Whittington v. State

781 S.W.2d 338, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2559, 1989 WL 119729
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 12, 1989
DocketC14-88-1062-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 781 S.W.2d 338 (Whittington 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
Whittington v. State, 781 S.W.2d 338, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2559, 1989 WL 119729 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

ELLIS, Justice.

Appellant, Brent Norris Whittington, appeals his judgment of conviction for the offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 22.021. (Vernon 1989). The jury found the appellant guilty and assessed punishment at 15 years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections. We affirm.

The complainant, K.B., was a female child, eight years of age, on May 8, 1987 when the offense occurred. The complainant lived with her mother. Also residing in the same house was the mother’s boyfriend, a man named Darren. Appellant, a friend of Darren, spent the night of May 2, 1987 at the house as an invited guest of Darren and complainant’s mother.

On direct examination, complainant testified as follows: she woke up in the morning because she had wet her bed; she went into the bathroom and closed the door; when she was engaged in pulling up her shorts at the toilet, appellant entered the bathroom.

With the assistance of an anatomically correct doll, complainant proceeded to show the jury how appellant: (1) stuck one of his hands under the collar of her T-shirt and touched her chest; (2) placed his other hand on her vagina and rubbed that area; (3) placed his finger inside her vagina. Complainant testified that it hurt when appellant inserted his finger. On May 10, 1987, complainant related the incident to her grandmother who notified the authorities. Charges were filed and appellant was subsequently arrested.

Appellant brings ten points of error. In his first point of error, appellant submits he was denied his constitutional right against double jeopardy secured by article I, section 14 of the Texas Constitution when he was placed in jeopardy twice for the same offense during his single criminal trial. In his second point of error, appellant asserts he was denied assistance of counsel during a critical stage of the prosecution in violation of article I, section 10 of the Texas Constitution. In his points of error three through six, appellant contends the trial court erred in refusing to sustain appellant’s objections to the State eliciting speculative, inadmissible legal conclusions from appellant during the punishment phase. In points of error seven through ten, appellant submits his conviction was obtained by virtue of the Texas Penal Code’s two unconstitutional statutes, *340 § 21.11 and § 22.021, in violation of appellant’s due process rights under article I, section 19 of the Texas Constitution and also under the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution.

Appellant’s first point of error asserts appellant was placed in double jeopardy for the same offense during his single criminal trial in violation of his constitutional right against double jeopardy. In addition to the aggravated sexual assault count, appellant was indicted for the lesser included offense of Indecency with a Child. Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 21.11. (Vernon 1989). The jury returned a verdict finding appellant guilty of both the greater and the lesser included offense. (See Appendix No. 1 — JURY VERDICT FORM) The jury did not comply with the express written instruction on the verdict form to “choose one” meaning, to choose that appellant was either guilty of the greater offense of Aggravated Sexual Assault or that appellant was guilty of the lesser offense of Indecency with a Child or that appellant was not guilty at all.

Further, the court’s charge on guilt or innocence did not authorize both convictions. The court’s charge instructed the jury to: (a) consider whether appellant was guilty of Aggravated Sexual Assault; (b) only consider the lesser offense of Indecency with a Child if it was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellant committed Aggravated Sexual Assault; and (c) resolve doubt as between the two offenses in appellant’s favor by convicting only of the lesser offense. The jury simply did not follow the court’s instructions.

In Reese v. State, 773 S.W.2d 314 (Tex.Crim.App.1989), the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed appellant’s conviction. Justice Clinton, in his concurring opinion, refers to an incident similar to that which underlies appellant’s first point of error. In Reese, the trial court instructed the jury to either find the defendant guilty of one of the two charged offenses or to acquit. Despite the court’s instruction, the Reese jury returned a verdict finding appellant guilty of the greater offense of compelling prostitution and also of the lesser offense of prostitution. Justice Clinton remarked that the trial judge and both prosecution and defense counsels concluded, in retrospect, that the jury should not even have considered the lesser included offense of prostitution because such a consideration was inconsistent with the court’s instructions.

In the case before us, the jury’s verdict was not in proper form because the jury did not adequately comply with the trial court’s instructions. Had appellant objected when the verdict was announced, the judge would have routinely instructed the jury to return to the jury room to enter a proper verdict.

In the absence of appellant’s objection to the form of the verdict, the trial court concluded, and properly so, that the jury found appellant guilty of the greater offense of Aggravated Sexual Assault. There was evidence in the record to support the jury’s finding of aggravated sexual assault. The offense of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a child includes all the elements of the offense of Indecency with a Child. Had the jury fully complied with the instruction on the verdict form, then the jury would have found appellant guilty of the greater offense and the jury would not have considered the lesser included offense. It is axiomatic that a jury verdict need not be consistent if one is talking about a multi-count verdict, because in that instance each count of the charging instrument is considered separately, and a guilty verdict upon any count may stand, provided that it is supported by the evidence. U.S. v. Varkonyi, 611 F.2d 84, 86 (5th Cir.1980). Under federal law, the disposition of the remaining counts is immaterial to the appellate inquiry. U.S. v. Michel, 588 F.2d 986 (5th Cir.1979).

We find the trial court was correct in concluding that the jury found appellant guilty of the greater offense and that appellant was not placed in double jeopardy in violation of article 1, section 14 of the Texas Constitution. Appellant's point of error one is overruled.

Appellant’s second point of error complains appellant was denied assistance of *341 counsel during a critical stage of the Prosecution. Appellant submits that his conviction should be reversed because he was denied assistance of counsel at a probable cause hearing conducted on September 12, 1987.

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Bluebook (online)
781 S.W.2d 338, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2559, 1989 WL 119729, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whittington-v-state-texapp-1989.