Resendiz v. State

112 S.W.3d 541, 2003 WL 21183952
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 18, 2003
Docket73849
StatusPublished
Cited by297 cases

This text of 112 S.W.3d 541 (Resendiz v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Resendiz v. State, 112 S.W.3d 541, 2003 WL 21183952 (Tex. 2003).

Opinions

OPINION

MEYERS, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court,

in which PRICE, KEASLER, HERVEY, HOLCOMB, and COCHRAN, J.J., joined.

On May 18, 2000, appellant was convicted of capital murder. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 19.03(a). Pursuant to the jury’s answers to the special issues set forth in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 37.071, sections 2(b) and 2(e), the trial judge sentenced appellant to death. Art. 37.071 § 2(g).1 Direct appeal to this Court is automatic. Art. 37.071 § 2(h). Appellant raises sixteen points of error. We affirm.

In his third point of error, appellant claims the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s finding that he would be a continuing threat to society. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence at punishment, this Court looks at the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether any rational trier of fact could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant would probably commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Allridge v. State, 850 S.W.2d 471, 487 (Tex.Crim.App.1991), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 831, 114 S.Ct. 101, 126 L.Ed.2d 68 (1993).

Appellant was convicted of the capital murder of Dr. Claudia Benton. The State presented evidence that in December of 1998, appellant unlawfully entered Benton’s home and brutally stabbed her to death. Additional evidence showed that appellant attempted to sexually assault Benton.

At punishment, the jury heard evidence of numerous other murders committed by appellant. Holly Dunn testified that in August of 1997, appellant approached her and Christopher Maier near some railroad tracks in Lexington, Kentucky. Appellant robbed Dunn and Maier. He then bound Maier’s hands and feet and gagged him. Appellant picked up a large object and beat Maier in the head with it, crushing his skull. After murdering Maier, appellant sexually assaulted Dunn. He then hit her in the head with a large object and left the scene. Dunn survived, but suffered multi-[544]*544pie facial fractures and the trauma of the sexual assault.

In October of 1998, appellant unlawfully entered the home of 87-year-old Leafie Mason in Hughes Springs, Texas. Appellant killed Mason by hitting her in the head with an iron. In May of 1999, appellant traveled to Weimar, Texas, and beat Skip and Karen Sirnic to death with a sledge hammer while they slept in their home. He also sexually assaulted Karen Sirnic. In June of 1999, appellant unlawfully entered Noemi Dominguez’s home, sexually assaulted her, and killed her with a pickax. Appellant stole Dominguez’s car and traveled to Schulenberg, Texas, where he killed 73-year-old Josephine Konvicka with the same pickax used on Dominguez. Appellant left the pickax embedded in Konvicka’s head. Also in June of 1999, appellant unlawfully entered 80-year-old George Morber’s home in Gorham, Illinois. Morber’s daughter, Carolyn Frederick, was with Morber when appellant broke in. Appellant tied Morber to a chair and shot him in the back of the head with a shotgun. Appellant then sexually assaulted Frederick and struck her in the head with the shotgun with such force that the shotgun broke into two pieces. Neither Mor-ber nor Frederick survived.

The facts of the instant case and appellant’s history permit a rational juror to conclude that appellant would continue to be a threat to society. Accordingly, we hold the evidence legally sufficient to support the jury’s affirmative answer to the future dangerousness issue. Jackson, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560; Allridge, 850 S.W.2d at 487. Appellant’s third point of error is overruled.

In his first point of error, appellant claims he was denied a fair trial when the trial court refused to admit crime scene photographs relating to extraneous offenses committed by appellant. In his second point of error, appellant argues the trial court abused its discretion in excluding the photographs because the probative value of the photographs was not outweighed by “any valid justification.”

At the guilt phase of trial, Dr. Bruce Cohen testified for the defense that he believed appellant was insane at the time he committed the capital murder in this case. He testified that he relied on various interviews, letters, records, and reports, as well as crime scene photographs of six other murders committed by appellant in forming his opinion. On direct examination, Cohen was shown the crime scene photographs and was asked to describe to the jury what the photographs depicted. The defense then offered the photographs into evidence. The State objected pursuant to Rule of Evidence 705(d) that the photographs were not relevant simply because Cohen relied upon them to form his opinion. Specifically, the State argued that the photographs were not relevant because the question in this case was whether appellant was insane at the time he committed Benton’s murder, not the murders depicted in the photographs. The trial court sustained the State’s objection.

This Court reviews the trial court’s ruling under an abuse of discretion standard and will not reverse the trial court’s ruling unless it falls outside the zone of reasonable disagreement. Salazar v. State, 38 S.W.3d 141, 151 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 855, 122 S.Ct. 127, 151 L.Ed.2d 82 (2001); Moreno v. State, 22 S.W.3d 482, 487 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). Rule 705(d) instructs that when the underlying facts or data used by an expert to form his opinion are inadmissible, the court shall exclude the underlying facts or data if the danger that they will be used “for a purpose other than as explanation or support for the expert’s opinion outweighs [545]*545their value as explanation or support or are unfairly prejudicial.” Tex.R. Evid. 705(d).

When the trial judge ruled the photographs inadmissible, he stated, “To see the photographs will not be any assistance to the jury, so I’m going to sustain the objection.” Later in the guilt phase of trial, the defense attempted to admit the photographs again. The trial court sustained the State’s objection and related that, “the only purpose for which they [the jurors] could consider the photographs was for the purpose of assessing the validity of the doctor’s opinions and, quite frankly, they might consider it for, uhm, other purposes.”

The trial court ruled that the crime scene photos were not relevant because they did not depict the crime scene where Benton was killed, thus they were inadmissible. Tex.R. Evid. 402. The court then conducted the balancing test for inadmissible evidence under Rule 705(d) and determined that the photographs could have been used for improper purposes. The court also gave an alternative theory for excluding the photographs, even if they were relevant, stating: “But relevant evidence may still be excluded by the court under Rule 403.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Robert Carlos Ochoa v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Dontrey Ray Walker v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Ever Ricardo Martinez v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Gary Lynn Denson v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
William Brady Roe v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Johnny Molina v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2023
Clyde Earl Taylor v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2022
Richard Keith Taylor v. the State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2022
Vashaun Xavier Scott v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Patricio Medina v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Winston Luke McDaniel v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2020
Carlos Refugio Garcia v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Tyler Shane Kennedy v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Damon Michael Jones v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Billy Rodriguez v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2019
Lester Levelle Reedy v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2018
Kevin Ramon Murphy v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2018
Cedric Stewart v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2018
Reymundo Hamelton Garcia v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2018

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
112 S.W.3d 541, 2003 WL 21183952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/resendiz-v-state-texcrimapp-2003.