Skruck v. State

740 S.W.2d 819, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8427, 1987 WL 3947
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 1, 1987
Docket01-86-0730-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 740 S.W.2d 819 (Skruck 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
Skruck v. State, 740 S.W.2d 819, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8427, 1987 WL 3947 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

EVANS, Chief Justice.

The appellant was convicted of the misdemeanor liquor violation of permitting an intoxicated person to remain on a licensed premises. The court found him guilty and assessed punishment at 10 days confinement, probated for one year, and a $300 fine.

Houston police officer L.P. Boutle testified that, as part of an investigative team, he entered a nightclub and observed a person who, in his opinion, was extremely intoxicated. This person was later identified as Ambrus Hightower. Officer Boutle noticed that Hightower had difficulty walking to the restroom and had to stop at the bar to regain his balance. While Hightower was at the bar, Officer Boutle saw the appellant look directly at Hightower. When Hightower returned from the restroom, he continued to drink and was never approached by the appellant. Officer Bou-tle questioned Hightower and noted that Hightower’s speech was slurred, his eyes were bloodshot, and his breath had a strong alcohol ordor.

The State alleged in an amended information that the appellant did:

while an agent, servant, and employee of W.F.K. Inc. Six., a person authorized to *821 sell beer at retail on premises licensed under the laws of Texas, knowingly permit an intoxicated person, Ambrus High-tower, to remain on the licensed premises. (Emphasis added.)

At trial, copies of the nightclub’s liquor permits were introduced into evidence as State’s Exhibit 1.

In points of error one through five, the appellant contends that such permits create a “premises permitted” and not a “premises licensed” as alleged. Thus, he argues: 1) that the trial court erred in allowing State’s Exhibit 1 into evidence; 2) that such evidence is legally and factually insufficient to prove that the club’s premises were “premises licensed;” and 3) that there is a fatal variance between the allegation in the amended information and the proof at trial.

The Alcoholic Beverage Code distinguishes between licenses and permits as to the type of beverage that can be legitimately sold. A license is issued for the sale of only beer; a permit is issued for the sale of beer, wine, and mixed beverages. See generally Tex.Alco.Bev.Code Ann. title 3, subtitles A, B (Vernon 1978). But the Code does not distinguish between types of premises, and the issuance of either a license or a permit creates a “licensed premises.” For example, the Code defines the term “premises” and then provides that “an applicant for a permit or license may designate a portion of the grounds, buildings, vehicles, and appurtenances to be excluded from the licensed premises.” Tex.Alco.Bev.Code Ann. sec. 11.49(b)(1) (Vernon Supp.1987) (emphasis added); see also sec. 101.04 (“[b]y accepting a license or permit, the holder ... [consents to inspection of] the licensed premises ...”); sec. 101.62 (“[n]o licensee or permittee ... may maintain or permit [offensive noise] ... on or near the licensed premises”); sec. 101.64 (“[n]o holder of a license or permit may possess or display on the licensed premises ... [indecent graphic material]”).

Accordingly, the club’s permit was properly admitted into evidence, and such proof was sufficient to show a licensed premises. We find no fatal variance between the allegation in the amended information and the proof at trial.

Points of error one through five are overruled.

In point of error six, the appellant contends that the trial court erred in admitting hearsay testimony on the identity of the allegedly intoxicated person.

Officer Boutle testified that he formed an opinion about the identity of the allegedly intoxicated person when Hightower stated his name and produced a driver’s license as verification. The appellant objected that such evidence was inadmissible on hearsay grounds.

A witness may assert the existence of a fact if his knowledge of that fact was gained though personal observation and reasonable inferences from that observation. Wilson v. State, 605 S.W.2d 284, 286 (Tex.Crim.App.1980) Thus, a police officer can testify about facts inferred from his personal observation of the printed name and the picture on the driver’s license combined with his observation of that person’s face and the person’s admission of his name. See id. at 286-87. Furthermore, this Court has held that testimony of declarations regarding the name by which a person is known is an exception to the hearsay rule. See Ortiz v. State, 661 S.W.2d 264, 266 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1983, no writ); see also Weems v. State, 148 Tex.Crim.R. 154, 185 S.W.2d 431 (1945).

The appellant’s sixth point of error is overruled.

In points of error seven through 15, the appellant contends that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to prove that he was “the agent, servant and employee of W.F.K. Six, Inc.” The appellant concedes that the State may allege in the conjunctive several methods of committing an offense, Vasquez v. State, 665 S.W.2d 484, 486 (Tex.Crim.App.1984), but argues that the terms “agent, servant and employee” are descriptive of the person charged; thus, the State must prove that he is an agent, and a servant, and an employee.

We reject this argument and hold, in accordance with the rule that the State *822 can indict in the conjunctive, that a person can be convicted of an offense under Tex. Alco.Bev.Code Ann. sec. 104.01 (Vernon Supp.1987) upon proof that he was either the agent, or the servant, or the employee.

We also find the evidence sufficient to support the appellant’s conviction. For purposes of section 104 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code, an agent is someone authorized by another to transact business or manage some affair for the other person; a servant is one employed by a master to perform service in his affairs and whose physical conduct in the performance of this service is controlled or is subject to the right of control of the master; and an employee is a person who works for another in return for compensation and is subject to the control of the other person. Ackley v. State, 592 S.W.2d 606, 608 (Tex.Crim.App.1980).

Officer Boutle testified that when he arrived at the club, the appellant was talking to the doormen. During the evening, Boutle saw the appellant talking to the employees, checking people coming into the club, going behind the bar and into the office, and entering the D.J. booth to speak with the disc jockey. Officer Boutle never observed the appellant sitting at a table having a drink. Also, after the police announced their presence, the appellant asked whether the disc jockey could continue playing music.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
740 S.W.2d 819, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8427, 1987 WL 3947, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/skruck-v-state-texapp-1987.