Smith v. State

595 S.W.2d 120, 1980 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1089
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas·Decided February 6, 1980·No. 58288·Published·Cited by 71 cases

Opinion

OPINION

TOM G. DAVIS, Judge.

Appeal is taken from a conviction for murder. After finding appellant guilty, the jury assessed punishment at fifty years.

Augustina Fletcher testified that she and her husband, Bernice Fletcher, were working at a Stop and Go Store in Dallas on January 3, 1977. Fletcher related that two men entered the store and approached her husband who was near the cash register. One of the men pulled a revolver out of his shirt. While Fletcher’s husband struggled with the first man, the second man produced a sawed-off shotgun from under his coat. Bernice Fletcher died as a result of a wound from the shotgun. Fletcher identified appellant as the individual with the shotgun.

In his first ground of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in overruling his objection to the in-court identification testimony by Fletcher. He maintains that the State’s failure to produce one of the sets of photographs which was used during a pretrial photo spread deprived him of his right to cross-examination. He further contends that without the set of photographs, the State could not discharge its burden of showing that Fletcher’s identification testimony was based upon her observations at the time of the offense.

The court held a pretrial hearing on the admissibility of Fletcher’s identification tes *122 timony. Fletcher testified that the men entered the store about 3:30 p. m. They approached her husband at the cash register. She stated that she was standing to the rear of her husband and observed appellant display a shotgun which had been hidden under his coat.

One week after the offense, Officer E. S. Carlin, of the Dallas Police Department, showed Fletcher a set of black and white photographs. All of the photographs were mug shots of black men of approximately the same age. Fletcher related that Carlin placed the pictures on a table and asked if she recognized any of the men. Fletcher picked out a picture of appellant.

Following the first photo spread, Fletcher told Carlin that she would like to see some color photographs. Pursuant to her request, Fletcher was shown several color mug shots of black men of approximately the same age. Fletcher testified that without any type of hint or suggestion from Carlin, she once again picked out a picture of appellant. Lastly; the witness stated that even if she had never seen the photographs, she would still have been able to identify appellant, based upon her opportunity to observe him at the time of the offense.

During cross-examination, appellant’s counsel requested that he be supplied with both sets of photographs which were shown to Fletcher. The State turned over the second set of photographs. However, the prosecutor informed the court that the first set of photographs was no longer available. After the court asked whether the State had access to the first set of photographs, the prosecutor stated:

“MISS POTTS: No, sir. I requested them from Investigator Carlin who was the man who showed Mrs. Fletcher both sets of photographs. He informed me that the first group which is the black and white group had not been kept together and it was not put in his file on this case. He did keep the colored photographs in his file but the rest were returned to the Dallas Police Department and he doesn’t know what other photographs were used.
“THE COURT: You made an effort to secure those photographs?
“MISS POTTS: Yes, I have.
“THE COURT: They’re not available to the State?
“MISS POTTS: They’re not available.”

At the conclusion of the hearing, the court ruled that Fletcher’s identification testimony would be admissible. The court found that hei identification was based solely upon viewing the appellant at the time of the offense. The court further found that her ability to identify appellant was not influenced by having seen the photo spreads.

We find that there is evidence in the record to support the trial court’s finding that Fletcher had an opportunity to view appellant at the time of' the offense and that her identification testimony was based upon those observations. Appellant’s contention that the State was required to produce the first set of photographs in order for Fletcher’s testimony to be admissible is without merit.

We further find that to the extent that the State’s failure to produce the first set of photographs hampered appellant’s ability to cross-examine Fletcher, the error, if any, was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The record reflects that Fletcher was cross-examined extensively with the aid of the second set of photographs. Her description of the first set of photographs and the manner by which she selected appellant’s picture in no way suggests any improper action by Officer Carlin. Even if appellant could have shown that the photographs themselves were in some way suggestive, Fletcher’s testimony would have nevertheless been admissible. She testified and the court found that her identification was based upon observing appellant at the time of the offense. Thus, the testimony had an independent origin of any impermis-sibly suggestive pretrial photographic identification procedure. This independent origin rendered the testimony admissible. See, Komurke v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 562 *123 S.W.2d 230; Bermudez v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 533 S.W.2d 806. Appellant’s first ground of error is overruled.

In his second ground of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in admitting a mug shot of appellant into evidence. He maintains that the mug shot constituted evidence of an extraneous offense because it contained the notation “Police — Dallas— Texas — 155843—6/27/76.” The instant offense occurred on January 3, 1977.

When the State offered the mug shot of appellant into evidence, the court asked if there were any objections to its admission. In response to this inquiry, appellant’s counsel stated:

“MR. HELFT (defense attorney): We have no objections, Your Honor. Mug shots are not admissible in front of the jury.
“THE COURT: Overrule the objection. It will be admitted.”

The Court has held that upon a proper and timely objection, a mug shot which tends to show the commission of an extraneous offense is inadmissible. See, Richardson v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 536 S.W.2d 221. The proper procedure is to remove all identification marks from the picture which tend to show the commission of an extraneous offense. See, Huerta v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 390 S.W.2d 770.

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Smith v. State, 595 S.W.2d 120, 1980 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1089 (Tex. 1980).

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