Simpson v. State

787 S.W.2d 539, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 630, 1990 WL 31930
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 22, 1990
Docket01-89-00463-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 787 S.W.2d 539 (Simpson 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
Simpson v. State, 787 S.W.2d 539, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 630, 1990 WL 31930 (Tex. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

OPINION

WARREN, Justice.

Appellant was charged by indictment with delivery of a simulated controlled substance. A jury found appellant guilty, and the court, having found two enhancement paragraphs true, assessed punishment at [541]*54130 years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections.

In three points of error, appellant complains that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support the jury verdict; (2) there is a fatal variance between the proof offered and the allegations in the indictment; and (3) if the conviction is affirmed, he will be denied due process because the allegations in the indictment did not provide proper notice of the accusation against him. All three points of error rely on the same argument by appellant, and we will consider them collectively.

Before appellant’s arrest, Officer C.B. Crosby and Officer L.P. Boutte were conducting a plain-clothed vice investigation at a club where appellant was. As they were getting ready to leave, appellant approached Officer Crosby and told him he had some good “hash” to sell him. Officer Crosby asked appellant to accompany him to his car in the parking lot to complete the sale. Appellant and the two officers went outside to the car, where appellant gave Officer Crosby a matchbox, containing a brown substance, in exchange for $20. Appellant was then placed under arrest and the substance was sent to a chemist to determine what it was. The laboratory analysis revealed that the substance was not “hash,” but was a simulated substance.

The crux of appellant’s complaint is that the indictment, as he reads it, alleges that he expressly told Officer Crosby that he was selling him “tetrahydrocannabinols,” but the proof offered at trial was that he told the officer that he was selling “hash” or “hashish.” He claims that the variance between the proof and the allegation is fatal, and tantamount to the evidence being insufficient to support the verdict, requiring us to reverse his conviction and to order an acquittal under Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 18, 98 S.Ct. 2141, 2150-51, 57 L.Ed.2d 1 (1978), and Greene v. Massey, 437 U.S. 19, 25, 98 S.Ct. 2151, 2154-55, 57 L.Ed.2d 15 (1978).

The relevant language used in the indictment reads:

Charlie Simpson ... on or about February 10, 1989, did ... intentionally and knowingly deliver by actual transfer to C.B. Crosby a simulated controlled substance and the Defendant expressly represented the substance to be a controlled substance, namely, tetrahydro-cannabinols. (Emphasis added.)

We must first point out that we do not agree with appellant’s interpretation of the language in the indictment. The indictment does not state that appellant expressly said to Officer Crosby that the substance he was selling was “tetrahydrocannabi-nols.” We find that the indictment states that appellant expressly represented to the officer that he was selling “a controlled substance.” Nothing more was required in the indictment to apprise appellant of the charge against him, because that language generally tracks the wording of the statute governing unlawful delivery under the Texas Simulated Controlled Substances Act. Tex.Health & Safety Code Ann. § 482.002 (Vernon Pamph.1990).1 Generally, an indictment which tracks the language of the penal statute in question is legally sufficient to provide the defendant with notice of the charged offense. Moreno v. State, 721 S.W.2d 295, 300 (Tex.Crim.App.1986).

The State alleged a violation under Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 482.002(a), which reads:

(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or intentionally manufactures with the intent to deliver or delivers a simulated controlled substance and the person:
(1) expressly represents the substance to be a controlled substance;
(2) represents the substance to be a controlled substance in a manner that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the substance is a controlled substance; or
(3) states to the person receiving or intended to receive the simulated con[542]*542trolled substance that the person may successfully represent the substance to be a controlled substance to a third party.

Though not required for a valid indictment, the State has chosen to add two specific terms in its allegation against appellant. First, the State has alleged that the mode of committing the crime was by an “express” representation. Second, the State has set out the chemical name for the controlled substance, “tetrahydrocannabi-nols,” that it alleges appellant expressly represented he was selling. We will discuss each specific description in the indictment separately.

Subject to rare exceptions, an indictment that tracks the words of the penal statute in question is legally sufficient, and definitions of terms and elements, which are defined within the code, are essentially evidentiary and need not be alleged, unless the definition provides for more than one manner or means to commit the act or omission. In such cases, the State must allege, upon timely request, the particular manner or means it seeks to establish. Lewis v. State, 659 S.W.2d 429, 431 (Tex.Crim.App.1983).

Here, the State has alleged that appellant expressly represented the simulated substance to be a controlled substance, which falls under § 482.002(a)(1). Failure of an indictment to state the manner and means used in commission of a crime is not in and of itself fundamental error; however, once it has been alleged, it must be proven, just as any other allegation. Edlund v. State, 677 S.W.2d 204, 209 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1984, no pet.). Where unnecessary matter is descriptive of that which is legally essential to the charged crime, it must be proven as alleged even though needlessly stated. Polk v. State, 749 S.W.2d 813, 816 (Tex.Crim.App.1988).

The additional term “expressly” indicates the mode of committing the crime alleged by the State; therefore, that particular allegation must be proven. The State presented evidence that appellant approached Officer Crosby in a club and told him he had some “hash” to sell. Officer Boutte, present when appellant delivered the substance to Crosby in the club parking lot, testified that appellant said the substance he was selling was “hashish.” The State also proved that “hash” or “hashish” is a controlled substance in Texas. The evidence, therefore, proved that the appellant expressly represented to the officers that he was selling a controlled substance.

When a term used in the indictment is defined in the statute, it generally need not be further alleged in the indictment. Garcia v. State, 747 S.W.2d 379, 380 (Tex.Crim.App.1988).

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Related

Simpson v. State
821 S.W.2d 622 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
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818 S.W.2d 782 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1991)
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814 S.W.2d 839 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Cleveland v. State
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Grant v. State
802 S.W.2d 428 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Jenkins v. State
788 S.W.2d 677 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1990)
Simpson v. State
787 S.W.2d 539 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
787 S.W.2d 539, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 630, 1990 WL 31930, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simpson-v-state-texapp-1990.