White v. State

201 S.W.3d 233, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 7057, 2006 WL 2310789
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 10, 2006
Docket2-05-357-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 201 S.W.3d 233 (White 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
White v. State, 201 S.W.3d 233, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 7057, 2006 WL 2310789 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

OPINION

DIXON W. HOLMAN, Justice.

Appellant John White appeals his conviction for assault — family violence. A jury found Appellant guilty, and the trial court assessed his punishment at 240 days’ [238]*238confinement, suspended for a period of eighteen months, and a $500 fine. In four points, Appellant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, by allowing the State to comment on his failure to testify, by allowing the State to employ a “straw man” theory, and by failing to include the requested instructions in the jury charge. We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On January 5, 2005, Donna White, Appellant’s wife, called 911, but she hung the phone up before providing the dispatcher with any information. Within ten to fifteen minutes, Officer Matthew David Har-muth responded to the address from which the call originated to investigate the source of the phone call. When Officer Harmuth arrived at the house, he approached the front door and a woman, later identified as Donna White, answered the door dressed only in underwear. According to Officer Harmuth, she appeared visibly shaken and terrified and stated that she was “scared.” Officer Harmuth noted that she had an injury to her eye. He asked her if anyone else was inside the house, and she informed him that her husband was also there.

Based on his observations, Officer Har-muth informed the woman that he needed to come inside the house, at which point she stepped aside and opened the door. Officer Harmuth followed her through the house and into the bedroom where he found Appellant lying in bed. Officer Har-muth asked Appellant what had happened, and Appellant responded that he and his wife had fought. Officer Harmuth testified that Appellant informed him that he was trying to sleep, his wife was making a lot of noise, and he became mad, but he did not physically hurt her. Officer Har-muth observed a cordless phone broken on the floor, and he asked Appellant what had happened to the phone. Appellant informed him that he had grabbed the phone from Donna and thrown it because he believed that Donna was trying to call their daughter and he did not want to bother her with their arguing. While Appellant was relaying this story to Officer Har-muth, Donna entered the bedroom and yelled that it was not true.

Officer Wells, a back up officer, arrived at the scene. Officer Wells spoke with Appellant in the kitchen while Officer Har-muth continued to question Donna. In the light, a bruise and knot above Donna’s left eye became more visible to Officer Har-muth, and Officer Harmuth observed red marks around her neck. In response to Officer Harmuth’s questioning, Donna stated that she was in the bathroom when Appellant became upset with her because she was making noise while he was trying to sleep. Donna informed Officer Har-muth that Appellant had told her that he hated her, hit her with a closed fist above her left eye, grabbed her around the neck, and threw her to the floor. At that point, Donna attempted to dial 911, but Appellant grabbed the phone and threw it, causing it to break. The officers determined that an assault had occurred, it was family violence, and there was still a threat of violence, so the officers placed Appellant under arrest.

Donna refused to give the officers a statement. At trial, Donna testified that on the day in question, she and Appellant were driving down the interstate when Appellant hurt her feelings, so she began “beating on his arm.” She testified that, in order to avoid having an accident, his arm “glazed” her temple. At that point, they turned the car around and went home, where Appellant began making bacon and eggs. Donna testified that she wanted to continue to fight, so she started hitting him and grabbing him around the [239]*239throat. She testified that she got the red marks on her throat because Appellant had pulled her sweatshirt back. She also testified that she called 911 because she was very hurt and angry, but she thought better about it and hung up immediately. She also testified that she is terrified of police officers. According to Donna, Officer Harmuth continuously asked to be allowed into the house. She told him no, yet he demanded entry, and he entered the house on his own.

SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE

In his first point, Appellant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress and in failing to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of Officer Harmuth’s warrantless entry into his house.

1. Standard of Review

We review a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress evidence under a bifurcated standard of review. Carmouche v. State, 10 S.W.3d 323, 327 (Tex.Crim.App.2000); Guzman v. State, 955 S.W.2d 85, 89 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). In reviewing the trial court’s decision, we do not engage in our own factual review. Romero v. State, 800 S.W.2d 539, 543 (Tex.Crim.App.1990); Best v. State, 118 S.W.3d 857, 861 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2003, no pet.). The trial judge is the sole trier of fact and judge of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. State v. Ross, 32 S.W.3d 853, 855 (Tex.Crim.App.2000); State v. Ballard, 987 S.W.2d 889, 891 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). Therefore, we give almost total deference to the trial court’s rulings on (1) questions of historical fact and (2) application-of-law-to-fact questions that turn on an evaluation of credibility and demeanor. Johnson v. State, 68 S.W.3d 644, 652-53 (Tex.Crim.App.2002); State v. Ballman, 157 S.W.3d 65, 68 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2004, pet. ref'd). But when the trial court’s rulings do not turn on the credibility and demeanor of the witnesses, we review de novo a trial court’s rulings on mixed questions of law and fact. Estrada v. State, 154 S.W.3d 604, 607 (Tex.Crim.App.2005); Johnson, 68 S.W.3d at 652-53.

When reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a mixed question of law and fact, the court of appeals may review de novo the trial court’s application of the law of search and seizure to the facts of the case. Estrada, 154 S.W.3d at 607. When there are no explicit findings of historical fact, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling. Id.

We must uphold the trial court’s ruling if it is supported by the record and correct under any theory of law applicable to the case even if the trial court gave the wrong reason for its ruling. Armendariz v. State, 123 S.W.3d 401, 404 (Tex.Crim.App.2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 974, 124 S.Ct. 1883, 158 L.Ed.2d 469 (2004); Ross, 32 S.W.3d at 856; Romero, 800 S.W.2d at 543.

In determining whether a trial court’s decision is supported by the record, we generally only consider evidence adduced at the suppression hearing only because the ruling was based on it rather than on evidence introduced later. Rachal v. State, 917 S.W.2d 799, 809 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1043, 117 S.Ct. 614, 136 L.Ed.2d 539 (1996).

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White v. State
201 S.W.3d 233 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
201 S.W.3d 233, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 7057, 2006 WL 2310789, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-state-texapp-2006.