Stokes v. State

853 S.W.2d 227, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 1220, 1993 WL 134333
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 29, 1993
Docket12-88-00163-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 853 S.W.2d 227 (Stokes 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
Stokes v. State, 853 S.W.2d 227, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 1220, 1993 WL 134333 (Tex. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

RAMEY, Chief Justice.

Following a four-month jury trial, Appellant Billy Wayne Stokes was convicted on May 19, 1988, of the offense of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and sentenced to 15 years’ confinement. On appeal, Appellant raises four points of error. We affirm the conviction.

By his first point of error, Appellant alleges that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion for directed verdict. We will construe this point as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction. Madden v. State, 799 S.W.2d 683 (Tex.Cr.App.1990). In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, the relevant question is whether after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 at 320, 99 S.Ct. 2781 at 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154, 158-161 (Tex.Cr.App.1991). In a case where the conviction is based upon circumstantial evidence, the conviction cannot be sustained if the circumstances do not exclude every other reasonable hypothesis except the guilt of the appellant; in other words, if the evidence supports a reasonable inference other than the appellant’s guilt, a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is not rational. Goff v. State, 777 S.W.2d 418 (Tex.Cr.App.1989); Humason v. State, 728 S.W.2d 363, 366 (Tex.Cr.App.1987); Alvarez v. State, 813 S.W.2d 222 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1991, pet ref’d). 1

*229 In the instant case, Appellant was indicted and convicted for violation of § 4.03 of the Controlled Substances Act, Tex.Rev. Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 4476-15 § 4.03 (Vernon Supp.1987) 2 , which provides:

(a) Except as authorized by this Act, a person commits an offense if he knowingly or intentionally manufactures, delivers, or possesses with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group l. 3
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(c) A person commits an aggravated offense if the person commits an offense under Subsection (a) of this section and the amount of the controlled substance manufactured, delivered, or possessed with intent to manufacture or deliver is, by aggregate weight, including any adulterants or dilutants, 28 grams or more.
(d) An offense under Subsection (c) of this section is:
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(3) punishable by confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections for life or for a term of not more than 99 years or less than 15 years, and a fine not to exceed $250,000 if the amount of the controlled substance manufactured, delivered, or possessed with intent to manufacture or deliver is, by aggregate weight, including any adulterants or dilu-tants, 400 grams or more.

Possession is defined as “actual care, custody, control or management” over the controlled substance. Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 4476-15, § 1.02(36).

In order to establish the offense, the State must prove that Appellant exercised care, control or management over the contraband and that he knew the matter possessed was contraband. Humason, 728 S.W.2d at 364; Denbow v. State, 837 S.W.2d 235, 236 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1992, pet. refused). Both of these elements may be proven circumstantially; however, the evidence must establish affirmative links, beyond mere presence, between the accused and the controlled substance. Humason, 728 S.W.2d at 365; Denbow, at 236.

Appellant argues that the evidence in the instant case was insufficient to support his conviction because it only established his “mere presence” at the scene and did not affirmatively link him to the contraband. We disagree. We will set forth the evidence presented at trial. Since, the statement of facts spans more than 14,000 pages, the evidence has been divided into four categories: (1) The Rains County Search; (2) The Hood County Search, (3) Other Evidence; and (4) Testimony of Expert Witnesses.

(1) The Rains County SEARCH

At about 3:00 a.m. on June 17, 1987, an individual approached Rex Wilemon (“Wil-emon”), a Trooper with the Department of Public Safety (“D.P.S.”) Highway Patrol in Sulphur Springs, Texas, and gave him some information. Wilemon who was on duty and in uniform at that time, took the individual to D.P.S. headquarters where Wilemon obtained additional information. Wilemon then contacted Dan Easterwood (“Easterwood”), a narcotics investigator with the D.P.S. The individual left D.P.S. headquarters, and thereafter, at approximately 5:00 a.m., Easterwood and D.P.S. narcotics Sergeant Frank Montana arrived there.

Using the instructions given by the individual, Wilemon, Easterwood and Montana drove an unmarked car past the location described by the individual. As they approached the location, their windows were rolled up and the air conditioning was on. Nevertheless, both Wilemon and Easter-wood smelled a strong sour-ether odor that they identified with methamphetamine *230 labs. According to Wilemon, at the time he first smelled this odor, they were approximately one-quarter to one-half mile from the suspect location, a trailer house located at Route 1, Box 102, Brashear, Texas (the “trailer”). As they drove past the trailer, the odor was very strong. Similarly, East-erwood testified that they were approximately 400 yards from the trailer at the time he began to smell the familiar, chemical odor or “stink” of a methamphetamine lab. Both testified that even though it was only about 5:30 a.m., all of the trailer’s interior lights appeared to be on. Wilemon also noticed a black and red dual-wheeled pickup parked at the trailer as well as some other vehicles that he could not readily identify because of the darkness. The mailbox in front of the trailer bore the name “D. Gattis”.

After driving past the trailer, they returned to headquarters, obtained a search warrant and recruited additional peace officers to assist in executing the warrant. Because the D.P.S. erroneously believed the trailer to be located in Hopkins County not Rains County, the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office was notified. Rick Easter-wood, Dan Easterwood’s older brother, who was also a D.P.S. narcotics investigator, drove to the trailer at approximately 7:30 a.m. and thereafter established surveillance on the trailer. According to Rick Easterwood, no one arrived at or departed from the trailer between 7:30 a.m. and the time of the search.

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Bluebook (online)
853 S.W.2d 227, 1993 Tex. App. LEXIS 1220, 1993 WL 134333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stokes-v-state-texapp-1993.