Powell v. State

624 S.W.2d 818, 1981 Tex. App. LEXIS 4486
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 25, 1981
Docket09 81 003 CR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 624 S.W.2d 818 (Powell 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
Powell v. State, 624 S.W.2d 818, 1981 Tex. App. LEXIS 4486 (Tex. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

OPINION

DIES, Chief Justice.

Appellant was convicted in a jury trial of Gambling Promotion, under V.T.C.A., Penal Code, Sec. 47.03(a)(1). [All statutory references herein are to V.T.C.A., Penal Code.] Punishment was assessed by the jury at two years in the Texas Department of Corrections, probated, and a fine of $5,000.

Grounds of Error Nos. 1 and 2 urge that Subsection 47.03(a)(2) * of the Penal Code is unconstitutional because Section 47.01 of the Penal Code does not define the words “make,” “receive,” “record,” or “settle” and, as such, it denies his right to due process and equal protection of law under both the U.S. and Texas Constitutions.

First, appellant was convicted under Section 47.03(a)(1) which does not include the challenged words.

Second, the challenged words are clear, specific, and easily understandable by any person of ordinary intelligence. Floyd v. State, 575 S.W.2d 21 (Tex.Cr.App.1978), appeal dism’d, 442 U.S. 907, 99 S.Ct. 2817, 61 L.Ed.2d 272 (1979); McMorris v. State, 516 S.W.2d 927 (Tex.Cr.App.1974); Ely v. State, 582 S.W.2d 416 (Tex.Cr.App.1979); Powell v. State, 538 S.W.2d 617 (Tex.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 928, 97 S.Ct. 334, 50 L.Ed.2d 298 (1976); Ramirez v. State, 518 S.W.2d 546 (Tex.Cr.App.1975). These grounds are overruled.

Grounds of Error Nos. 3 and 4 complain that while the indictment avers appellant operated a gambling place and recorded bets on a football game, it does not specifically allege the manner or means by which appellant “operated” a gambling place.

The indictment tracks the applicable portions of Section 47.03(a)(1) and Subsection 2 of Section 47.01 (definition of “gambling place”) and is legally sufficient. May v. State, 618 S.W.2d 333 (Tex.Cr.App.1981); 30 Tex.Jur.2d Indictment & Information § 27 (1962). The State is not required to plead its evidence. May v. State, supra; Phillips v. State, 597 S.W.2d 929 (Tex.Cr.App.1980).

Ground of Error No. 5 urges error in that there is insufficient evidence in the record to support the conviction. Appellant was not charged for personally recording bets as he seems to often imply in his brief but for Gambling Promotion. Richard Oliver’s testimony fully supports the judgment. This ground is overruled. Ground of Error No. 6 is without merit and is overruled.

Ground of Error No. 7 complains of the trial court’s refusal to submit the following instruction:

“You are instructed that the fact that a witness is an accomplice goes to his credibility and while his testimony may not be disregarded merely because he is an accomplice such testimony should be received and acted on with caution and should be scrutinized closely.”

Section 47.09(d) of the Penal Code expressly provides that “[a] conviction under this chapter [Gambling] may be had upon the uncorroborated testimony of a party to the offense.” Hence, it would have been improper for the court to give such a charge. Lemasters v. State, 164 Tex.Cr.R. 108, 297 S.W.2d 170 (1956).

Appellant’s eighth ground of error asserts: “The Trial Court erred in refusing to submit a charge to the jury which encompassed the lesser offense of possession of gambling paraphernalia.

For a defendant to be entitled to a charge on a lesser included offense, the *820 evidence must raise the issue that if he bears any guilt at all, he is guilty only of the lesser offense. We do not have that situation here. See Smith v. State, 491 S.W.2d 924, 927 (Tex.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1025, 94 S.Ct. 451, 38 L.Ed.2d 317 (1973); Dovalina v. State, 564 S.W.2d 378, 383 (Tex.Cr.App.1978); and Watson v. State, 605 S.W.2d 877, 883-884 (Tex.Cr.App.1980). To follow appellant’s contention, all defendants would be automatically entitled to a charge on a lesser included offense merely because proof of the greater offense with which he is charged also suffices to prove the lesser. This ground of error is overruled.

Appellant’s ninth ground of error asserts error because the trial court refused an instruction on circumstantial evidence. The testimony of the witnesses Oliver and Burris constituted direct evidence. Therefore, no such charge was necessary. See Grimes v. State, 168 Tex.Cr.R. 341, 327 S.W.2d 583 (1959); Ash v. State, 134 Tex.Cr.R. 208, 114 S.W.2d 889 (1938). This ground of error is overruled.

Appellant’s Grounds of Error Ten and Eleven urge a tape recording of certain phone calls constituted an intrusion outside the scope of the warrant in violation of the U.S. and Texas Constitutions.

The affidavit for warrant here alleges, inter alia, that:

“There is at said suspected place and premises property concealed and kept in violation of the laws of Texas and described as follows: gambling equipment, books, records, writings, scratch sheets, and any other means of recording and registering bets and wagering, gambling promotion, and keeping a gambling place.”

These phone calls were certainly “any other means of recording and registering bets and wagering,” etc., and, therefore, within the general scope of the warrant. See U.S. v. Fuller, 441 F.2d 755 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 830, 92 S.Ct. 73-4, 30 L.Ed.2d 59 (1971). And we fail to see what rights he might assert in communications from another’s telephone not addressed to him. See, Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978); Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 99 S.Ct. 2577, 61 L.Ed.2d 220 (1979); U.S. v. White, 401 U.S. 745, 91 S.Ct. 1122, 28 L.Ed.2d 453 (1971); Rovinsky v. State, 605 S.W.2d 578 (Tex.Cr.App.1980);

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Bluebook (online)
624 S.W.2d 818, 1981 Tex. App. LEXIS 4486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/powell-v-state-texapp-1981.