Dallas Police officer Caleb Morkert responded to a report of a suspicious

vehicle. Upon arrival, Officer Morkert saw a white Chevy Avalanche that had been

reported stolen and had a punched-out lock, parked in front of a house in the 3400

block of Borger Street. He called a tow truck driven by the complainant in the first

aggravated robbery case (05-20-00942-CR), Jaime Camacho, and remained at the

scene until Camacho towed away the Avalanche. As Camacho approached the

Dallas city auto pound, a maroon Jeep cut him off from entering. Two men got out

of the Jeep with multiple firearms and demanded Camacho “drop” the Avalanche.

After Camacho unhitched the Avalanche, the two men left separately in the Jeep and

the Avalanche. A couple of minutes after he called 911, Camacho heard a crash,

followed by two or three gunshots. Camacho identified appellant at trial as one of

the two men who robbed him that day.

Uvaldo Salinas, meanwhile, the complainant in the second aggravated robbery

case (05-20-00943-CR), was in his 2003 Harley Davidson Edition F-150 truck near

the scene of an accident that, according to other witnesses, involved a maroon Jeep.

–4– Salinas could not ascertain why people were not going around the accident until he

saw a Hispanic male in a white muscle shirt holding an assault rifle. After firing his

weapon towards the wreck, this individual, later identified as appellant, first

approached a white Dodge Ram, and then approached Salinas’s truck and tried to

open the doors. Appellant asked Salinas to let him in, and Salinas refused. He told

Salinas he wanted his address so he could bring his truck back to him later, and he

also offered to take Salinas hostage—offers Salinas refused. Fearing he would be

shot, Salinas eventually surrendered his truck to appellant, and appellant fled the

scene in Salinas’s F-150.

The exhibits in question, State’s exhibits 17 and 18, are video recordings taken

just before the theft of Salinas’s truck. State’s exhibit 17, less than a minute in

length, briefly shows, from an across-the-street vantage point, appellant approaching

Salinas’s F-150 truck while wearing a white muscle shirt and carrying a long rifle.

He then walks around to the passenger side door. State’s exhibit 18 is a slowed-

down, close-up version of the same video.

Prior to the admission of State’s exhibits 17 and 18, Salinas testified that he

had met with the prosecutor before the trial. Although his recollection that appellant

was wearing cargo pants was incorrect, Salinas correctly recalled that appellant was

wearing a white muscle shirt.

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Related

Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
James v. State
102 S.W.3d 162 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Asberry v. State
813 S.W.2d 526 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Casey v. State
215 S.W.3d 870 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Williams v. State
301 S.W.3d 675 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2009)
Hawkins v. State
660 S.W.2d 65 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Reed v. State
811 S.W.2d 582 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Walters v. State
247 S.W.3d 204 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Robertson v. State
187 S.W.3d 475 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Goodspeed v. State
187 S.W.3d 390 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Mata v. State
226 S.W.3d 425 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Thompson v. State
9 S.W.3d 808 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Bigley v. State
865 S.W.2d 26 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Jackson v. State
973 S.W.2d 954 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Lopez v. State
343 S.W.3d 137 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Menefield v. State
363 S.W.3d 591 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Tienda, Ronnie Jr.
358 S.W.3d 633 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2012)
Nava, Andres Maldonado
415 S.W.3d 289 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Butler, Billy Dean
459 S.W.3d 595 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2015)
Gonzalez v. State
544 S.W.3d 363 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2018)

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