Marcus Gutierrez v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 31, 2014
Docket10-13-00274-CR
StatusPublished

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Marcus Gutierrez v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

No. 10-13-00274-CR

MARCUS GUTIERREZ, Appellant v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

From the 85th District Court Brazos County, Texas Trial Court No. 10-05655-CRF-85

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In two issues, appellant, Marcus Gutierrez, challenges his conviction for

aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 29.03(a)(2), (b)

(West 2011).1 Appellant alleges that the trial court erred in denying his motion for new

1 The judgment in this case reflects that appellant was convicted under section 29.03(2)(B) of the

Texas Penal Code—a statutory provision that does not exist. Based on our review of the record, the judgment should reflect that appellant was convicted under section 29.03(a)(2) of the Texas Penal Code. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 29.03(a)(2) (West 2011); see also TEX. R. APP. P. 43.2(b); Bigley v. State, 865 S.W.2d 26, 27-28 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993) (concluding that an appellate court has authority to reform a judgment to include an affirmative finding to make the record speak the truth when the matter has been called to its attention by any source). We modify the judgment to reflect as such. trial, and that his trial counsel did not provide effective assistance of counsel. More

specifically, appellant’s complaints center on the fact that physical evidence went

missing after the jury started deliberating. Because we find no harmful error, we affirm

as modified.

I. BACKGROUND

In the instant case, appellant was charged by indictment with aggravated

robbery, which pertained to an incident transpiring on or about October 26, 2010, at a

Holiday Inn Express hotel located in Brazos County, Texas. Included in the indictment

were references to two of appellant’s prior felony convictions—a 1987 conviction for

robbery and a 1991 conviction for theft.

On the day of trial, appellant pleaded guilty to the charged offense and pleaded

“true” to the enhancement paragraphs contained in the indictment. After admonishing

appellant, the trial court accepted appellant’s guilty pleas, and the case proceeded to

punishment before a jury. During the punishment phase, the State and appellant called

numerous witnesses to testify.

Cody Rollison testified that he was working at the front desk of the hotel on the

night of the incident. Rollison recalled that a Hispanic male wearing a blue t-shirt, blue

jeans, and work boots with stains on them walked into the hotel on that night. Rollison

noted that the male had tattoos and looked as though he had been working. Shortly

after entering the hotel, the male rushed at Rollison while wearing a cover over his head

and brandishing a knife. The male threatened to kill Rollison and ordered Rollison to

give him all of the cash contained in the cash drawer. Rollison complied, and the male

Gutierrez v. State Page 2 told Rollison “Don’t call the cops. If you call the cops, I’m going to kill you. Don’t

come from behind the desk, I’ll kill you.” Eventually, the male left, and Rollison called

the police and his manager.

Ben Hernandez, the general manager of the Holiday Inn Express, arrived at the

scene and reviewed surveillance tapes of the incident. Hernandez testified that he

knew appellant because appellant had worked for several years as a maintenance

worker for Hernandez and his father. After reviewing the surveillance videos,

Hernandez immediately recognized the robber as appellant.

Now knowing who to look for, police obtained search warrants to search

appellant’s house and vehicle. After initiating a traffic stop of appellant’s vehicle, police

found a roll of quarters, which police determined to be from the Holiday Inn Express

cash drawer, a sheetrock saw that matched the weapon used in the robbery, and a head

cover also used in the robbery. Additionally, after searching appellant’s house, police

discovered the clothing from the robbery.

During trial, the State tendered various pieces of physical evidence, including a

car-seat cover that was allegedly used to cover appellant’s head and appellant’s t-shirt,

blue jeans, and shoes used during the robbery. These items, in particular, were placed

on a mannequin by the State during the punishment phase to demonstrate how they

were worn by appellant. Appellant did not object to the admission of these items into

evidence.

After closing arguments, the jury retired to deliberate. After only one hour of

deliberations, the jury assessed punishment at sixty years’ incarceration in the

Gutierrez v. State Page 3 Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Thereafter,

appellant filed motions for new trial and in arrest of judgment, arguing that the trial

court must grant him a new trial because the car-seat cover and appellant’s t-shirt, blue

jeans, and shoes were admitted into evidence, yet were lost and not provided to the jury

during deliberations. The trial court conducted a hearing on appellant’s motions.

At the hearing, Paula Frederick, the court reporter for the 85th Judicial District

Court since April 1998, noted that she normally inventories every piece of evidence at

the end of each day of trial. On the night of August 29th, Frederick inventoried and

accounted for all of the evidence, including the car-seat cover and appellant’s t-shirt,

blue jeans, and shoes. Frederick recounted that the items were left overnight in the

courtroom where she sits and that the courtroom is locked by the bailiff after everyone

leaves each night. However, after closing arguments had been completed, and after the

jury had retired to deliberate, Frederick noticed that the car-seat cover and appellant’s t-

shirt, blue jeans, and shoes were missing.

Frederick later testified that she had followed the same inventory process in this

case as she had done in other cases. Furthermore, Frederick stated that she later learned

that the evidence was inadvertently thrown away by a courthouse custodian. Because

the trash at the courthouse had already been picked up, several individuals searched

the local landfill for the evidence. Despite an extensive search, the complained-of

evidence was not recovered.

Other witnesses, including the prosecuting attorney and appellant’s trial counsel,

opined at the hearing about the necessity of the complained-of evidence. Ultimately,

Gutierrez v. State Page 4 the trial court denied appellant’s motion for new trial and issued findings of fact and

conclusions of law. Among the trial court’s conclusions of law was that appellant did

not prove that the complained-of evidence was a significant exhibit and “necessary to

the appeal’s resolution.” The trial court also concluded that appellant did not prove

that the exhibits cannot be replaced, especially considering the surveillance videos of

the incident and photographs of the exhibits—both of which depicted the clothing that

appellant wore during the robbery—were admitted into evidence. This appeal

followed.

II. MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL

In his first issue, appellant complains that the trial court’s abused its discretion

by denying his motion for new trial. Specifically, appellant contends that his motion for

new trial should have been granted under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.6(f)

because the missing exhibits were significant and necessary to his appeal. See TEX. R.

APP. P. 34.6(f).

A.

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