Thomas v. State

693 S.W.2d 7, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 7103
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided May 2, 1985·No. C14-82-584CR·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

OPINION

JUNELL, Justice.

A jury convicted appellant of burglary of a building with intent to commit theft and, after finding an enhancement paragraph true, sentenced him to the maximum term of 99 years in the Texas Department of Corrections and imposed a $10,000 fine.

This court affirmed the judgment of the trial court on May 5,1983, because retained counsel had failed to file a brief. In answer to a post-conviction application for writ of habeas corpus, the Court of Criminal Appeals ordered that the appellant be granted an out-of-time appeal because of *9 ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal, but declined to address whether appellant received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial.

Appellant’s counsel on appeal brings forty-three grounds of error that can be grouped in three categories: (1) improper jury argument at both the guilt-innocence and punishment stages of trial, (2) prosecu-torial misconduct and (3) ineffective assistance of counsel.

A summary of the testimony at trial will help put the grounds of error in context. Two Houston police officers responded to a silent alarm at a Houston convenience store shortly after 4:00 a.m. February 5, 1982. They observed two men inside the well lit store. When the men observed the officers, they ran out the back door. One got away. The officers chased appellant through an empty lot or field behind the store and apprehended him at a nearby apartment complex. Both officers positively identified appellant as the man they saw in the store and chased down. Appellant testified that he was walking past the scene of the burglary and observed two men with covered faces “packing something out of the back of the store.” Appellant walked on when suddenly a car came around the corner toward him. He began to run but stopped when a police officer identified himself and ordered him to stop. He told the officers he was not involved in the burglary.

Later, in re-direct and cross-examination appellant testified that hé had been beaten by the arresting officers and hospitalized. The state put into evidence the hospital records to refute the claims that appellant had been injured by police.

During the first cross-examination the prosecutor brought out that appellant had within the previous ten years been convicted of larceny, aggravated assault on a police officer, felony burglary of a building, attempted burglary of a habitation, and possession of stolen United States mail.

It also came to light during the trial that appellant had been charged with possession of property stolen in a burglary of Kipper-man’s Pawn Shop (Kipperman burglary). This information was originally introduced by the defendant in the form of a newspaper article including a picture of appellant. The article described the burglary, the efforts of the complainant to find the perpetrators and the fact that appellant had been arrested in connection with the burglary. Then the article quoted a letter by appellant. After the defense offered the article and picture the state, in re-cross examination, had appellant read the entire article to the jury without objection.

Another fact initially brought forward by the appellant himself was that the prosecutor had offered him a plea bargain of two years’ confinement on the charge if appellant would plead guilty.

In grounds of error one through thirteen, appellant asserts that the prosecutor in several instances made improper jury argument at the punishment phase of the trial. Defense counsel made no objection to any part of the argument at trial, so the question before us is this: assuming that most of the argument complained of was improper, was it so prejudicial that an instruction to disregard would not have cured the harm? Romo v. State, 631 S.W.2d 504, 505 (Tex.Crim.App.1982).

The most egregiously improper argument complained of is quoted here. The portions listed in specific grounds of error are emphasized.

The only thing that he could bring before you to ask for a light sentence is a side bar comment he threw in about offering him two years to plead guilty, which he had (sic) accepted. And why would I offer someone like this two years to plead guilty? Why? Because he has been nothing but a constant pain to me since I’ve been in this court. I have never disliked a defendant as much as I hate McKinley Dale Thomas. You do not know why, but I hate him; and there is more to it than what you’ve seen today, believe me.
And that’s why he was offered two years, just to get him out of here. I *10 just wanted to get him out of here; and I would take any grief from the District Attorney, John Holmes, or by my Chief Prosecutor, R.K. Hansen, for giving him two years. I would take that grief from them and answer to them, the reason I gave him such a light sentence is because he has driven me nuts.

The state concedes other portions of the argument were improper, including: “McKinley Thomas is one of the creepiest people I’ve ever met.” “He wasted my time; he’s wasted your time.” “I hate him.” “He’s useless.” At another point the prosecutor went outside the record when he told the jury he made an extra effort to obtain the medical records because if the appellant had been beaten, he would have prosecuted the officers involved.

These arguments are clearly improper. The prosecutor should not have gone outside the record and testified to the jury about his plea bargain decision and efforts to obtain medical records. Cannon v. State, 668 S.W.2d 401 (Tex.Crim.App.1984), Mathews v. State, 635 S.W.2d 532 (Tex.Crim.App.1982), Duffy v. State, 567 S.W.2d 197 (Tex.Crim.App.) (en banc), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 991, 99 S.Ct. 593, 58 L.Ed.2d 666 (1978). He should not have injected his personal opinion as to appellant’s character. Villalobos v. State, 568 S.W.2d 134 (Tex.Crim.App.1978). He should not have inferred that he had information not available to the jury. Stearn v. State, 487 S.W.2d 734 (Tex.Crim.App.1972).

We do not condone the prosecutor’s conduct. But we cannot say that had the defense counsel objected and obtained an instruction to disregard the harm would not have been cured. In all likelihood, just one objection at the beginning of the prosecutor’s explanation of his plea bargain offer would have cut him off and cooled his zeal. Grounds of error one through thirteen are overruled.

The appellant next complains of five instances of allegedly improper argument by the trial prosecutor at the guilt-innocence stage of the trial. Again, no objections were made at trial and any error was waived. Grounds of error fourteen through nineteen are overruled.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Thomas v. State, 693 S.W.2d 7, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 7103 (Tex. Ct. App. 1985).

693 S.W.2d 7 (Thomas v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Clyde Washington v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2009
Roy Lee Fox v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008
Alma Montes v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2004
Mayfield v. State
828 S.W.2d 568 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Aranda v. State
736 S.W.2d 698 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Cooke v. State
735 S.W.2d 928 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Ruiz v. State
726 S.W.2d 587 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Miller v. State
728 S.W.2d 133 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Farrar v. State
701 S.W.2d 32 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985)