Rodriquez v. State

880 S.W.2d 443, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1786, 1994 WL 259705
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 6, 1994
DocketNo. 05-93-00832-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 880 S.W.2d 443 (Rodriquez 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
Rodriquez v. State, 880 S.W.2d 443, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1786, 1994 WL 259705 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinions

OPINION

MALONEY, Justice.

The trial court convicted Adrian Rodriquez of delivery of cocaine, assessed a fifteen year sentence and a $1000 fine, and found that appellant used or exhibited a deadly weapon during the commission of the offense. In two points of error, appellant asserts: (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash the State’s special plea of use or display of a deadly weapon; and (2) the evidence was insufficient to support the deadly weapon finding. We reform the trial court’s judgment to delete the deadly weapon finding. We affirm the trial court’s judgment as reformed.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The grand jury indicted appellant for delivery of cocaine. The indictment did not allege a deadly weapon. The State filed a separate document setting forth its intent to seek a deadly weapon finding. Appellant filed a motion to strike the State’s deadly weapon allegation. He asserted that such an allegation was factually inappropriate to his case.

Appellant entered a plea of not guilty.1 He moved to quash the State’s deadly weapon allegation. The trial court denied appellant’s motion. Jury selection began. After the lunch recess, appellant changed his plea. He pleaded no contest, executed a judicial confession to the offense as alleged in the indictment, and waived jury.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Kevin Willis, an undercover narcotics officer was investigating drug dealing complaints in an apartment complex. Willis knocked on the door of one of the suspect apartments. When appellant answered the door, he motioned for Willis to enter the apartment. Willis told appellant that he needed “two caps.”2

Appellant took Willis’s twenty dollars. Appellant then said he had to go upstairs to get the “stuff” because they were out downstairs. Appellant returned a few minutes later and told the officer “Man, you’re not gonna like this, but this is all they had left.” Appellant had a single capsule in his hand. Willis complained that the single capsule did not look like twenty dollars’ worth of cocaine. Appellant and Willis argued about the quantity of cocaine. Eventually, appellant told the officer to “come back in twenty minutes, by then we’ll — the delivery would have been here and I’ll be able to give you the other cap that I owe you.” Willis agreed to come back.

Willis left the apartment. He had the drug tested. It was cocaine.

About an hour later, Willis returned to the apartment. This time another man opened the door. Appellant was sitting on the floor of the apartment. The man who opened the door asked Willis what he needed. In response, Willis turned to appellant and said, “Hey, you know, you remember me? I came [445]*445here to get that cap you owe me.” Appellant acted like he did not recognize Willis. The second man then offered to share a rock of cocaine with Willis in the other room. Willis repeated his demand for the second “cap.” Appellant stood up, pulled out a handgun, and pointed it at Willis. Appellant accused Willis of being a cop. The other man told Willis to leave. Willis left without identifying himself as a police officer or attempting to arrest or detain appellant.

THE MOTION TO STRIKE

In his first point of error, appellant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion to strike the State’s deadly weapon allegation. A guilty or nolo contendere plea entered without a plea bargain agreement waives all nonjurisdictional defects or errors that occur before the entry of the plea. Helms v. State, 484 S.W.2d 925, 927 (Tex.Crim.App.1972); Soto v. State, 837 S.W.2d 401, 403 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1992, no pet.).

The trial court denied appellant’s motion to strike before he entered his open plea of no contest. This deadly weapon allegation is nonjurisdictional. Appellant waived any complaint he may have had about the trial court’s denial of his motion to strike. We overrule appellant’s first point of error.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE-DEADLY WEAPON

In his second point of error, appellant asserts that the evidence was insufficient to show that he “used or displayed a deadly weapon” in the course of or in immediate flight from the indicted offense. He asks that we delete the deadly weapon finding and remand the case for sentencing.

. Appellant does not deny that he possessed and displayed a deadly weapon during the officer’s second visit to the apartment. But he contends that the indictment does not charge him with any illegal conduct during the officer’s second visit. The State argues that the two visits constituted a single criminal episode.

1. Standard of Review

When an appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. Garrett v. State, 851 S.W.2d 853, 857 (Tex.Crim.App.1993) (citing Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979)). We determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jones v. State, 833 S.W.2d 118, 122 (Tex.Crim.App.1992), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 113 S.Ct. 1285, 122 L.Ed.2d 678 (1993). We find the evidence sufficient to sustain the conviction if the collective weight of all the incriminating circumstances warrants the conclusion. Livingston v. State, 739 S.W.2d 311, 330 (Tex.Crim.App.1987), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1210, 108 S.Ct. 2858, 101 L.Ed.2d 895 (1988).

The fact finder is the sole judge of the witnesses’ credibility and their testimonial weight. Bonham v. State, 680 S.W.2d 815, 819 (Tex.Crim.App.1984), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 865, 106 S.Ct. 184, 88 L.Ed.2d 153 (1985). The fact finder may reject all or part of any witness’s testimony. Sharp v. State, 707 S.W.2d 611, 614 (Tex.Crim.App.1986), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 872, 109 S.Ct. 190, 102 L.Ed.2d 159 (1988). The fact finder need not believe even uncontroverted testimony. Johnson v. State, 571 S.W.2d 170, 173 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1978). The fact finder may draw reasonable inferences from the evidence. Benavides v. State, 763 S.W.2d 587, 588-89 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1988, pet. ref'd).

We do not disturb the fact finder’s decision unless it is irrational or supported by only a “mere modicum” of evidence. Moreno v. State, 755 S.W.2d 866, 867 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). We do not substitute our judgment for that of the fact finder. Tompkins v. State, 774 S.W.2d 195, 202 (Tex.Crim.App.1987), aff'd,

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

Related

David Scott Musgrove II v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008
Davis v. State
323 S.W.3d 190 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
880 S.W.2d 443, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1786, 1994 WL 259705, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodriquez-v-state-texapp-1994.