Thomas v. State

788 S.W.2d 887, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 740, 1990 WL 38941
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 5, 1990
DocketNo. A14-88-00904-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 788 S.W.2d 887 (Thomas 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
Thomas v. State, 788 S.W.2d 887, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 740, 1990 WL 38941 (Tex. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

MAJORITY OPINION

JUNELL, Justice.

A jury convicted appellant of aggravated robbery and the court assessed punishment at confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections for seventy-five years and a fine of $10,000. Appellant brings five points of error alleging: (1) and (2) unduly suggestive photo and lineup identification procedures; (3) improperly failing to instruct the jury on eyewitness identification; (4) improperly sustaining the State’s objection to jury argument concerning appellant’s in-court identification; (5) and the overruling of appellant’s motion to quash the indictment for failure to prepare a grand jury memorandum. We affirm.

Complainant was visiting with her neighbor in the front yard on a June evening near sundown when she was approached by appellant who asked complainant if her adult son was at home. Complainant recognized appellant from his previous contacts with her son who was not then at home. Appellant asked if he and his female companion could wait inside for the son to return. Complainant agreed and the three sat in the well-lighted kitchen for about an hour and talked while drinking beer. Appellant asked permission to use the bathroom facilities. Upon his return to the kitchen appellant advised complainant that her toilet was overflowing. She went to check. She observed a full roll of paper had been stuffed into the toilet bowl. When complainant turned, she saw appellant with a handgun pointed at her. Appellant told complainant to cooperate. Appellant’s female companion used grey duct tape to restrain complainant, placing the tape over complainant’s hands, legs and face. Complainant could see through a slit in the tape that appellant was taking her TV, clothing, money, jewelry, foodstuff, and other property. Later complainant was placed on the bathroom floor and appellant poured approximately ten bottles of alcohol near and around her. Appellant disconnected the air conditioner and placed a lighted candle near a pile of clothing, turned on the gas jets in the kitchen and drove away in complainant’s car. At approximately 3 a.m. complainant freed herself and called help. Police arrived and investigated. The first officer on the scene testified there was a strong odor of cooking gas and alcohol in the house. He found no usable fingerprints or other evidence. He said complainant gave him a description of her assailants but could not name them.

After two weeks elapsed, complainant was visited in her home by a Houston police sergeant who displayed five photos from which she was asked to try to identify the male assailant. The officer testified that complainant became “frightened or nervous” when she was handed the photo spread. She initially chose photo # 5 as being “similar”. The sergeant told her the # 5 person was not a suspect. She immediately then chose # 3 which was the photo of appellant.

More than two years after the offense, complainant and her son went to Los Ange-les to take part in a police “lineup” procedure wherein appellant was identified by both complainant and her son. A Los An-geles police sergeant described at trial the actual procedures used for this lineup.

In the first and second points of error appellant complains of the overruling of his pretrial motion to suppress the photo spread identification by the complainant and to suppress the Los Angeles lineup identification. Appellant contends that the methods used by the police while showing photographs to complainant in her home were impermissibly suggestive and a violation of due process. Appellant points to the undisputed fact that the police officer informed complainant that her initial choice was not a suspect in the case. The record shows the officer did not tell complainant she had to pick one of the five people displayed in the photos, nor did the photos have any indicia to suggest the persons were in police custody at the time the pho[889]*889tos were taken. The photo array depicted five Black males of about the same age and with similar facial hair. Appellant contends that the lineup procedure in Los An-geles was tainted by the earlier challenged photo identification process, citing Gonzalez v. State, 752 S.W.2d 695 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1988, pet. ref'd) (where the defendant was shown in “jail garb” with letters and numbers on a sign, and police told complainant she had to identify one of the five persons shown); and Lang v. State, 747 S.W.2d 428 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1988, no pet.)(where showing the photo of a single “suspect” was deemed suggestive).

Appellant further contends that, because both the mother and son were in the same room during the Los Angeles lineup, an unfair opportunity was created for them to influence each other, citing Chaisson v. State, 761 S.W.2d 77 (Tex.App.-Beaumont 1988, no pet.)(eontaining an extensive review of proper criteria for reliable pre-trial identification1, and where police explained to witnesses their investigation findings while showing the photos of the only two persons suspected of the offense).

We find nothing impermissibly “suggestive” about the photo array or the procedure used by police in obtaining the identification of appellant by complainant. (The most harm that could have resulted was a reduction in the number of photos viewed by complainant from five down to four.) Having found the photo spread was not improper, there is no reason to consider the Los Angeles lineup identification was tainted by the earlier photo identification. However, the lineup itself was not inherently improper. Testimony of the Los An-geles police officer as to the process used shows no unfairness, and complainant testified that her son was in the back of the viewing room and not in communication with her when she made her positive identification of appellant. Further, we find the in-court identification by complainant was valid and admissible.

A defendant who contends on appeal that a trial court erred in allowing an in court identification of him by a complaining witness has a difficult and heavy burden to sustain, for unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that a complaining witness’ in court identification of a defendant as the assailant was tainted by improper pre-trial identification procedures and confrontations, the in court identification is always admissible.

Jackson v. State, 628 S.W.2d 446, 448, (Tex. Crim. App. [Panel Op.] 1982); Mullen v. State, 722 S.W.2d 808, 814 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1987, no pet.).

Appellant’s points of error one and two are overruled.

Appellant’s third point of error complains of the overruling of his objection to the court’s failure to instruct the jury on how to evaluate eyewitness testimony on the identification of the complainant’s assailants. Appellant requested the following instruction pertaining to in-court identification:

A defendant in a criminal ease is entitled to pretrial identification procedures that are fair and unsuggestive and that any court identification is not admissible evidence if it results from an unfair or suggestive pretrial identification procedure.

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

Related

Green v. State
835 S.W.2d 142 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
788 S.W.2d 887, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 740, 1990 WL 38941, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thomas-v-state-texapp-1990.