Warren v. State

98 S.W.3d 739, 2003 Tex. App. LEXIS 371, 2003 WL 131807
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 15, 2003
DocketNo. 10-01-047-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 98 S.W.3d 739 (Warren 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
Warren v. State, 98 S.W.3d 739, 2003 Tex. App. LEXIS 371, 2003 WL 131807 (Tex. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

REX D. DAVIS, Chief Justice.

A jury convicted Hubert Warren of aggravated assault on a public servant. Warren pleaded “true” to allegations of four prior felony convictions, and the jury assessed his punishment at sixty years’ imprisonment. Warren contends in four points that: (1) the trial court erred by failing to charge the jury on the lesser-included offense of evading arrest; (2) the evidence is legally insufficient to establish that he is the person who committed the offense; (3) the trial court violated his constitutional right to meaningfully participate in his defense by refusing to direct the State to provide him a copy of an in-car video recording; and (4) the trial court erred by denying counsel’s post-trial motion to withdraw without a hearing.

[741]*741BACKGROUND

According to the record, a Dallas police officer received a dispatch regarding a truck stolen from a truck stop. She located the stolen truck and attempted to make a traffic stop. The driver refused to pull over. She radioed for assistance. The driver of the stolen truck led officers from several agencies on a high-speed chase down Interstate Highway 35. He exited the interstate and went north on U.S. Highway 287.

Two Department of Public Safety troopers laid spikes across both northbound lanes of Highway 287 as the stolen truck approached at approximately 100 miles per hour. The truck swerved to the right shoulder where one of the troopers was standing. The trooper pulled the spikes from the roadway by an attached rope so that the pursuing patrol cars would not be disabled. As he did so, he fell to the ground suffering severe injuries to both knees. Officers with the Midlothian Police Department eventually stopped the truck.

PRO SE PLEADINGS

Warren has raised a number of different issues in pro se briefs he has filed.1 We have decided to address one in the interest of justice: whether the trial court erred by denying counsel’s motion to withdraw without a hearing.2 See Williams v. State, 946 S.W.2d 886, 892 (Tex.App.-Waco 1997, no pet.) (appellate court may consider pro se issue in the interest of justice even though appellant has no right to hybrid representation). At oral argument, we directed Warren’s counsel and the State’s counsel to provide additional briefing on this issue, which they have done.

SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE

Warren contends in his second point that the evidence is legally insufficient to prove that he is the person who committed the offense because he was identified at trial as “Hubert Warren, Jr.” but the indictment alleges that “Hubert Warren” committed the offense.

In reviewing a claim of legal insufficiency, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential element beyond a reasonable doubt. Lacour v. State, 8 S.W.3d 670, 671 (Tex.Crim.App.2000) (citing Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, 573 (1979)). We resolve any inconsistencies in the evidence in favor of the verdict. Curry v. State, 30 S.W.3d 394, 406 (Tex.Crim.App.2000).

Warren cites article 21.02(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the proposition that the name of the accused is material to an indictment. See TexCode CRiM. Peoc. Ann. art. 21.02(4) (Vernon 1989). While that may be a correct statement of the law, the pertinent inquiry for our consideration is whether the name of the accused “is a substantive element of the criminal offense as defined by state law.” Fuller v. State, 73 S.W.3d 250, 252 (Tex.Crim.App.2002) (citing Jackson, 443 U.S. at 324 n. 16, 99 [742]*742S.Ct. at 2792 n. 16, 61 L.Ed.2d at 577 n. 16).

The Court of Criminal Appeals held in Fuller that the victim’s name is not a “substantive element” of the offense of injury to the elderly because the statute defining that offense does not include the victim’s name as part of the definition of the offense. Id. at 253. Section 22.02 of the Penal Code, which defines the offense of which Warren was convicted, similarly does not include the defendant’s name as part of the definition of the offense. See Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 22.02 (Vernon 1994). Accordingly, we conclude that the defendant’s name is not a “substantive element” of the offense of aggravated assault as defined by section 22.02. See Fuller, 73 S.W.3d at 253.

Next, we must determine whether the variance between the indictment and the proof is “material.” Id. (citing Gollihar v. State, 46 S.W.3d 243, 257 (Tex.Crim.App.2001)).

A variance between the wording of an indictment and the evidence presented at trial is fatal only if “it is material and prejudices [the defendant’s] substantial rights.” When reviewing such a variance, we must determine whether the indictment, as written, informed the defendant of the charge against him sufficiently to allow him to prepare an adequate defense at trial, and whether prosecution under the deficiently drafted indictment would subject the defendant to the risk of being prosecuted later for the same crime.

Gollihar, 46 S.W.3d at 257 (quoting United States v. Sprick, 233 F.3d 845, 853 (5th Cir.2000)).3

The evidence varied from the allegations of the indictment in that the defendant was identified by a witness as Hubert Warren, Jr. while the indictment alleges that “Hubert Warren” committed the offense. In Fuller, the witnesses referred to the victim as “Mr. Fuller” or “Buddy” while the indictment alleged his name as “Olen M. Fuller.” Id. at 252. The Court obseded, “There is no indication in the record that appellant did not know whom he was accused of injuring or that he was surprised by the proof at trial.” 73 S.W.3d at 254.

In Warren’s case, there is similarly no indication that he did not know that he was the person accused of committing the offense or that he was surprised that he was identified as Hubert Warren, Jr. Warren’s counsel did not argue at the conclusion of the guilt-innocence phase that Warren should be acquitted because of this variance between the indictment and the proof. Accordingly, we conclude that the indictment gave Warren sufficient notice “to allow him to prepare an adequate defense at trial.” See Gollihar, 46 S.W.3d at 257 (quoting Sprick, 233 F.3d at 853).

Regarding the issue of whether this variance subjects Warren to the risk of being prosecuted later for the same offense, the Court of Criminal Appeals noted in Golli-har that the entire record from a first trial (as opposed to the indictment alone) should be examined to protect against double jeopardy in a subsequent prosecution. Id. at 258 (citing United States v. Apodaca, 843 F.2d 421, 430 n. 3 (10th Cir.1988)).

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Bluebook (online)
98 S.W.3d 739, 2003 Tex. App. LEXIS 371, 2003 WL 131807, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/warren-v-state-texapp-2003.