Sorce v. State

736 S.W.2d 847
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 6, 1987
DocketNo. C14-86-633-CR
StatusPublished

This text of 736 S.W.2d 847 (Sorce 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
Sorce v. State, 736 S.W.2d 847 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

JUNELL, Justice.

A jury convicted appellant of attempted theft of property valued at $20,000 or more, enhanced by one prior conviction, and assessed punishment at 20 years in the Texas Department of Corrections and a fine of $10,000. The conviction arose out of appellant’s participation in an herbal cancer treatment promotion. He raises eighteen points of error involving the adequacy of the indictment, sufficiency of the evidence, the validity of a search warrant, admissibility of tape recordings of conversations with other parties to the crime, and the court’s failure to instruct the jury on a lesser-included offense. We affirm.

In the first three points of error appellant attacks the adequacy of the indictment and urges that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to quash the indictment, his motion for new trial, and his motion in arrest of judgment. All three motions were based upon the supposed failure of the indictment to allege that an offense against the law was committed by the appellant.

The indictment alleged that appellant did unlawfully:

attempt to acquire and otherwise exercise control over property, other than real property, namely, money owned by LEO FISHER, Also Known as FRANK FISHBECK, a person having a greater right to possession of the property than the Defendant, and hereafter styled the Complainant, of the value of twenty thousand dollars or more and with the intent to deprive the Complainant of the property by withholding the property from the Complainant permanently, and without the effective consent of the Complainant, by doing an act with the specific intent to commit the offense of felony [851]*851theft of twenty thousand dollars or more, which act amounted to more than mere preparation that tended to, but failed to effect the commission of the intended offense, namely: the Defendant placed an advertisement in a Tucson, Arizona Newspaper, known as the Tucson Citizen, which advertisement is duplicated below, and by representing to the Complainant in a telephone conversation that Landford and Associates could arrange for the Complainant’s brother to be treated for cancer herbally in a clinic in Africa by a Doctor Mario Kirov and that a fee of twenty thousand dollars or more was the cost of Doctor Kirov’s Cancer Cure Treatment Program which was required to be paid in Africa after arrival for treatment:

An actual-size photocopy of an advertisement was included after the last colon. An enhancement paragraph followed.

Appellant argues that the indictment fails to allege attempted theft because placing an advertisement in a newspaper and representing in a telephone conversation that Landford & Associates could arrange for someone to be treated for cancer are innocent acts that fail to show the commission of the offense of attempted theft absent additional allegations to the effect that the cancer cure treatment was unavailable or worthless. He cites Posey v. State, 545 S.W.2d 162 (Tex.Crim.App.1977).

Appellant focuses only on the specific allegations that follow the first colon detailing the particular acts of placing the advertisement and making representations. He ignores the first half of the paragraph that tracks the language of the attempt and theft provisions of the penal code thereby alleging each and every essential element of the offense of attempt. See Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 15.01 (Vernon Supp.1987). The language following the first colon sets out factual allegations relating to the underlying offense of theft. “There need not be an allegation of all constituent elements of the offense of theft in an information or charge dealing with the offense of attempt.” Inman v. State, 650 S.W.2d 417, 420 (Tex.Crim.App.1983). That the state pleaded more specifically than it was required to do does not vitiate the indictment. Id; Johnson v. State, 384 S.W.2d 885, 886 (Tex.Crim.App.1964). We overrule points of error one, two, and three.

A quick summary of the evidence needs to precede discussion of the next points of error. Leo Paul Fisher, a special agent with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, called a toll-free number found in an ad in the Tucson Citizen newspaper offering a “proven effective” herbal cancer treatment for sale. Fisher called that number twice and left a message (using the name Frank Fishbeck). He was called back by someone who identified himself as John Barnett of Landford & Associates. Fisher said he had a brother who was dying of cancer. Barnett told Fisher about an effective herbal cancer cure a Dr. Mario Kirov, working out of a clinic in Swaziland, South Africa, could perform for $25,000, payable by cashier’s check in one sum or stretched out over time. Barnett promised to send written materials. Later, Fisher called a Houston number provided by the answering service and again talked to Barnett. Using a number supplied by Barnett, Fisher also called Dr. Kirov in Pretoria, South Africa. Kirov told Mr. Fisher that “I cure any type of cancer.” He said that he had already cured, in secret, over 1,000 cancer patients. “I can cure cancer like a cold in the nose,” Dr. Kirov said.

In other phone calls Barnett said another person from the same office of Landford & Associates would be calling soon. Appellant, James Sorce, called Mr. Fisher and told him that Kirov had cured him of kidney disease with orchid seeds and gave assurances that the treatment worked. He stated: “I know myself, personally, of twelve people that I saw myself that had cancer.... absolutely, positively Dr. Kirov can cure cancer.” Fisher also received brochures and testimonials (admitted into evidence) describing the herbal treatment and Dr. Kirov’s clinic with a form at the end to send for more information by writing Land-ford & Associates, 4500 Bissonnet, Suite 380, Houston, Texas. John Barnett provided visa application forms, gave instructions [852]*852on filling them out, and offered to get the applications processed in Houston.

The six telephone calls were taped and forwarded to law enforcement people in Houston. A search warrant affidavit was submitted by Rose Ann Reeser, a Texas assistant attorney general in consumer fraud protection. Ms. Reeser knew appellant as the former president of Major Funding Corporation and had been to his offices at 4500 Bissonnet, Suites 380 and 390. Telephone company personnel reported that the Houston number Fisher had called was billed to Major Funding Corporation at 4500 Bissonnet Suite 380. Reeser’s affidavit summarizes the calls detailed above and attached and incorporated by reference copies of the advertisement and brochures sent to Fisher by Barnett. The affidavit describes the offices at 4500 Bissonnet and states that suites 380 and 390 are contiguous and room 355 was across the hall and (according to building management personnel) leased by Landford & Associates.

The search warrant authorized a search of all three suites for records and documents pertinent to the purported herbal cancer cure. When the warrant was executed, appellant was found at a desk in suite 380. He denied knowing anything about John Landford, John Barnett, or Landford & Associates.

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Bluebook (online)
736 S.W.2d 847, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sorce-v-state-texapp-1987.