Tyson v. State

873 S.W.2d 53, 1993 WL 306854
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 16, 1994
Docket12-90-00336-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 873 S.W.2d 53 (Tyson 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
Tyson v. State, 873 S.W.2d 53, 1993 WL 306854 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

HOLCOMB, Justice.

This is an appeal from a conviction of engaging in organized criminal activity to which Appellant pled “not guilty.” The trial was before a jury which found Appellant guilty and assessed his punishment at seventy-five (75) years imprisonment and a fine of $10,000. We will affirm.

Appellant brings six points of error on appeal. In his first point of error, Appellant complains that the trial court erred by failing to grant a motion for an instructed verdict because the evidence presented was insufficient as a matter of law to prove that Appellant intentionally and knowingly engaged in the conduct alleged in the indictment. The indictment charged Appellant with committing the offense on or about the 18th day of October 1989 as follows:

[W]ith intent to establish, maintain and participate in a combination with two and more of the following named persons, to-wit: KENNETH RAY TYSON, BETTY BRASHER KEAN, JACK LAMAR JA-RUS, CATHERINE SIGLEY DYKE, LINDA KIRBY ALDRIDGE, PEGGY SUE KOELMEL, PATSY TIDWELL WHITTENBERG, and THOMAS VINSON LEE, and in the profits of a combination with two and more of the afore-named persons, conspire and agree with one and more of the afore-named persons to commit and did commit the criminal offense of unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation, and distribution of a controlled substance, namely methamphetamine of less than 200 grams but at least 28 grams and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, namely methamphetamine of less than 28 grams through deception, and the said Defendant and one and more of the afore-named persons pursuant to said agreement, did then and there perform an overt act, to-wit: intentionally and knowingly possess a controlled substance namely methamphetamine of less than 28 grams....

In reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence challenge, we are required to look at all evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Buxton v. *56 State, 699 S.W.2d 212, 213 (Tex.Cr.App.1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1189,106 S.Ct. 2929, 91 L.Ed.2d 556 (1986). We have carefully reviewed the six volumes which contain the statement of facts and set forth all the facts in a light most favorable to the verdict.

Acting upon information received from informants, narcotics officers of the Texas Department of Public Safety (hereinafter “DPS”) began an investigation of the occupants of motel room number 141 of the Day’s Inn located in Lufkin, Texas. The motel room, registered to Peggy Sue Koelmel, was placed under surveillance. Numerous individuals were observed entering and leaving the motel room and testimony was offered at trial that this was consistent with narcotic trafficking. Around noon, an individual identified as Catherine Dyke left the motel room, in a leased 1989 Chevrolet. She was alone and drove to Arby’s restaurant in Nacogdo-ches, where she parked beside a white 1989 Oldsmobile with dark tinted windows, registered to and driven by Betty Kean; Appellant was with Kean in the vehicle. Dyke got out of the Chevrolet and got into the Oldsmobile where she remained for approximately six (6) minutes. No one from either vehicle went into the restaurant. Dyke returned to her vehicle and drove by a circuitous route back to the motel room in Lufkin. Shortly after Dyke returned to the motel room she, Linda Aldridge, and Peggy Sue Koelmel packed their luggage, left the room and drove toward Houston in the leased Chevrolet. The officers decided they had probable cause to arrest Dyke. They had an arrest warrant issued and instructed a DPS trooper to stop Dyke, Koelmel, and Aldridge in the Chevrolet. A subsequent inventory of the car revealed an aggravated amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia used in connection with the drugs found. Approximately three (3) ounces of methamphetamine were in a tupperware bowl.

Meanwhile back at the motel room in Luf-kin, Patsy Tidwell Whittenberg and Thomas Vinson Lee were arrested. There, officers found additional drugs and paraphernalia. The motel records reflected that a call had been made from Room 141 to Betty Kean’s telephone number in San Augustine, Texas. An arrest warrant out of San Augustine County was issued for Appellant, James Boyce Tyson, because Dyke had told investigators that she bought the drugs from Tyson. When officers arrived at the location to arrest Appellant, he was there with his younger brother, Kenneth Ray Tyson, and his step-son, Jack Lamar Jams. After he was arrested, a search warrant was obtained for the mobile home, which was located in a rural area of San Augustine County. Betty Kean was not present nor was her vehicle, the white Oldsmobile. A search of the trailer house revealed numerous glass beakers, metal tubing, wires, safety goggles, funnels, filter paper, walkie-talkies, vacuum pumps, cordless phones, heavy plastic and rubber aprons, a sawed-off shot-gun, three rifles, a pistol, a jug of distilled water and other paraphernalia. At trial, testimony was adduced that these items were used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. There was also a prevailing odor inside the trailer house identified as the odor emitted during the manufacture of methamphetamine. A beaker containing caffeine which is used as a “cutting agent” was found in a microwave oven. A small amount of methamphetamine was discovered in a door pocket of a 1974 Pontiac located on the premises. In a bedroom inside the trailer a plate and razor blade were found. Scrapings from the plate and razor were determined to be methamphetamine. Also found in the trailer house were informal documents reflecting Betty Kean had purchased the trailer from D. Webb, paying $200.00 dollars down, and subsequently paying $800.00 as payment in full. Appellant signed the pay-off slip as a witness. All three occupants of the trailer were arrested and placed in the San Augustine County Jail.

Betty Kean was later arrested at the jail when she went to visit Appellant. The subsequent search of her white Oldsmobile revealed a rental slip for a storage building located in Nacogdoches. A search warrant was issued for the storage building. As officers approached the storage building, they noticed the strong distinctive odor of chemicals used in making methamphetamine coming from it. After cutting a lock on the door to enter the building they discovered numerous flasks, extension cords, large glass beak *57 ers, tubing, fans and heaters among other apparatus used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. The rental agreement was signed by Appellant, using the same address used by Betty Kean with the telephone company for her trailer house. Personnel at the rental facility identified Appellant as the individual who leased the building in June; all rental payments were paid with cash. At trial, the State called Catherine Dyke as a hostile witness. She admitted making the phone call to the San Augustine number for the stated purpose of meeting with Appellant’s brother, Kenneth Ray Tyson, in Nac-ogdoches to give him $50.00. She said she was surprised when Appellant showed up.

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Bluebook (online)
873 S.W.2d 53, 1993 WL 306854, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tyson-v-state-texapp-1994.