Peacock v. State

27 S.W.3d 657, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6046, 2000 WL 1238936
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 30, 2000·No. 10-99-345-CR·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinions

OPINION

TOM GRAY, Justice.

This is an appeal from an order revoking the appellant’s probation. He raises two issues challenging: 1) the trial court’s decision to grant the State’s request to reopen the evidence after argument and 2) the trial court’s denial of appellant’s motion to dismiss the probation-revocation motion based on lack of due diligence by the State in executing the arrest warrant. We affirm.

Facts

On July 1, 1997, James David Peacock was convicted of felony bail jumping and placed on community supervision for two years. On April 20, 1998, the State filed a petition to revoke Peacock’s community supervision alleging that he had violated several conditions, including failure to report and nonpayment of fees. The same day, the trial court issued a capias for his arrest. Peacock’s probation expired on July 1, 1999. He was arrested September 26, 1999.

On October 22, 1999, the day of the revocation hearing, Peacock filed a pre-hearing motion to dismiss the probation-revocation motion asserting lack of due-diligence by the State in executing the capias. A hearing on Peacock’s motion to dismiss was held, followed by the revocation hearing. The trial court denied Peacock’s motion and revoked his probation. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

Issue One: Motion to Reopen Evidence

In his first issue, Peacock contends the trial court erred by allowing the State to reopen and introduce additional evidence of due diligence at the hearing on the motion to dismiss after they had concluded argument.

At the hearing on Peacock’s motion to dismiss, the State called one witness, a probation officer. Peacock called no witnesses. Then, Peacock and the State made their legal arguments. During argument, however, the State informed the court that it might ask to present more evidence if Deputy Cook found any other activity in the Peacock file. At the conclusion of argument, the court asked if there was anything else and counsel for the State indicated he had nothing further. However, prior to the court ruling on the motion, after only a short break, the State [659] immediately moved to reopen and called Deputy Cook. Peacock’s trial counsel objected to this additional testimony. His objection was overruled. Thus, there is some question of whether the state had concluded arguments or whether it was conditional on whether Deputy Cook found any additional evidence the State wanted to present.

The decision to reopen a matter is left to the sound discretion of the trial court. Cain v. State, 666 S.W.2d 109, 111 (Tex.Crim.App.1984). In support of his position, Peacock cites to Article 36.02 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and case law that prohibits the reopening of the evidence after argument has been concluded. Freeman v. State, 917 S.W.2d 512 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1996, no pet.); Tex.Code Crim. PROC. Ann. art. 36.02 (Vernon Supp.2000). We believe Freeman can be factually distinguished. Freeman, 917 S.W.2d 512. First, Freeman involved the actual revocation hearing and not a hearing on a pre-hearing motion. Second, in Freeman the State moved to reopen after argument was clearly complete, the court had already rendered its verdict revoking probation, and the defendant had given his notice of appeal. Therefore, the appellate court held that the motion to reopen was essentially a motion for new trial and concluded it was error to allow the State to reopen because the defendant is the only one who can move for a new trial. Id. at 514. Third, unlike Freeman, in the present case the State had anticipated the need to reopen and requested the right to reopen if more information was obtained. Thus, Freeman is not applicable to the facts here.

The general rule is embodied in Article 36.02 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides in part “[t]he court shall allow testimony to be introduced at any time before the argument of a cause is concluded, if it appears that it is necessary to a due administration of justice.” Tex. Code CRIM. Proc. Ann. art. 36.02 (Vernon 1981). However, other courts have held this rule inapplicable to similar proceedings, i.e., hearing on a motion to suppress. See Gilbert v. State, 874 S.W.2d 290 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1994, pet. ref d); Montalvo v. State, 846 S.W.2d at 137-38. Accordingly, we find article 36.02 and Freeman inapplicable to the hearing on Peacock’s motion to dismiss. Under the circumstances presented here, the trial court could, in its discretion, reopen the evidence on a pre-hearing motion to dismiss. The trial court did not abuse its discretion. Peacock’s first issue is overruled.

Issue Two: Due Diligence

In issue two, Peacock contends the trial court erred because the State did not exercise due diligence in arresting him after the petition to revoke his probation was filed and a warrant for his arrest had been issued.

The trial court must satisfy two requirements before it can acquire jurisdiction to revoke a defendant’s probation after the probationary period expires. First, the State must file a motion to revoke before the end of the probationary period. Brecheisen v. State, 4 S.W.3d 761, 763 (Tex.Crim.App.1999); Burch v. State, 821 S.W.2d 385, 387 (Tex.App.— Waco, no pet.). Second, the State must issue a capias based upon this motion to revoke that orders the arrest of the probationer. Id.

In addition to these jurisdictional requirements, the court is required to use due-diligence in hearing and determining the allegations in the revocation motion. Harris v. State, 843 S.W.2d 34 (Tex.Crim.App.1992). Also, the State is required to use due-diligence in executing the capias that results from the motion to revoke. Id. The State’s failure to exercise due-diligence in the execution of the capias gives rise to a plea in bar or defense. Id. Lack of due-diligence is not an affirmative defense. Rodriguez v. State, 804 S.W.2d 516, 519 (Tex.Crim.App.1991).

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Peacock v. State, 27 S.W.3d 657, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 6046, 2000 WL 1238936 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

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