Robert Castillo v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 13, 2014
Docket01-12-00961-CR
StatusPublished

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Bluebook
Robert Castillo v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Opinion issued March 13, 2014.

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-12-00961-CR ——————————— ROBERT CASTILLO, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 178th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 1259905

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury found Robert Castillo guilty of capital murder and sentenced him to

confinement for life. 1 Castillo raises five issues on appeal. First, Castillo contends

that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. In his second, third,

1 TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.03 (West Supp. 2013). and fourth issues, Castillo contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion

to suppress his videotaped statement to police. He argues that his statement was

involuntary, he invoked his right to counsel, and he did not intelligently waive his

Miranda rights.2 In his fifth issue, Castillo contends that the trial court erred in

denying his request to instruct the jury on the law of accomplice witnesses. We

affirm.

Background

Castillo, his brother F. “Junior” Castillo, and Chris Washington had been

drinking late one evening when they went for a drive in a small sedan. While

driving, Castillo saw a white Cadillac with expensive rims swerving on the road.

Castillo decided that he wanted the rims, so they followed it. According to Castillo,

they lost sight of the Cadillac but later found it parked with the engine still running

and the driver, David Rodriguez, still in the car. Castillo told police that he and

Chris got into the car.

Chris held Rodriguez at gunpoint in the backseat, and Castillo drove them to

a secluded road. Junior followed in the small sedan. In his statement to police,

Castillo admitted that Rodriguez plead with them not to hurt him, but claimed that

Chris shot Rodriguez in the head. They tried unsuccessfully to remove the

Cadillac’s rims. When they could not remove the rims, Castillo called his

2 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602 (1966); see also TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 38.22 (West Supp. 2013). 2 girlfriend, Narsha Washington, and asked her if she had a lug wrench. Then the

men ransacked the car for valuables.

Just after midnight, a husband and wife familiar with the neighborhood were

driving to a fast-food restaurant and noticed a white Cadillac parked next to a

smaller sedan on a dark street. The couple testified that they saw three people

standing around the Cadillac. On their way home from the restaurant, the couple

again saw the Cadillac, but the people and the smaller sedan were gone. The

couple returned home and called police to report what they had seen.

In response to the call, Harris County Sheriff Deputy C. Bilinovich was

dispatched to the area. She saw two vehicles matching the reported description run

a stop sign. When Deputy Bilinovich flashed the lights on her squad car, Castillo

increased speed and Bilinovich chased him. Bilinovich testified that when the

Cadillac reached a dead end street, two people jumped out of the car while it was

still moving. Bilinovich caught Chris Washington; Castillo escaped. When

investigators searched the Cadillac, they found that several items had been stripped

from the car. They also found Rodriguez’s lying in a field nearby the car.

The next morning, Castillo called Narsha Washington and told her that Chris

had been arrested. Later that day, Castillo drove his pickup truck to Narsha’s

apartment, and the two went to get some pain pills. Narsha testified that during

their car ride Castillo told her that he, her brother, Chris, and Junior had stolen a

3 man’s car the previous night. He also told her that “they had to kill a guy.” Narsha

testified that Castillo seemed nervous.

Harris County Deputy Sheriff R. Gonzales investigated Rodriguez’s death.

He quickly identified Castillo, Chris, and Junior as suspects. Deputy Gonzales

contacted Narsha to discuss Rodriguez’s murder. At that time, law enforcement

knew from the emergency phone call that two vehicles had been on the secluded

road. They also had recovered a cigarette butt from the scene that was the same

brand that Castillo smoked, but they had no other physical evidence related to the

murderer’s identity. Narsha told Deputy Gonzales that on the night of the murder

Castillo had called her and asked her for a lug wrench. She also said that Castillo

admitted to the murder.

Police arrested Castillo at his apartment. They brought him to a police

station where Deputy Gonzales and Harris County Sheriff’s Office Investigator M.

Quintanilla questioned him about Rodriguez’s murder. Gonzales and Quintanilla

video recorded the entire interview. After Gonzales informed Castillo of his rights,

Castillo answered questions for approximately four hours. During the interview,

Castillo admitted that he stole Rodriguez’s car because he wanted the rims, but he

denied any responsibility for Rodriguez’s murder. He said that Chris held

Rodriguez at gunpoint in the backseat of the car and later shot him. During the

4 interview, Deputy Gonzales played two recorded audio statements from Narsha

and Chris who blamed Castillo for Rodriguez’s murder.

Castillo was charged with capital murder. While awaiting trial, Castillo met

Bronson Jones in jail. Jones later testified that Castillo told him details about the

murder and claimed that he could not get convicted because he did not have an

attorney present during his interview.

Before trial, Castillo moved to suppress his statement. He argued that he

invoked his right to counsel, did not intelligently waive his rights, and did not

understand the questions because he was intoxicated. The trial court denied his

motion to suppress. A jury convicted Castillo of capital murder and assessed

punishment at confinement for life.

Castillo timely appealed.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In his first issue, Castillo contends that the evidence was “legally

insufficient” to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed capital murder

because there was no forensic evidence connecting him to the crime and there were

numerous factual inconsistencies in the witnesses’ testimony. 3

3 A person commits capital murder when he “intentionally commits the murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or retaliation . . . .” TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.03 (West Supp. 2013). A person may also be guilty as a party to capital murder if he commits the offense by his own conduct, by the conduct of 5 A. Standard of review

When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we consider all of the

evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether any

rational factfinder 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

(1979); Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 899–902 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010)

(plurality op.); Ervin v. State, 331 S.W.3d 49, 53–55 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st

Dist.] 2010, pet. ref’d). We defer to the jury’s reconciliation of conflicts in

testimony, the weight given to the evidence, and any reasonable inferences drawn

from the facts. Williams v.

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