Vargas v. State

736 S.W.2d 843
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 5, 1987
DocketNo. 04-85-00278-CR
StatusPublished

This text of 736 S.W.2d 843 (Vargas 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
Vargas v. State, 736 S.W.2d 843 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinions

OPINION

ESQUIVEL, Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment of a conviction in a murder case. TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.02 (Vernon 1974).

Appellant was indicted for murder. He was tried jointly with Eduardo “Eddie” Fa-rias (Farias) before the same jury. At the end of the State’s case-in-chief the trial court overruled and denied appellant’s motion for instructed verdict. Appellant presented no evidence in his defense. The trial court instructed the jury on the law of parties. The jury found appellant and Fari-as, each guilty of the offense as charged and assessed their punishment at 30 years’ confinement. Appellant presents us with two points of error on appeal. We reverse.

Appellant’s points of error are as follows:

POINT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE
The trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion for instructed verdict at the close of the State’s evidence, as to the offense charged, because the evidence is insufficient to show appellant’s culpability in the offense.
POINT OF ERROR NUMBER TWO
Appellant’s conviction was void because his retained counsel did not render effective assistance of counsel.

At the outset we note that our consideration of appellant’s initial point of error is dispositive of this appeal. We therefore have not considered his point of error complaining of ineffective assistance of counsel.

Appellant’s challenge regarding culpability is limited to the sufficiency of the evidence at the time the motion for instructed verdict was presented and it does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction. Generally, the question of sufficiency is to be determined from all of the evidence. See Gordon v. State, 640 S.W.2d 743, 757 (Tex.App. —San Antonio 1982, no pet.). In the case before us appellant presented no evidence in his behalf at the guilt-innocence phase of the trial. Accordingly, the record limits us to a review of the evidence presented by the State in its case-in-chief. In accordance with our standard of review on appeal, we must consider the evidence in the record in the light most favorable to the State.

Ricardo Maldonado, Jr., testified that on the night of July 18,1984, while a patron at the Piedras Negras Lounge in Universal City, he saw Farias push the deceased to the floor while the deceased was dancing by himself in the lounge. When the deceased got up from the floor Farias poured a can of beer over the deceased’s head.

Ernesto “Ernie” Perez, owner of Ernie’s Barber Shop, testified that his barber shop and the Piedras Negras Lounge are located in the same building. Perez stated that on the morning of July 19,1984, he opened his building and, as was his custom, he checked the premises. Outside the building along the west wall of the barber shop, Perez noticed “a bunch of blood.” Perez stated he went inside and called the Universal City Police. He also testified that a trash dumpster had been located behind Mi Casa Restaurant, a restaurant in a building across the alley from his building. However, Perez stated he did not know if the trash dumpster was there on the day in question.

Lieutenant William Tusch, Universal City Police Department, testified that on July 19, 1984, as Patrol Supervisor, he went to [845]*845Ernie’s Barber Shop in answer to a call from his dispatcher at approximately 9:30 a.m. Tusch contacted Ernie Perez who showed him the blood and a handprint on the outside of the building. Tusch stated he followed the blood to an empty trash dumpster and noticed a large pool of “coagulated blood” on the backside of the dumpster. In company with Sergeant Meeks, an investigator for the Universal City Police Department, Tusch took samples of the blood off the walls, measured distances, took markings and photographs. Tusch also talked to Lupe Magana, the owner of the lounge, who walked up to the scene while he was conducting the investigation. Magana told him that he has seen the deceased arguing with “two L.A. Males” outside his place of business in the parking lot as he was closing up the lounge. Magana stated he took no action, closed up the place and went home to bed.

Ronald Meeks, Sergeant Detective Investigator with the Universal City Police Department, testified that he took samples of the blood on the wall, samples of the blood behind the building and samples of the blood at the dumpster. He turned over these samples to the San Antonio Police Department Crime Laboratory. He also measured what appeared to be drag marks on the ground behind the building. On July 26, 1984, he met with Lupe Magana who told him that Farias had killed the deceased. Magana stated to Meeks that on the night of the murder he was awakened by Farias around 4:00 or 4:30 a.m.

William Baca, a resident from the area, testified that while looking for his lost dogs in an area near Universal City, he discovered the body of the deceased covered by a green colored carpet. Baca stated he called the Bexar County Sheriffs Office and later he guided the Sheriff’s deputy to the location where he had found the body.

Sabina Gutierrez, Deputy Sheriff assigned to the Patrol Division of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, in response to a call from her dispatcher on July 23, 1984, met with William Baca. Baca guided her to the body of the deceased and she requested that the Homicide Unit of the Be-xar County Sheriff’s Office be sent to the scene. Upon the unit’s arrival at the scene she went back on patrol.

Dr. Vincent Di Maio, Chief Medical Examiner for Bexar County testified that an autopsy was performed on the deceased. Di Maio stated that the deceased died “as a result of multiple fractures of the skull, due to blunt trauma to the head.”

Maria Carrillo Perez, sister of the deceased, testified that she last saw the deceased alive on the morning of July 18, 1984.

Guadalupe “Lupe” Magana testified that his father was the owner of the Piedras Negras Lounge and, on the night of July 18, 1984, Magana was at the lounge helping his father. Magana further testified that he saw nothing or no one at the time he closed up the lounge that night. After closing the lounge, Magana took a waitress home and he went home to bed. Magana was later awakened by Farias at 4:00 a.m. Farias told him that he had “killed the old man” and requested that Magana take him back to the lounge to pick up his truck. Magana drove Farias to the lounge behind the building where Farias got out of the truck and he dragged the deceased’s body out of some bushes. According to Magana, Farias “flung” the body in the back of the truck. Magana stated he drove Farias to Cresent Bend, near Cibolo Creek, where Farias got out, “Drug the body out and dumped it in a ditch.” Magana testified that Farias covered the body with a piece of green carpet. Magana recalled that they drove back to the lounge where Farias picked up a pair of glasses and a shirt. As they proceeded to Farias’ house, Farias threw the glasses out of the truck and told Magana: “Let’s go wash the truck.” At the truck wash, Magana testified that Fari-as threw away the shirt. After washing the truck, at Farias’ suggestion, they went to MacDonald’s for breakfast.

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736 S.W.2d 843, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vargas-v-state-texapp-1987.