Robert Dale Hines v. State

535 S.W.3d 102
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 31, 2017
Docket11-15-00237-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 535 S.W.3d 102 (Robert Dale Hines 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
Robert Dale Hines v. State, 535 S.W.3d 102 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

JIM R. WRIGHT, CHIEF JUSTICE

In a three-count indictment, the grand jury indicted Robert Dale Hines for tampering with evidence by concealmént, possession' of more than one gram of methamphetamine, and evading arrest. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 87.09(c), (d)(1) (West 2016); Tex. Health & Safety 'Codé . Ann. § 481.115(a),(c) • (West 2017); Penal § 38.04.

At trial, the State abandoned the third count, and the trial court dismissed it. The jury found Appellant guilty of the first two counts, and upon a plea of true to án enhancement allegation, the trial court assessed punishment and sentenced Appellant to twenty years’ confinement for each conviction. The trial court ordered that the two sentences are to run concurrently.

Appellant raises five issues on appeal. First, Appellant argues that the evidence was insufficient' to support the conviction for tampering with evidence. Second, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for possession of methamphetamine, more than one gram but less than four grams. Third, Appellant complains that the trial court erroneously denied a for-cause challenge to a veniremember. Fourth, Appellant maintains that an error in the jury charge caused him egregious harm. Fifth, Appellant takes the position that, if we reverse the conviction on only one count, Appellant is entitled to a new punishment hearing. We affirm. ■

We will first address Appellant’s third issue concerning the trial court’s denial of his for-cause challenge to veniremember Robert Armstrong.

During voir dire, Appellant’s trial counsel questioned the venire panel about whether each person could maintain the presumption of innocence if a defendant chooses not to testify. In response, Armstrong said that he had the tendency to view the decision not to testify as an indication of guilt. Others on the panel similarly acknowledged their difficulty with the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The trial court then asked whether those panelists could follow .the instruction to refrain from holding Appellant’s failure to testify against him. Although others indicated that they could not follow the instruction, Armstrong indicated that he could.

After the trial court denied Appellant’s challenge, Appellant requested an additional peremptory strike. The trial court also denied that request. Appellant identified an empaneled juror against whom he would have used the additional strike. Appellant properly preserved this issue for our review. See Green v. State, 934 S.W.2d 92, 105 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996),

We review a trial court’s ruling on a challenge for cause with considerable deference because the trial court is in the best position to evaluate the demeanor and responses of a prospective juror. Gardner v. State, 306 S.W.3d 274, 295-96 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009). We may reverse a trial court’s ruling on a challenge for cause only if the trial court clearly abused its discretion. Id. at 296. When the answers of the challenged venire member are vacillating, unclear, or contradictory, we accord particular deference to the trial court’s decision. Id. at 295; In re M.R., No. 11-08-00155-CV, 2010 WL 1948286, at *2 (Tex. App.—Eastland May 13, 2010, pet. denied) (mem. op.).

A defendant may raise a for-cause challenge against a veniremember who expresses a bias or prejudice “against the law upon which either the State or the defense is entitled to rely.” Gardner, 306 S.W.3d at 295. The dispositive question is whether the bias or prejudice would substantially impair the prospective juror’s ability to carry out the oath and instructions in accordance with the law. Id.) M.R., 2010 WL 1948286, at *2. The proponent of a challenge for cause carries the burden of establishing that the challenge is proper. Gardner, 306 S.W.3d at 295. The proponent does not meet this burden until the proponent shows that the veniremember understood the requirements of the law and could not overcome his prejudice well enough to follow the law. Id.

Here, after Armstrong acknowledged that he would have drawn an adverse inference from a defendant’s decision not to testify, the trial court further explained what' the law requires. Because Armstrong did not express any further difficulty with following the law after the trial court gave its instruction, the trial court did not err when it denied Appellant’s challenge for cause. See Capello v. State, 775 S.W.2d 476, 489 (Tex. App.—Austin 1989, pet. ref'd) (holding no error existed where' six veniremembers initially expressed concerns about a defendant’s decision not to testify but then expressed no more concern after the court instructed . them on the law). We overrule Appellant’s third issue.

Next, we address whether the evidence- presented at trial was sufficient to convict Appellant of possession of more than one gram but less than, four-grams of methamphetamine. We hold that the evidence was sufficient.

At the guilt/innocence phase of trial, the State called as witnesses the two police officers who arrested Appellant and the forensic scientist who examined the substance found in the vehicle.

When the police initiated a stop of the vehicle driven by Appellant, he turned a corner, stopped, got out, and walked away. The police asked Appellant to come back to the vehicle, but Appellant denied that he was the driver and kept walking. The police apprehended Appellant and searched him. They initially found marihuana in Appellant’s pockets. Then they searched Appellant’s vehicle and found more marihuana and over two grams of methamphetamine under the driver’s seat. Appellant told the police officers that he was not the owner of the vehicle, but one of the officers testified that he saw Appellant driving the vehicle and that no one else was inside it.

The officers arrested Appellant, placed him in the backseat of the patrol car, and took him to jail. At thé jail, the police collected- about 0.21 grams of methamphetamine from the back seat of the patrol car. A video recording from a camera focused on the backseat showed Appellant putting his left hand into his pocket.and moving around the backseat. The police inspected and photographed Appellant’s hands and saw a white .substance on Appellant’s knuckles and in his cuticles. One officer testified that he thought the substance from the backseat could be either methamphetamine or a drug called “bath salts.”

The State’s forensic scientist testified that she was certain that both the substance from Appellant’s vehicle- and the substance from the backseat of the patrol car contained methamphetamine. She could not determine that the substances were identical, but as Appellant appropriately concedes on appeal, “we have pictures of meth scattered around the backseat, as well as an emptied baggie.”

Appellant argues that the evidence is insufficient because “there are inadequate, affirmative links between [him] and the methamphetamine.” To support his argument, Appellant points to the.

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Bluebook (online)
535 S.W.3d 102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-dale-hines-v-state-texapp-2017.