Orosco v. State

827 S.W.2d 575, 1992 WL 57826
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 17, 1992
Docket2-90-302-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 827 S.W.2d 575 (Orosco 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
Orosco v. State, 827 S.W.2d 575, 1992 WL 57826 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

MEYERS, Justice.

Appellant, Carlos Orosco, appeals from a conviction by the jury of attempted capital murder. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 15.01 (Vernon Supp.1992) and § 19.03 (Vernon 1989 & Supp.1992). Punishment was assessed by the jury at forty-five (45) years imprisonment.

We affirm.

On December 20,1987, David Lee Stamp, a police officer with the City of Fort Worth, was on his way to assist another officer when he saw a pickup truck drive through a stop sign. When Officer Stamp attempted to stop the truck it increased its speed. Eventually, the pickup truck stopped and two males exited the vehicle and ran on foot; Stamp stopped as well and ran after them. During the chase, Stamp fell. The man he was chasing, later identified by Stamp as Carlos Orosco, stopped, pulled out a gun, and shot at Stamp three times. Orosco was arrested on March 26, 1988, after Stamp identified his picture in a photographic lineup.

In his first point of error, Orosco complains that he was deprived of his right to a speedy trial, and that the court erred in overruling his motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. Orosco was brought to trial two years and seven months after he was arrested.

In determining whether defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial has been violated the court should assess such factors as the length of and reason for the delay, the defendant’s assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant. Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2184, 33 L.Ed.2d 101,108 (1972). First, when considering the length of the delay, the court should look at the peculiar circumstances of each case. Id. at 530-31, 92 S.Ct. at 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d at 117. No precise length of delay automatically constitutes a violation of the right to a speedy trial in every single case. Oliver v. State, 731 S.W.2d 149,159 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1987, pet. ref’d). A delay of two years and seven months is not, per se, a deprivation of the appellant’s right to a speedy trial, but is a fact requiring further consideration of the appellant’s claim. Id.

Secondly, we must consider the reasons the State assigns to justify the delay. Barker, 407 .U.S. at 531, 92 S.Ct. at 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d at 117. In considering the reason for the delay different weight should be assigned to different reasons. Id. A deliberate attempt to hamper the defense weighs heavily in favor of a violation of the sixth amendment to a speedy trial, whereas circumstances such as missing prosecution witnesses will justify the delay, but in most instances the delay will be caused by more neutral reasons such as overcrowded court dockets which are weighed less heavily against the State. Oliver, 731 S.W.2d at 159. In the present case, the record does not reflect any reason for the long delay, nor whether it can be attributed to the State or to Orosco. The State filed one motion for continuance; other than this no other motions for continuance were filed by either side.

Thirdly, we must consider the defendant’s responsibility to assert his right. Barker, 407 U.S. at 531, 92 S.Ct. at 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d at 117. The defendant’s assertion of his speedy trial right is entitled to strong evidentiary weight in determining whether the defendant is being deprived of the right. Id. at 531-32, 92 S.Ct. at 2192- *577 93, 33 L.Ed.2d at 117. Failure to assert the right will make it difficult for a defendant to prove that he was denied a speedy trial. Id. at 532, 92 S.Ct. at 2193, 33 L.Ed.2d at 118. A review of the record reveals that Orosco did not request a prompt trial until over two years after his indictment in August of 1990. Further, we find it compelling that Orosco took no action to assert his right to a speedy trial, but moved that the indictment be dismissed for lack of a speedy trial. The Court of Criminal Appeals has held that a defendant’s motivation in asking for dismissal rather than a prompt trial is clearly relevant, and may sometimes attenuate the strength of his claim. Phillips v. State, 650 S.W.2d 396, 401 (Tex.Crim.App.1983).

Finally, the court must consider prejudice to the defendant. Barker, 407 U.S. at 532, 92 S.Ct. at 2193, 33 L.Ed.2d at 118. Although a showing of “actual prejudice” is not required in Texas, it is the defendant’s burden to make a showing of prejudice. Oliver, 731 S.W.2d at 159-60. The Supreme Court identified three interests of the defendant that the speedy trial right was designed to protect: (1) to prevent oppressive pretrial incarceration; (2) to minimize anxiety and concern of the accused; and (3) to limit the possibility that the defense will be impaired. Id. at 160. In the present case, Orosco was incarcerated the entire time before his trial. Most likely he suffered the anxiety and concern which go with being incarcerated for over two and one-half years.

Additionally, Orosco argues his defense was impaired because of the loss of two of his witnesses during the thirty-one-month period. One of these potential witnesses, Jesse Joe Macias, Sr., died in August of 1990 (two months before trial), and according to the court-appointed investigator, who interviewed him in May of 1988, would have testified that when he looked out his window that night it was totally dark and he could see nothing. The second witness, Mr. Mathew Trevino, could not be found, and according to the court-appointed investigator would have testified that in mid-March 1988 Trevino talked with a Castillo Hernandez who told him that in recent months he had shot a policeman that had been chasing him. A review of the record reveals that Orosco presented two other witnesses at trial to testify that it was dark in the neighborhood that night, therefore, any testimony to this effect by Macias would have been merely cumulative. As for Mr. Trevino’s double hearsay statement, there is no showing that the statement is in any way connected to this case.

Considering all the factors above we find there was no violation of Orosco’s sixth amendment right to a speedy trial. Oros-co’s first point of error is overruled.

In his second point Orosco complains the State should not have been allowed to voir dire the jurors on whether or not only one witness in a criminal case would hamper their ability to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. At trial the State asked the panel “[i]s there anyone who feels that only one witness testifying is just not enough to convince me beyond a reasonable doubt?” Additionally, in an individual voir dire examination, the State asked venirepersons whether if only one witness was called by the State, and that witness testified believably to all the elements of the offense, could the venireperson return a guilty verdict? Defense counsel objected to the State’s use of the hypothetical on the basis that such an illustration was an impermissible attempt to bind the venirepersons to a certain set of facts.

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Bluebook (online)
827 S.W.2d 575, 1992 WL 57826, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/orosco-v-state-texapp-1992.