Salinas v. State

88 S.W.3d 677, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 3604, 2002 WL 1020642
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 22, 2002
Docket04-01-00244-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 88 S.W.3d 677 (Salinas 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
Salinas v. State, 88 S.W.3d 677, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 3604, 2002 WL 1020642 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

Opinion by

SANDEE BRYAN MARION, Justice.

A jury found the defendant, Minnie Safi-nas, guilty of murder and assessed punishment at fifty years’ confinement and a $10,000 fine. In seven issues on appeal, the defendant asserts the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support the verdict, the State used improper identification methods, evidence regarding her alibi should have been suppressed, and her sentence was determined in violation of the United States and Texas constitutions. We overrule all issues on appeal and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

*680 SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

In her fourth and fifth issues on appeal, the defendant asserts the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support her conviction. The defendant contends the evidence is insufficient to show that she was the person who shot and killed Velia Guevara, and that her conviction was the result of impermissible stacking of inference upon inference.

When considering a legal sufficiency challenge, this court must review all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found all of the essential elements of the offense proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); see also Dewberry v. State, 4 S.W.3d 735, 740 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). We evaluate all the evi dence in the record, both direct and circumstantial, whether admissible or inadmissible. Dewberry, 4 S.W.3d at 740. In our review of the factual sufficiency of the evidence, we view all the evidence and we will set aside the verdict only if it is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence as to be clearly wrong and unjust. Cain v. State, 958 S.W.2d 404, 407 (Tex.Crim.App.1997); Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 129 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). We must defer to the factfinder, and may find the evidence factually insufficient only where necessary to prevent manifest injustice. See Cain, 958 S.W.2d at 407. In both sufficiency reviews, the trier of fact may draw reasonable inferences and is the exclusive judge of the witnesses’ credibility and the weight to give their testimony. Jones v. State, 944 S.W.2d 642, 647-49 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). The standard of review is the same in both direct and circumstantial evidence cases. Kutzner v. State, 994 S.W.2d 180, 184 (Tex.Crim.App.1999).

In a prosecution based on circumstantial evidence, it is not required that every fact point directly and independently to the guilt of the accused; the cumulative force of all the incriminating circumstances may be sufficient. Barnes v. State, 876 S.W.2d 316, 321 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). However, when conducting a legal sufficiency review, a vital fact may not be established by stacking inference upon inference. Richardson v. State, 834 S.W.2d 535, 537 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, pet. ref'd) (op. on reh’g). A jury’s inference of intent is afforded more deference than the evidence supporting proof of conduct. Margraves v. State, 34 S.W.3d 912, 919 (Tex.Crim.App.2000). Circumstantial evidence of a defendant’s guilty knowledge need not meet the same rigorous criteria for sufficiency as circumstantial proof of other offensive elements. Id. This court is not required to find the defendant’s intent to its own satisfaction. Brimage v. State, 918 S.W.2d 466, 476 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). It is enough for us to find that “any” rational jury could have so found beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

Velia Guevara was murdered on May 26, 1993; the murder weapon, a nine millimeter gun, was never found. The defendant and Velia’s husband, Jim Guevara, had begun an affair three days before Jim married Velia. The affair lasted throughout the Guevaras’ marriage. Eventually, defendant grew weary of waiting for Jim to leave his wife, as he had promised on several occasions. Defendant gave him an ultimatum: chose her or Velia by June or July 1993.

The Guevaras lived in the Contour Place Apartments, apartment number 424. Allen Galloway had an office in a building across from the Guevaras’ apartment. On the day before Velia’s murder, Galloway’s housekeeper told him about a ear that had been sitting outside on Contour Street. *681 When he went outside to investigate, the car drove off as he walked toward it. The car was white and had an Enterprise Rent-A-Car logo with the letter “E” on its bumper. Galloway identified the defendant as the driver. He said the defendant seemed to be looking intently at building number four of the apartments. After the defendant drove away, Galloway went to his own car, and as he walked to his car, he saw defendant drive back to the same spot he first saw her car. He noticed the car go back and forth for about an hour.

The records kept by Enterprise Rent-A-Car indicate the defendant rented three cars. The first car was a white Ford Tempo, rented on May 20, 1993. On the day of the murder, the defendant traded the Tempo for a white Ford Escort. Later that same day, she traded the Escort for a red Chevrolet Baretta. The defendant had reported her car as stolen, but when the police recovered her car it showed no damage from a forced entry.

On the day of the murder, Jim played golf with a former co-worker. He was away from the apartment from early in the morning until about 4:00 p.m., when he returned to the apartment to find his wife dead.

Kathleen Cadena, property manager at the Guevaras’ apartment complex, arrived at work at about 8:00 a.m. on the day of the murder. At about 8:45 a.m., a woman later identified as the defendant came to the office door, stood outside the door, and then left. Sometime before 9:00 a.m., Cadena received a call from the answering sendee, which reported that a male caller had said a black Mazda in the back parking lot had its lights on. The caller said the car belonged to the resident in apartment 424. At 9:15 a.m., Cadena received a call from a female caller, who said a black car in the back parking lot had its lights on.

Shelley Georgiu, the leasing agent, arrived at the apartment offices around 9:30 a.m. About five minutes after she arrived, she answered a call from a woman who said a black Mazda in the back parking lot had its lights on. George Garza, the maintenance supervisor, told Georgiu that Velia had a black Mazda, so Georgiu left a message for Velia on the Guevaras’ answering machine.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 S.W.3d 677, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 3604, 2002 WL 1020642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salinas-v-state-texapp-2002.