Ortiz v. State

773 S.W.2d 941, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2111, 1989 WL 87909
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 17, 1989
DocketNos. 04-88-00086-CR, 04-88-00305-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 773 S.W.2d 941 (Ortiz 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
Ortiz v. State, 773 S.W.2d 941, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2111, 1989 WL 87909 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

ON APPELLANT’S MOTIONS FOR REHEARING

BIERY, Justice.

The appellant’s motions for rehearing are denied, however, the opinion of this Court delivered March 31, 1989 is withdrawn and this opinion substituted.

This case involves two felonies alleged to have been committed by appellant, Hector Garza Ortiz, on August 27, 1987. Appellant was tried by a jury for the August 27, 1987 burglary of the residence of Ms. Hor-tense Barber, who lived at 357 Waxwood in San Antonio, Texas (hereinafter the “Wax-wood burglary”). Following his conviction, appellant was sentenced to a term of thirty years’ confinement.

Although appellant was tried and convicted for the burglary occurring at 357 Waxwood, the State’s evidence in that trial included much evidence of a different burglary, also occurring on August 27, 1987 about one hour earlier, at a residence located at 1415 South Olive Street (hereinafter the “South Olive Street burglary”). Having relied upon the South Olive Street burglary as part of its proof of the Waxwood burglary, the State now seeks to try appellant separately for the South Olive Street burglary.

Appellant appeals his conviction in the Waxwood burglary on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a finding of appellant’s guilt. Also, he contends that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to conduct an evidentiary hearing and by failing to quash the venire based upon appellant’s timely challenge to the State’s use of one of its peremptory challenges to strike Mr. Curtis McKinnon, the sole African-American member of the venire.

In connection with the South Olive Street burglary, and prior to trial, appellant filed a special plea in bar pursuant to TEX. CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 27.05 (Vernon Supp.1989). Following an evidentiary hearing, appellant’s special plea of former jeopardy was denied. Appellant then filed a motion in the trial court to stay his trial of the South Olive Street indictment until such time as his jeopardy question could be reviewed. Appellant’s sole point of error in the South Olive Street case is that the trial court erred in denying appellant’s special plea of former jeopardy. Appellant contends that the two burglaries were not only part of the same criminal episode, but that they were in effect consolidated into the Waxwood burglary trial, which resulted in appellant’s conviction.

On August 27, 1987, San Antonio Police Detectives Mike Bratton and Richard Urba-nek observed Juan Martinez and appellant parked in a blue Chevrolet in front of a “known dope connection” located at Milam and Hackberry Streets. When the Chevy drove away, the detectives followed the car to South Hackberry and Boyer Streets where Juan Martinez, the driver, parked at [943]*943the rear of a business. Both Juan Martinez and appellant, who was his passenger, got out of the car and walked east on Boyer Street and then to a residence located at 1415 South Olive Street.

Detective Bratton began to follow the subjects on foot, walking next to the railroad tracks located in that area. From his vantage point, Detective Bratton observed Juan Martinez walk to the front door of the residence and knock, while appellant remained standing in the front yard. According to Detective Bratton, when no one answered, Juan Martinez walked to the rear of the residence. Shortly thereafter, Detective Bratton reported hearing loud banging noises coming from the rear of the home. Appellant then walked to the rear of the residence. About five minutes later, Detective Bratton observed Juan Martinez and appellant walk off the front porch at 1415 South Olive Street. Juan Martinez and appellant got back into the blue Chevy and drove away. Detective Bratton radioed a description of the Chevy and the occupants to other police officers in the area so that surveillance could be conducted until a burglary was confirmed.

Detectives Bratton and Urbanek then went to the residence at 1415 South Olive Street where they discovered that the rear door had been pried open. Inside, the detectives found that jewelry boxes and dresser drawers had been opened in one of the bedrooms. A television set and a stand were stacked by the front door, which had been left approximately six to eight inches open. There were pry marks on the back door, apparently made by a large screw driver or other prying instrument.

Based upon these observations, and because no one was at the 1415 South Olive residence, Detectives Urbanek and Bratton concluded that a burglary had occurred. Accordingly, Detective Bratton radioed police in the field to stop the Chevrolet and its occupants.

Although police officers had previously had the Chevy under surveillance following Detective Bratton’s initial call, Mr. Martinez managed to elude them. The Chevy was not stopped, therefore, until about 45 minutes later when San Antonio Police Officer Michael McMurtrey spotted the car parked in the 200 block of East Sherman. The vehicle at this time was unoccupied. Officer McMurtrey observed Juan Martinez standing outside the vehicle on the left hand side. Officer McMurtrey then observed appellant, who was walking toward the car from the loading dock of a foam products warehouse. Both men got into the car, Juan Martinez in the driver’s seat and appellant in the passenger’s seat. At that time, both were placed under arrest for the burglary at 1415 South Olive Street.

Shortly thereafter, detectives Urbanek and Bratton arrived and identified both men as the same individuals they had seen committing the burglary at 1415 South Olive Street. In their search of the car, the detectives recovered a television set from the back seat of the vehicle, a stereo from the trunk, and numerous jewelry items wrapped in a handkerchief next to the passenger’s side of the vehicle. In addition, a screwdriver, a hammer and some knives were found under the seat on the passenger side. The television, the stereo and some of the jewelry were later identified by the complainant, Ms. Hortense Barber, as her property (Waxwood burglary). Ms. Barber testified that she had given neither appellant nor Mr. Martinez permission to enter her residence at 357 Waxwood.

Appellant was taken into custody for processing; however, Juan Martinez took police officers to Ms. Barber’s residence at 357 Waxwood, from which the stolen property had come. San Antonio Police Officer Valentine Lopez, who accompanied Mr. Martinez to that location, testified that this residence also bore pry marks and that the door there had been forced open. Because there was no direct evidence of appellant’s involvement in the Waxwood burglary, the State, in the Waxwood trial, submitted evidence of the South Olive Street burglary in order to show a continuing scheme of Martinez and appellant to commit burglaries together.

[944]*944We first address appellant’s point of error that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction of appellant for the Waxwood burglary. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, this court is to determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). This standard is the same in cases of direct evidence and circumstantial evidence. Carlsen v. State, 654 S.W.2d 444, 449 (Tex.Crim.App.1983).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
773 S.W.2d 941, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2111, 1989 WL 87909, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ortiz-v-state-texapp-1989.