Westmoreland v. State

174 S.W.3d 282, 2005 WL 1243376
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 28, 2005
Docket12-03-00224-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 174 S.W.3d 282 (Westmoreland 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
Westmoreland v. State, 174 S.W.3d 282, 2005 WL 1243376 (Tex. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

SAM GRIFFITH, Justice.

Appellant William Mark' Westmoreland was convicted by a jury of murder. The jury assessed his punishment at imprisonment for forty-five years and a ten thousand dollar fine. He raises three issues on appeal. We affirm.

Background

Appellant and his wife, Debra (now Debra Westmoreland Pierce), separated on December 6, 2000. Debra moved from their home, assisted by the decedent, Kenneth Zoch. Appellant was to be away from the house during the move, but came home *285 early. Words were exchanged, and Appellant shot Zoch twice, killing him.

On February 14, 2003, more than two months before trial, the State filed a motion to amend Appellant’s indictment. Appellant did not object to the amendment. The court entered a written order amending the indictment, but the changes were never interlineated on the indictment.

Prior to trial, Appellant filed a motion in limine to exclude certain extraneous conduct. The trial court granted the motion. However, during the trial, two State’s witnesses violated the motion in limine by mentioning two extraneous offenses alleged to have been committed by Appellant. Appellant objected to the admission of the testimony.

After the trial, it was determined that a juror who sat on the case was not the same “Robert Bruce Bankhead” who had been summoned. At the hearing on Appellant’s motion for new trial, Appellant developed testimony that the wrong Robert Bank-head had served on the jury. Rather, the Robert Bankhead who sat as a juror was the father of the summoned person, Robert Bankhead, III.

The jury convicted Appellant of murder, sentenced him to imprisonment for forty-five years, and assessed a fine of ten thousand dollars.

Amendment of Indictment

In his first issue, Appellant contends the trial court erred in denying Appellant’s motion for continuance and proceeding to trial on the “amended” indictment because the amendment was not effective.

Relevant Facts

Appellant was indicted for the murder of Kenneth “Zock” by shooting him in the chest. On February 14, 2003, the State filed a motion to amend the indictment. The State requested several alterations of the indictment, including a change in the victim’s name from “Zock” to “Zoch” and a change in the manner of committing the act of murder from “shooting Kenneth Zock in the chest” to “shooting Kenneth Zoch in the buttocks and in the arm and through the chest.” Appellant did not object to the amendment, and the court signed an order granting the motion.

On April 28, 2003, during the jury selection process, the court recounted the facts of the February 14 hearing. 1 The court noted that Appellant and his attorneys were present at the hearing on the State’s motion to amend the indictment and that Appellant did not object to the State’s motion. The court also noted that it had granted the motion and signed an order reflecting its ruling. The trial court acknowledged that it did not personally in-terlinéate the changes on the original indictment; rather, the court stated that it most likely instructed the court clerk to do so. The clerk did not make the changes on the original indictment.

Appellant objected that the amendment was not effective because the changes had not been made on the original indictment and the order granting the State’s motion to amend the indictment was insufficient to amend the indictment. The court noted that at the hearing on the motion, which occurred on February 14, 2003, Appellant was given notice of the order granting the State’s motion and made no objection to *286 the order. Appellant then contended that he had not been actually served with the order on the motion to amend. Appellant claimed that he was entitled to two days notice of the amendment according to Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, article 26.03. See Tex.Code CRiM. Peoc. Ann. art. 26.03 (Vernon 1989). The court responded that Appellant had been given a copy of the order on February 14, 2003 and proceeded to arraign Appellant on the amended indictment. When the court asked for announcements, Appellant announced not ready on the amended indictment, due to the objections previously stated, but announced ready on the original indictment. The court overruled Appellant’s announcement. Appellant filed a verified motion for continuance, which the trial court overruled.

Applicable Law

A criminal defendant is guaranteed the right to know the allegations against him contained in an indictment returned by a grand jury and to have a copy of the indictment. Tex. Const, art. I, § 10. An indictment vests the trial court with jurisdiction and provides the defendant with notice of the offense with which he is charged so that he may prepare, in advance of trial, an informed and effective defense. Riney v. State, 28 S.W.3d 561, 565 (Tex.Crim.App.2000).

Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, article 28.10 prescribes the following procedure for amending an indictment:

(a) After notice to the defendant, a matter of form or substance in an indictment or information may be amended at any time before the date of the trial on the merits commences. On the request of the defendant, the court shall allow the defendant not less than 10 days, or a shorter period if requested by the defendant, to respond to the amended indictment or information.
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(c) An indictment or information may not be amended over the defendant’s objection as to form or substance if the amended indictment or information charges the defendant with an additional or different offense or if the substantial rights of the defendant are prejudiced.

Tex.Code CRiM. PROC. Ann. art. 28.10(a), (c) (Vernon 1989). All amendments of an indictment or information must be made with leave of the court and under its direction. Id. art. 28.11.

Prior to 2000, the recognized procedure for amending an indictment required the State to either return to the grand jury to obtain a subsequent indictment or request an amendment of the indictment through a motion to the court. The motion to amend the indictment, taken together with the trial court’s granting of the motion to amend and signing the order on the amendment, comprised the authorization for the eventual amendment of the charging instrument pursuant to article 28.10. Ward v. State, 829 S.W.2d 787, 793 (Tex.Crim.App.1992). The Ward court noted that “amend” means an actual alteration of the charging instrument itself. Id. The amendment, then, was the actual alteration of the charging instrument. Id. Consequently, where the State moved to amend the indictment and the trial court granted the motion, the court physically interli-neated the changes on the original indictment. See id. at 793-94. Appellant relies on Ward

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Bluebook (online)
174 S.W.3d 282, 2005 WL 1243376, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westmoreland-v-state-texapp-2005.